0:00:04.417,0:00:06.575 Ladies and gentlemen, 0:00:06.576,0:00:09.642 now we are going[br]a little bit under the surface, 0:00:09.643,0:00:14.266 we are coming to archeology[br]and to a project 0:00:14.267,0:00:18.740 which is one of the most important[br]projects of the last years. 0:00:18.741,0:00:22.380 Those are not only my words,[br]- I am the director of this project - 0:00:22.381,0:00:26.698 but it is internationally told like this. 0:00:26.709,0:00:31.489 It's a project in southeastern Turkey,[br]the site called Göbekli Tepe. 0:00:31.490,0:00:35.037 Göbekli Tepe means 'mound with belly.' 0:00:37.967,0:00:41.117 It's just its name,[br]an old name from the map. 0:00:41.118,0:00:46.627 We didn't invent this name, but it shows[br]a little bit, or it's recognizable - 0:00:46.628,0:00:49.423 we've some natural limestone plateau here 0:00:49.424,0:00:53.730 and all this mound which is not[br]a natural mound but an artificial mound, 0:00:53.731,0:00:57.658 this is the belly on the mound[br]explaining the name. 0:00:57.659,0:01:01.283 The project is done[br]by the German Archeological Institute 0:01:01.284,0:01:02.931 where I come from too, 0:01:02.932,0:01:06.404 but in close cooperation[br]with the local authorities, 0:01:06.405,0:01:10.958 especially the General Directorate[br]for Antiquities in Ankara, 0:01:10.959,0:01:14.751 and the University of Sanliurfa,[br]the Harran University, 0:01:14.790,0:01:17.497 and some other institutions, 0:01:17.498,0:01:21.827 mainly responsible for the conservation[br]and the restoration of the site. 0:01:21.828,0:01:27.611 For the scientific work, we have financing[br]mainly from the German Research Foundation 0:01:27.612,0:01:31.445 which is financing the project,[br]which is a long-term project. 0:01:31.459,0:01:34.529 We are now in the 20th year of work, 0:01:34.530,0:01:39.546 and we hope to continue[br]for many, many years in the future. 0:01:39.547,0:01:42.265 Okay, that's the framing.[br]I have to say all this: 0:01:42.266,0:01:45.442 who are the institutions 0:01:45.443,0:01:49.019 and who is giving money[br]for our work at the site. 0:01:49.020,0:01:51.796 But what is the importance of this site? 0:01:51.797,0:01:54.593 At first, I already[br]showed you this location. 0:01:54.594,0:01:56.484 It's a huge limestone ridge, 0:01:56.485,0:01:58.994 and this artificial mound is on top of it. 0:01:58.995,0:02:03.347 Such artificial mounds are[br]very common in the Near East 0:02:03.348,0:02:06.082 They are called 'tell' in Arabic language 0:02:06.083,0:02:09.292 or 'tepe' or 'höyük' in Turkish language. 0:02:09.292,0:02:11.667 I think some will know 'Çatalhöyük, ' 0:02:11.672,0:02:15.440 an old Neolithic site in central Anatolia, 0:02:15.441,0:02:20.552 and Göbekli is a site like this,[br]but it has some specifics, 0:02:20.553,0:02:24.771 it's a unique site because it's much older[br]than all the other ones. 0:02:24.772,0:02:29.041 It belongs to the 10th[br]and 9th millennium BC. 0:02:29.042,0:02:34.084 So, it means, roughly spoken,[br]some monuments there are 12,000 years old, 0:02:34.125,0:02:39.446 12,000 before today, or 10,000,[br]the 10th millennium BC. 0:02:39.447,0:02:41.594 That's just after the Ice Age. 0:02:41.595,0:02:46.836 Who knows a bit about geology, knows[br]that the Ice Age was a global phenomenon. 0:02:46.837,0:02:51.501 Now, with the ice corings in Greenland,[br]we can date it very, very exactly. 0:02:51.505,0:02:54.871 It was not a long process,[br]the end of the Ice Age. 0:02:54.872,0:02:58.183 It was what we call[br]a rapid climate change. 0:02:58.209,0:03:01.696 A very rapid development, around 9,600. 0:03:01.697,0:03:06.531 And that's the time when[br]the building activity at Göbekli started. 0:03:06.532,0:03:12.438 I told you, an artificial mound made[br]by humans by erecting buildings, 0:03:12.439,0:03:15.441 walls, and other things above each other. 0:03:15.442,0:03:18.164 So, the mound was created. 0:03:18.167,0:03:23.001 This is not so special in the Near East,[br]but, as I told you, the time frame, 0:03:23.002,0:03:26.125 10th-9th millennium, that's very strange. 