Deep in the fertile Harran Plain of southeastern Türkiye, a cluster of ancient sites is fundamentally reshaping what we know about our earliest ancestors. The Taş Tepeler Project—encompassing 12 Neolithic excavation sites across Şanlıurfa—has reached its fifth anniversary, unveiling 30 extraordinary newly excavated discoveries that offer unprecedented insights into life 12,000 years ago.
Among the most striking finds presented at this year's anniversary event at the Karahantepe Visitor Centre is a human sculpture from Sayburç depicting a deceased individual with a stitched mouth—a haunting glimpse into ancient death rituals and symbolic practices. From Göbeklitepe, the UNESCO World Heritage Site that anchors the region, archaeologists revealed a human figure embedded in a wall as a votive offering, showcasing the sophisticated aesthetic sensibilities of Neolithic sculptors.
Sefertepe contributed its own revelations: a pair of human face reliefs carved using contrasting high-relief and low-relief techniques, their distinctive styles setting them apart from reliefs found at other Taş Tepeler sites. Perhaps most intriguing is a dual-faced bead crafted from black serpentinite, pierced through the centre and carved with expressive human faces on both sides—a remarkable example of Neolithic craftsmanship.
A Region That Challenges Everything We Thought We Knew
"These settlements have opened new horizons in world history," declared Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Türkiye's Minister of Culture and Tourism, at the anniversary event. The evidence is compelling: 12 millennia ago, Anatolia supported densely populated settlements of varying scales, suggesting a level of social complexity that predates what historians previously believed possible.
The ambition matches the significance. Minister Ersoy envisions Taş Tepeler becoming "the world's Neolithic capital"—a bold claim supported by the continuous stream of discoveries that challenge conventional narratives about humanity's transition from nomadic hunter-gatherers to settled communities.
While Göbeklitepe has captured global imagination since its discovery, Karahantepe presents an equally compelling scientific puzzle. Together with the ten other sites—Sayburç, Sefertepe, Harbetsuvan, Çakmaktepe, Yenimahalle, Söğüt Tarlası, Mendiktepe, Yoğunburç, Gürcütepe, and the newly added Ayanlar Höyük—these ancient settlements form a constellation of human achievement that demands reconsideration of the Neolithic era, one of humanity's least understood periods.
A Global Effort to Preserve the Past
The Taş Tepeler Project transcends mere excavation. It represents a massive international collaboration bringing together 36 academic institutions—15 Turkish and 21 international—and 219 researchers working simultaneously across all 12 sites. This unprecedented coordination ensures a comprehensive understanding of the region's interconnected settlements.
Conservation efforts match the scale of discovery. Under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's "Legacy for the Future Project" restoration work has been completed on Göbeklitepe's Lion Structure and Structure C, while Karahantepe's Structure AD and a residential building at Sayburç are currently undergoing architectural restoration.
Infrastructure development is equally ambitious. A new visitor centre at Göbeklitepe and a research centre with an excavation house at Karahantepe are nearing completion. The research facility will be equipped to handle all archaeometric studies conducted across the Taş Tepeler Project, centralising scientific analysis of these world-changing discoveries.
As the project enters its sixth year, each carefully excavated artefact, each precisely documented structure, continues to illuminate the sophisticated societies that flourished in this region thousands of years before the pyramids, before Stonehenge, before written history itself. The Taş Tepeler sites stand as testament to human ingenuity at its earliest flowering—and remind us that the story of civilisation is far older, far more complex, and far more remarkable than we ever imagined.
Taş Tepeler’s Treasures Shine Globally Through International Exhibitions
Türkiye is actively promoting the Taş Tepeler region and its remarkable findings to a broader global audience, through a series of exhibitions.
· The exhibition “Göbeklitepe: The Enigma of a Sacred Place” remained open for six months at the Colosseum in Rome, from October 2024 to March 2025, attracting a record-breaking six million visitors.
· Türkiye will open “Built Community: Göbeklitepe, Taş Tepeler, and Life 12,000 Years Ago” at Berlin’s James-Simon Gallery from February to July 2026.
· Discussions are also underway with relevant institutions to organise Göbeklitepe/Taş Tepeler-themed exhibitions at the historic Guildhall Art Gallery in London in 2026 and the Tokyo National Museum in Japan in 2027.