8000-year old a structure with T-shaped monument stone unearthed in Gokcheada
8000-year old a structure with T-shaped monument stone unearthed in Gokcheada
Anadolu Agency reports – A monument thought to be around 8,000 years old have been found in the Ugurlu-Zeytinlik mound in the north-west of Turkey, in the Gokceada district of Canakkale province.
The structure is the T-shaped monument – an obelisk – tall, four-sided tapering structure, ending in pyramidion.
“We have found during our excavation of these years a structure which we believe dates back to some 6,000 B.C.,” said Burcin Erdogu from Trakya University, archeologist and head of the excavation team.
Excavations on the Ugurlu-Zeytinlik mountain in the northwestern province of the Gokceada district of Canakkale had earlier revealed the structure complex of 7,000 years ago.
Gökçeada (historically, Imbros), an island in the Aegean Sea, northwestern Turkey, dates back to 8,800 years. Herodotus and Homer refer to Gökçeada as the settlement inhabited by the Pelasgians in antiquity.
The Pelasgians were the ancestors (or forerunners) of the Greeks and were considered the indigenous inhabitants of the Aegean Sea region.
“This structure is an important discovery both for the Aegean islands and western Anatolia,” Erdogu said.
It is made of two pieces, interconnected by seven-meter-long walls. This discovery reminds standing stones in Gobeklitepe, first discovered in the 1960s, and located in Turkey’s southeastern Sanliurfa province.
Gobeklitepe that comprises huge stone slabs that had been purposefully arranged is thought to have been used for ritual or religious purposes. Therefore, it is widely considered the world’s first temple.
As to the newly discovered monument, Erdogu said it was the general thought that public structures, such as temples, were disappearing through the near East.
According to Erdogu, “the monumental structures seem like part of an area where people gathered and held some activities and rituals,” and this structure also will shed light on the history of Gokceada district of northwestern Canakkale province.