0:03:26.144,0:03:28.142 We didn't expect it in this time, 0:03:28.143,0:03:31.958 when all over the world, people[br]were still hunter-gatherers, 0:03:31.959,0:03:36.804 that they had been able[br]to produce such buildings, 0:03:36.805,0:03:40.420 to do such huge work and much more. 0:03:40.421,0:03:43.732 We will see some examples[br]of the world of Göbekli Tepe, 0:03:43.733,0:03:50.118 which is such an unexpected[br]and unknown world before. 0:03:50.961,0:03:53.618 Many say Göbekli Tepe[br]is changing the history. 0:03:53.619,0:03:55.947 That's not true,[br]it's not changing it, 0:03:55.948,0:04:01.098 but it's adding a very important chapter[br]to the history of humanity, 0:04:01.099,0:04:04.743 a chapter we didn't know[br]that it existed before. 0:04:04.744,0:04:08.858 And this chapter is about the transition[br]from hunter-gatherers societies 0:04:08.859,0:04:11.840 to farming, to food-producing societies. 0:04:11.841,0:04:15.800 This is a form of subsistence 0:04:15.801,0:04:20.245 that our basis agrarian societies[br]are still based on, 0:04:20.247,0:04:23.962 and this was invented[br]in this region at this time. 0:04:23.963,0:04:25.751 This region is the Near East. 0:04:25.752,0:04:28.109 We will see some maps later. 0:04:28.110,0:04:33.153 And here, about the mound, an aerial view. 0:04:33.154,0:04:37.308 When we started the project in '95,[br]what we could see 0:04:37.309,0:04:41.583 was nearly nothing,[br]just trees and fields. 0:04:41.584,0:04:44.400 It was used for agriculture[br]by the local people, 0:04:44.401,0:04:47.513 but the surface [findings][br]had been showing us 0:04:47.514,0:04:50.476 very clearly the importance of the site, 0:04:50.477,0:04:54.850 and the dating by diagnostic[br]flint tools and other tools. 0:04:54.851,0:04:58.444 Pottery is not existent, not yet invented. 0:04:58.459,0:05:03.320 So, we call this stage in archeology[br]the pre-pottery Neolithic culture, 0:05:03.321,0:05:08.905 before the invention of pottery,[br]but it's the beginning of the Neolithic. 0:05:08.906,0:05:13.890 The Neolithic period means[br]food producing period in our terms. 0:05:15.382,0:05:18.237 To understand the importance[br]of Göbekli Tepe 0:05:18.238,0:05:22.328 we have to enlarge[br]our frame to a global view 0:05:22.329,0:05:27.830 On this map in red you see all the regions[br]in the world where this transition 0:05:27.831,0:05:30.976 from hunter-gatherer cultures[br]to food-producing cultures 0:05:30.977,0:05:33.958 happened independently from each other. 0:05:33.959,0:05:38.001 We have some regions in Meso-America,[br]South America, in the South-East, 0:05:38.030,0:05:42.850 and, of course you are right, this are[br]the numbers BC written about some. 0:05:42.851,0:05:48.166 In Africa very late in comparison[br]to this core area in the Near East 0:05:48.167,0:05:50.376 where the transition[br]happened around 9,000, 0:05:50.377,0:05:53.667 or late 10th, early 9th millennium. 0:05:53.693,0:05:59.790 The region, in the long time, we call[br]the Fertile Crescent of the Near East 0:06:02.132,0:06:05.999 because in the South[br]we have the Arabian desert, 0:06:06.000,0:06:11.205 to the North the Mountains of the Taurus[br]and the Zagros Mountains. 0:06:11.206,0:06:15.306 This is the area with[br]the most favorable climatic conditions, 0:06:15.311,0:06:20.557 the most favorable geographic conditions:[br]the Fertile Crescent. 0:06:21.415,0:06:26.133 for a long time, we thought[br]that the western wing was important 0:06:26.134,0:06:31.054 regarding the development[br]of earlier agrarian civilizations, 0:06:31.055,0:06:36.698 but now we understand, through research[br]not only by our team, but by many teams, 0:06:36.699,0:06:41.681 and in the national groups of American,[br]French, British, Turkish, Italian, 0:06:41.682,0:06:45.980 Japanese, German, and other archaeologists[br]working in this region, 0:06:45.981,0:06:48.028 we understand that there is 0:06:48.029,0:06:51.976 something like a Golden Triangle[br]within this Fertile Crescent 0:06:51.977,0:06:55.947 where the most important[br]things are going on. 0:06:57.135,0:07:00.974 And Göbekli Tepe is located[br]in the Golden Triangle, 0:07:00.975,0:07:03.054 and it has a very important role. 0:07:03.055,0:07:07.205 We will see some of the monuments[br]that we are excavating there. 