A Turkish site believed to predate the Great Pyramid of Giza by 7,000 years contains mysterious inscriptions that archaeologists believe may depict a devastating ancient comet strike.
Recently deciphered inscriptions at the archaeological site of Gobekli Tepe in Turkey suggest that the monument may also represent the world’s oldest solar calendar, According to new researchThis architectural marvel, dating back nearly 12,000 years, is believed to be the oldest place of worship ever discovered, even older than the pyramids, which date back 4,500 years.
The temples at the site, believed to be the oldest in the world, are adorned with intricately carved symbols. Researchers who recently visited the site to take a closer look at the symbols have concluded that they may actually be a recording of an astronomical event that led to a major shift in human civilization.
If these findings are correct, the team could mean that the ancients recorded their celestial observations to create a solar calendar to track the seasons using the method the Greeks used thousands of years later.
“The people of Gobekli Tepe appear to have been keen sky watchers, which is to be expected given that their world was devastated by a comet strike,” said Martin Sweatman, lead author of the study and a chemical engineer at the University of Edinburgh, in a statement.
Researchers interpret V-shaped symbols as ancient calendar
Researchers say the strange V-shaped symbols carved on columns at the Gobekli Tepe site can be interpreted as representing a single day.
By combining the V shapes, the researchers were able to calculate a 365-day solar calendar on one of the columns, consisting of 12 lunar months plus 11 extra days.
According to the study, a separate symbol depicting a V worn by a bird-like beast was thought to represent the summer solstice. The researchers also hypothesized that other statues at the site with similar markings on their necks may have depicted deities.
Since the prehistoric monument depicts both the phases of the moon and the cycles of the sun, archaeologists have concluded that these sculptures may represent the oldest “Lunisolar calendar“- It predates other known calendars of this type by thousands of years.
Did a comet impact lead to the dawn of civilization?
The researchers claim that the ancients may have created the calendar as a way to commemorate the date when a swarm of comet fragments struck Earth nearly 13,000 years ago.
Another column at the site appears to show the Tauride meteor stream – believed to be the source of comet fragments that rained down on the planet for 27 days.
Such a comet impact around 10,850 BCE would have triggered a mini-ice age lasting more than 1,200 years, wiping out many large animal species. Surprisingly, the comet impact would have caused enough destruction to actually spark the dawn of civilization in the Fertile Crescent of western Asia, where people who had become accustomed to hunter-gatherer techniques increasingly turned to agriculture for food.
Researchers suspect the monument remained important to the ancient people for thousands of years, suggesting the comet strike may have given rise to a new religion.
“This event may have sparked civilization by creating a new religion and stimulating developments in agriculture to cope with the cold climate,” Sweetman said in a statement.
The findings support the theory that Earth experiences an increase in comet strikes when its orbit intersects with the path of circular comet fragments, which are usually treated as meteoroid streams, Sweetman added.
Preceded the Greeks
This discovery also seems to confirm that ancient people were able to record dates by studying the movement of the Earth, as the rotation of the Earth’s axis can change the movement of the constellations across the sky.
This suggests that the ancients had accurate ways of measuring time 10,000 years before the phenomenon was documented in ancient Greece in 150 B.C., the researchers wrote.
“Their attempts to record what they saw were likely the first steps toward the development of writing thousands of years later,” Sweetman said.
The research was Posted on Tuesday In the magazine of time and mind.
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Contact him at elagatta@gannett.com
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