Turkish archaeologists have uncovered an ancient site that may likely be older than Göbekli Tepe, known as the world’s oldest temple.

How old is Göbekli Tepe?

According to Smithsonian magazine Göbekli Tepe predates Stonehenge by 6,000 years and “upends the conventional view of the rise of civilization.” The site is regarded as early evidence of prehistoric worship, featuring unmistakable temples and stunningly carved stone monoliths. 11,000-year old mysterious structure has been called the oldest known temple in the world, and no one knows how or why Gobekli Tepe was built all those millennia ago.

Older than Göbekli Tepe

Rector at Artuklu University İbrahim Özcoşar told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the discovery made at Boncuklu Tarla (Beaded Field), in southeastern Turkey’s Mardin, resembles Göbekli Tepe but could be 1,000 years older.

Excavations at the site, located in Mardin’s Dargeçit district, began in 2012. Preliminary estimates suggest that the site dates back to the Neolithic period. The area is known to have been home to Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Hittites, Assyrians, Romans, Seljuks and Ottomans, among others, throughout history.

“It is possible to consider this as a finding that proves the first settlers (n the area) were believers,” Özcoşar said. “This area is important in terms of being one of the first human settlements,” he added, pointing to the similarities between Boncuklu Tarla and Göbekli Tepe.

Ergül Kodaş, an archaeologist at Artuklu University, said the history of Boncuklu Tarla is estimated to be around 12,000 years old.

“Several special structures, which we can call temples, were unearthed in the settlement, in addition to many houses and dwellings,” Kodaş said.

Certainly, the ancient sites at Göbekli Tepe and Boncuklu Tarla stretch the limits of academic preconceptions and conclusions. Some researchers, like Graham Hancock, Dr. Robert Schoch, and Randall Carlson, have been advocating for a change in paradigm among mainstream archeology. They entertain the possibility that there is evidence pointing to the possibility that there was a major global catastrophe at the end of the last Ice Age, caused by the impact of a comet. For many early people, this marked the end of the world as they knew it. The question is whether the few survivors could have intermingled with hunter-gatherers to create a new type of society and civilization.

Needless to say that at this point in time, the site of Göbekli Tepe remains unexcavated, with about 90 percent of the site still underground, and Boncuklu Tara is also just now being uncovered. Only an open mind may yield a more accurate picture of the world as it was 12,000-plus years ago, perhaps changing the timeline of human history.

featured image © Anadolu agency via Daily Sabah