0:07:07.209,0:07:12.292 The other sites marked here in red belong[br]to this time, to the 10th-9th millennium, 0:07:12.293,0:07:15.006 but these are settlements of this period. 0:07:15.007,0:07:17.825 Settlements of settled hunters-gatherers. 0:07:17.834,0:07:22.766 It was a new discovery of 20-25 years ago, 0:07:22.767,0:07:25.310 that we already have[br]settled hunters-gatherers. 0:07:25.311,0:07:28.807 We thought that hunters-gatherers[br]are always nomadic, but in this region 0:07:28.810,0:07:34.095 they changed their life already[br]before the invention of food-producing. 0:07:35.435,0:07:37.471 Göbekli Tepe is not a settlement. 0:07:37.472,0:07:43.309 It belongs to it, but is only a sanctuary,[br]or many sanctuaries together. 0:07:43.310,0:07:45.476 We'll see examples. 0:07:45.477,0:07:49.724 Neolithic, just to have an idea[br]of what it means: from wild to domestic. 0:07:49.725,0:07:54.337 Mainly here from wild to domestic cereals,[br]they are getting much bigger. 0:07:58.004,0:08:00.742 With animals it's a little more difficult, 0:08:00.743,0:08:04.433 which is the reason why only four animals[br]had been domesticated. 0:08:04.434,0:08:09.625 That's a beginning:[br]goat, sheep, cattle, and pig. 0:08:09.626,0:08:14.717 We exclude the dog; it was domesticated[br]earlier, by the hunters-gatherers already. 0:08:14.718,0:08:16.376 But it's a different story, 0:08:16.377,0:08:18.475 it was domesticated not[br]for meat production, 0:08:18.476,0:08:20.664 but to be the fellow of the hunters. 0:08:20.665,0:08:24.101 But this means Neolithic societies,[br]food-producing societies, 0:08:24.102,0:08:29.212 on the base of domesticated species,[br]plants, and animals. 0:08:30.084,0:08:34.178 Our prediction that this site[br]of Göbekli Tepe is so important 0:08:34.179,0:08:37.527 was completely fulfilled[br]during the excavations. 0:08:40.207,0:08:46.583 Here the excavation work in an aerial view[br]from 2011 with several areas. 0:08:46.584,0:08:51.606 And there are many findings,[br]like these flint tools; very common. 0:08:51.607,0:08:55.567 Or findings like sculptures. 0:08:55.568,0:08:58.298 The flints are known from everywhere, 0:08:58.299,0:09:00.893 but not such large-scale sculptures 0:09:00.894,0:09:04.598 like these ones or composite monuments 0:09:04.599,0:09:10.915 like this totem pole sculpture[br]with several elements on top: 0:09:10.916,0:09:16.734 maybe a lion, here an eye, an ear,[br]and below a human and another human. 0:09:16.735,0:09:21.122 A very exciting composition and an art,[br]which we didn't know before, 0:09:21.123,0:09:24.986 which is challenging[br]our ability to interpret. 0:09:24.987,0:09:28.106 And the most important[br]monumental architecture 0:09:28.107,0:09:31.503 - sorry, I'm mixing here -[br]monumental architecture: 0:09:31.504,0:09:36.884 mainly ovals or circles with pillars,[br]delineated by pillars. 0:09:36.885,0:09:40.837 Two of the pillars are very big ones,[br]always in the center, 0:09:40.838,0:09:44.741 and the pillars always T-shaped. 0:09:44.742,0:09:48.052 This strange T-shape we can understand 0:09:48.053,0:09:53.483 - here another view of these enclosures:[br]the surrounding oval with some T-shapes 0:09:53.484,0:09:56.514 which are smaller, and the central pillars[br]here, the T-shapes. 0:09:56.515,0:10:00.141 Fortunately, we can understand[br]the meaning of these T-shapes, 0:10:00.147,0:10:02.783 which at first seem a little bit strange. 0:10:02.784,0:10:05.603 Highly stylized humans are depicted 0:10:05.611,0:10:08.592 because in some cases[br]we have arms depicted, 0:10:08.593,0:10:13.686 we have the hands, the fingers,[br]and some parts of garment are depicted. 0:10:13.687,0:10:18.911 So, the T-shapes are stylized humans,[br]and very often in Göbekli Tepe 0:10:18.912,0:10:24.879 we have animals depicted[br]like attributes on the T-shapes. 