World’s Oldest Calendar Discovered at 13,000-Year-Old Turkish Temple

Archaeologists have unearthed what’s believed to be the world’s oldest Sun-and-Moon calendar, carved into an enormous stone pillar at Göbekli Tepe, a famend archaeological website in southern Turkey. This vital discovery, detailed in a research revealed on July 24 in Time and Mind, presents new insights into early human timekeeping. The pillar, which dates again practically 13,000 years, is etched with 365 V-shaped symbols. Researchers interpret every “V” as representing a single day, making this historic calendar a complicated system that features 12 lunar months plus an extra 11 days.

Deciphering the World’s Oldest Calendar

This design displays a exact try to trace the photo voltaic yr and lunar cycles. Additionally, the pillar contains a carving of a bird-like creature surrounded by related V-shaped symbols. This depiction might symbolize the summer season solstice constellation because it appeared on the time.

Such intricate carvings are thought to have been created round 10,850 B.C., coinciding with a major comet strike that would have had a profound impression on the local weather and tradition of the interval.

The comet strike is believed to have triggered an ice age, which could have led to main shifts within the society at Göbekli Tepe. This occasion may have spurred the emergence of latest spiritual practices or cultural shifts, in addition to developments in agriculture to adapt to the colder local weather. The creation of this calendar may need been an effort to document and perceive these dramatic celestial occasions.

Martin Sweatman, a research writer from the University of Edinburgh, suggests that the comet strike and subsequent environmental modifications may have been catalysts for the event of writing techniques. The carvings at Göbekli Tepe provide a window into how early people noticed and recorded their world, laying the groundwork for future developments in human information.

This discovery provides to our understanding of early astronomical and cultural practices in Turkey, revealing the complexity and class of prehistoric societies.