the göbekli tepe “totem pole“. a first discussion of an autumn 2010

OtherContributions

Neo-Lithics1/1074

During the 2009 excavation season, the head of ananimalsculpturemadeoflimestonewasidentifiedonthesurfaceofthesouthernslopeofthesouth-easternhillockofGöbekliTepe (Schmidt, forthcoming).All attemptsmadetoremovethissculpturefromthesurfacesoilfailed.Subsequently,asmallsoundingwasexcavatedinorderto remove thehead and to document its context.Thissoundingrevealedthat,inactualfact,weweredealingwithwhatappearedtobetheheadofalargesculpturethatwassetinastonewall.In2010alargerpartofthesamearea(L9-46),measuring5.00x6.00metres,wasexcavatedinordertobetterunderstandandtodocumentthearchitecturalcontextofthisfind.Onlynowhavewerealizedthatthisrelativelylargesculptureisreminiscentofthe“totempoles”knownfromthenorthwestcoastofNorthAmerica.Ithadbeensetinthenorth-easternwallofarectangularroomandwasnotvisibleoriginallyduetothewallcompletelycoveringthepole.

Followingthedocumentationofthepositionandthecontextofthefind,whichbelongstoLayerII(EPPNB),itwas removed from thewall in accordancewith therulesoftheGeneralDirectorateofAntiquitiesofTurkey.Ithastheremarkablelengthof1.92metres(Fig.1a-c)withanaveragediameterof30cm.Itsweight,whichasyetcouldbenotdeterminedexactly,mustlieinexcessof 500 kilograms, as even 10 workmen had seriousproblemsliftingandcarryingit.

The pole features three main motives, one aboveanother. The uppermost motive depicts a predator,probablyabearoralargefelid–alionoraleopard–duetotwopreservedfeaturesofthehead:theearsandtheeyes.Thefrontalpartoftheheadhadbeenobliteratedinantiquity;thesurfaceofthebreakiscoveredwithathin limestone coating.Below the head, a short neck,armsandhandsarevisible.Theirhuman likeshape isremarkable.Althoughwemightpostulatethatthisdepictsa “Mischwesen”, such as the “Löwenmensch” fromtheAurignaciansiteofHohlesteinStadelinSouthwestGermany,westill cannoteliminate thepossibility thatthesefeatureswereintendedtodepictanimalarmsandlegsandnothumanlimbs.

Thearms(orlegs)areholdinganotherhead,whichagainlostitsfaceinantiquity.Significantly,themotiveof awild beast holding a human head iswell knownfromseveralsculptures fromNevalıÇoriandGöbekliTepe (Schmidt in press). For this reason it is veryprobable that the lost face of the head being held bythe “Löwenmensch” (or bear/ lion/ leopard) was thatofahuman.Thissuggestionisfurtherstrengthenedbythefact thathumanarmsaredepictedbelowthehead.

Thehandsareplacedoppositeoneanotherandon thestomach of the individual. This is amannerwhich isclearlyreminiscentoftheT-shapedpillars.

Belowthearmsandhandsasecondpersonisvisible.Fortunately, the face of this individual is completelypreserved. In comparison to thefirst human, the headofthesecondpersonisrelativelysmall.Alsodepictedistheupperpartofthebody,includingthearmsandhands.Belowthehandsthereisanunidentifiedobject.Itseemslikelythatthepersonisdepictedgivingbirth,albeitthataverydifferentexplanationisalsoconceivable,e.g.thepersoncouldbepresentinghisphallus.

Belowthearmsofthepredator(or“Löwenmensch”)atbothsidesofthepole,largesnakesarevisible.Theirlarge heads (one is partly damaged) are situated justabovetheheadofthesmallindividual.Belowtheheadsof the snakes, structures are visible which might beinterpretedasthelegsoftheuppermosthuman.

Itseemsobviousthatsuchapiecemadeofstonemustalso have had parallels inwoodwhich have failed tosurvivethemillennia.However,itshouldbenotedthatfragmentsofaquitesimilartotempole-likeobjectmadeoflimestonewerealreadydiscoveredsome20yearsagoinNevalıÇori (Fig. 2; comp.Hauptmann 1991/1992,1993; Hauptmann and Schmidt 2007 Kat. Nr. 101;Schmidt,inpress,Fig.16and17).ThisobjectwasfoundintheTerrazzoBuildinginanEPPNBcontext;thepolewas broken in several pieces and buried in the north-eastern bench of the building. Consequently, the poleitselfcouldbeofmucholderdate,infactitcouldevendatetothePPNAperiod.ThesamemaybetruefortherecentfindfromGöbekliTepe,whichhadbeeninvisiblebehind a wall. A detailed study of these remarkableobjectsandtheircontextswillbepublishedelsewhere.

Acknowledgements: We would like to express ourgratidutetotheMinistryofCultureandTourismoftheRepublicofTurkeyforthekindpermissiontoexcavatetheimportantsiteofGöbekliTepe.Weareverygratefulto the representatives of the general directorate ofAntiquitiesin2010,GülsümYaprak,NedimDervişoğluandAynurTalaakar,fortheirsupportoftheproject,andtoDr.ÇihatKürkçüoğlufortheclosecontactwithtothegeneraldirectoratebesidehisscientificwork.Wearealsoindebted to all other teammembers and theworkmenoftheseasonfortheirefforts.Theproject-directedbytheGermanArchaeologicalInstitute-isfundedbytheGermanResearchFoundation(DFG)andsupportedbyArchaeNovae.V.

The Göbekli Tepe “Totem Pole“. A First Discussion of an Autumn 2010 Discovery (PPN, Southeastern Turkey)

Çiğdem Köksal-Schmidt &Klaus Schmidt GermanArchaeologicalInstitute,Berlin kls@orient.dainst.de

OtherContributions

Neo-Lithics1/1076

Referenes

HauptmannH.1991/92 NevalıÇori.EineSiedlungdesakeramischen NeolithikumsammittlerenEuphrat.NürnbergerBlätter zurArchäologie8:15-33.1993 EinKultgebäudeinNevalıÇori.In:Frangipaneetal. (ed.),BetweentheRiversandovertheMountains. ArchaeologicaAnatolicaetMesopotamicaAlba PalmieriDedicata:37–69.Rome.

HauptmannH.andSchmidtK.2007 DieSkulpturendesFrühneolithikums.In:Badisches LandesmuseumKarlsruhe(ed.),Vor12000Jahrenin Anatolien.DieältestenMonumentederMenschheit. BegleitbandzurGroßenLandesausstellungBaden- WürttembergimBadischenLandesmuseum 2007:67-82.Stuttgart.

SchmidtK.inpress GöbekliTepe–SanctuariesoftheStoneAge.New resultsoftheongoingexcavationswithaspecialfocus onthesculpturesandhighreliefs.In:Ritualsand ReligionsinEurasianEarlyPrehistory.16thNeolithic SeminarBodies.DocumentaPraehistorica.

forthc. GöbekliTepekazısı2009yılıraporu.In:Kazısonuçları toplantısı.Istanbul2010.KültürveTurizmBakanlığı. KültürVarlıklarıveMüzelerGenelMüdürlüğü,Ankara.

Fig.  2  The “totem pole” from Nevalı Çori (reconstruction and    drawing: K. Schmidt)