0:10:24.880,0:10:28.034 The T-shapes are unique in history. 0:10:28.042,0:10:31.414 We don't have T-shapes[br]in the Palaeolithic period before, 0:10:31.415,0:10:33.896 we don't have them after[br]the time of Göbekli Tepe, 0:10:33.897,0:10:36.791 which ends with the 9th millennium. 0:10:36.792,0:10:40.833 There are just some very rough comparisons[br]like the 'taulas' in Menorca, 0:10:40.834,0:10:44.697 but this is a very different function,[br]a very different meaning. 0:10:44.709,0:10:46.959 It's really a table: 'taula' means table. 0:10:46.960,0:10:51.593 These are tables, no connection[br]with the T-shapes of Göbekli Tepe. 0:10:51.594,0:10:54.198 These T-shapes are so important 0:10:54.199,0:10:58.204 because looking back[br]to the upper Palaeolithic art 0:10:58.209,0:11:03.939 like Lascaux, Altamira, or the recently[br]discovered caves of Chauvet or Cosquer: 0:11:03.940,0:11:09.360 here the animals are always dominant,[br]the animals are at the center. 0:11:09.361,0:11:14.565 In Göbekli now we have the human form,[br]being the superior form, and it's clear: 0:11:14.566,0:11:17.875 there is a connection with[br]the phenomenon of domestication 0:11:17.876,0:11:21.150 because now the human is the boss, 0:11:21.151,0:11:26.293 and the animals are reduced[br]to attributes of the humans. 0:11:26.294,0:11:28.998 Some impressions of the excavations 0:11:28.999,0:11:33.564 of these circles, of these enclosures, 0:11:33.584,0:11:38.034 here for example with in situ,[br]in original position, the central pillars 0:11:38.035,0:11:41.626 with a height of 5.50 meters[br]on top of the original floor. 0:11:41.655,0:11:47.384 We didn't erect anything.[br]It's all found in its original position. 0:11:51.584,0:11:54.142 We are really very lucky[br]to have the chance 0:11:54.143,0:11:58.987 to excavate such an exciting,[br]such an important site like Göbekli Tepe. 0:11:58.988,0:12:02.668 This is unique, there is no parallel,[br]there is no comparison. 0:12:02.669,0:12:07.120 We have contemporaneous sites[br]as I told you, but they don't have 0:12:07.121,0:12:12.179 this kind of monumental art[br]and monumental pillars. 0:12:12.180,0:12:15.603 Very often we have combinations[br]of motives depicted. 0:12:15.613,0:12:18.293 They are very rich, showing[br]a narrative character, 0:12:18.304,0:12:21.340 showing that we have[br]illustrations of stories 0:12:21.346,0:12:23.876 of mythological stories in front of us. 0:12:23.884,0:12:27.066 And even more, when we look to this part, 0:12:27.067,0:12:29.041 we have objects of unknown function, 0:12:29.042,0:12:33.918 but we have animals: a bird,[br]a quadruped, a reptile, a frog. 0:12:33.924,0:12:38.593 And such an association together[br]with the objects is very similar 0:12:38.594,0:12:41.735 to things we know, for example, 0:12:41.736,0:12:45.331 from old Egypt, 4th millennium[br]Egypt, on slate palettes. 0:12:45.332,0:12:48.311 So started the Egyptian[br]hieroglyphic writing in the same way. 0:12:48.312,0:12:56.883 The sign of city and animals added to it,[br]but in Göbekli Tepe it came to its end. 0:12:56.884,0:12:58.911 There was no continuation. 0:12:58.912,0:13:02.242 Unfortunately, Göbekli[br]had been completely abandoned 0:13:02.243,0:13:04.443 for unknown reasons so far. 0:13:04.444,0:13:06.583 In Egypt, from these beginnings 0:13:06.584,0:13:09.902 the invention of the hieroglyphic[br]writing started. 0:13:09.903,0:13:14.740 Göbekli Tepe is part of this story,[br]but with a big interruption. 0:13:14.741,0:13:20.291 Here we have the image being an image,[br]we have the transformation into what 0:13:20.292,0:13:25.417 in German we call the Bildzeichen,[br]and from these Bildzeichen other signs 0:13:25.440,0:13:30.185 are developing, and here[br]we are coming to our letter alpha or A. 0:13:30.186,0:13:32.415 You can easily understand it. 0:13:32.416,0:13:35.290 But this is a discontinuation[br]of many thousands years 0:13:35.292,0:13:37.583 between Göbekli Tepe around 9,000 0:13:37.584,0:13:40.751 and the invention[br]of true writing around 3,000. 