About 12,000 years old, roughly 7,000 years older than the pyramids, the earliest known large-scale man-made religious structure. T-shaped limestone pillars 5.5 meters tall and over 10 tons each, carved with foxes, lions, snakes, and vultures. The builders were still hunter-gatherers, not yet agricultural, yet required hundreds of people to cooperate. Around 8000 BC it was deliberately buried, cause unknown. Less than 5 percent has been excavated.
Account
About 12,000 years old, roughly 7,000 years older than the pyramids, the earliest known large-scale man-made religious structure. T-shaped limestone pillars 5.5 meters tall and over 10 tons each, carved with foxes, lions, snakes, and vultures. The builders were still hunter-gatherers, not yet agricultural, yet required hundreds of people to cooperate. Around 8000 BC it was deliberately buried, cause unknown. Less than 5 percent has been excavated.
Sources
- German Archaeological Institute (DAI) Klaus Schmidt team excavation report
- Science papers