0:13:40.792,0:13:45.192 There are at least 6,000 years[br]of a gap we tried to fill, 0:13:45.193,0:13:48.756 but for the moment,[br]we don't know how to fill it. 0:13:48.757,0:13:51.299 But we want to continue our work. 0:13:51.303,0:13:54.323 Hopefully young colleagues[br]will continue the research 0:13:54.328,0:13:56.917 on this very exciting period of mankind. 0:13:56.918,0:13:59.111 One colleague said - it's not from me - 0:13:59.115,0:14:00.939 "Göbekli Tepe seems to be 0:14:00.959,0:14:04.662 the most smoking gun[br]in archeology at the moment". 0:14:04.663,0:14:08.386 I think it's really true because we have[br]so many unexpected new results, 0:14:08.387,0:14:12.081 which are changing[br]our ability to interpret. 0:14:12.083,0:14:17.285 And we can see, reconstruct that there[br]was something like a cultist community. 0:14:17.286,0:14:20.271 Göbekli Tepe with its sanctuaries[br][was] no settlement, 0:14:20.272,0:14:23.895 but [there were] settlements[br]around Göbekli Tepe. 0:14:23.896,0:14:26.124 And our zoologists can recognize 0:14:26.125,0:14:29.208 from the archaeofauna,[br]from the animal bones, 0:14:29.226,0:14:32.344 discovered in Göbekli and the other sites, 0:14:32.345,0:14:35.463 that the early domestication of cattle 0:14:35.464,0:14:39.084 was done on the Syrian Euphrates,[br]sheep on the Turkish Euphrates, 0:14:39.085,0:14:43.359 goat in the Taurus Mountains,[br]and pig in the Tigris basin. 0:14:43.360,0:14:47.000 Independently from each other,[br]but very quickly. 0:14:47.001,0:14:51.035 All these discoveries, these inventions[br]had been brought together 0:14:51.036,0:14:55.751 to what we call the Neolithic package. 0:14:55.752,0:15:00.368 This Neolithic package enables people[br]to be superior to their neighbours, 0:15:00.375,0:15:03.330 to those neighbors[br]that are still being hunters-gatherers. 0:15:03.331,0:15:05.990 Now the farming way of life was invented, 0:15:06.003,0:15:08.805 and was spreading all over Europe. 0:15:08.819,0:15:11.214 We saw this map at the beginning 0:15:11.221,0:15:15.107 with the distribution[br]of this new way of life. 0:15:16.544,0:15:19.635 How did people come to Göbekli Tepe? 0:15:19.636,0:15:21.907 How do you bring a lot of people there 0:15:21.908,0:15:26.350 to be able to erect[br]this monumental architecture? 0:15:26.351,0:15:31.500 Of course not just by saying:[br]"Hello, come and we work", no. 0:15:31.501,0:15:33.543 Feasting. Big feasting. 0:15:33.584,0:15:37.001 We can expect big feasting[br]to have happened at the mound, 0:15:37.002,0:15:42.480 so people came there and so they had[br]the power for working events on the side. 0:15:42.501,0:15:46.506 We have a lot of experimental archeology 0:15:46.507,0:15:49.763 on how to move monoliths,[br]on how to move big stones. 0:15:49.764,0:15:53.545 But we fortunately also have[br]some authentic photos from Indonesia 0:15:53.546,0:15:55.334 done by European travelers, 0:15:55.337,0:15:59.680 showing how megaliths[br]are being actually moved 0:15:59.681,0:16:04.024 for the construction[br]of the tomb of a king. 0:16:04.025,0:16:08.369 We can be very sure[br]in Göbekli Tepe it was looking similar. 0:16:08.389,0:16:10.056 This in short a story 0:16:10.057,0:16:15.384 which is just a rough framing[br]of a story of results. 0:16:15.385,0:16:18.875 Not only my results: this is teamwork. 0:16:18.876,0:16:21.293 Archeology usually is teamwork, 0:16:21.318,0:16:26.140 including local workers[br]from the nearby villages, 0:16:26.141,0:16:29.804 including students from Europe and Turkey, 0:16:29.805,0:16:32.117 including scientists, specialists 0:16:34.997,0:16:38.028 in archaeofauna, botany, and other things. 0:16:38.029,0:16:40.883 We will try to continue for many years 0:16:40.884,0:16:46.248 and to answer many[br]of the still open questions 0:16:46.249,0:16:51.634 about this unexpected[br]and exciting world of hunters-gatherers, 0:16:54.004,0:16:58.201 who changed to become farmers,[br]and who changed the world history. 0:16:58.202,0:16:59.612 Thank you. 0:16:59.613,0:17:00.827 (Applause)