Due to lower water levels at the Atatürk Dam reservoir in Adıyaman, a monumental Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) archaeological site has surfaced in the area, yielding important new evidence related to the ‘Taş Tepeler’ (Stone Hills) cultural phenomenon. The site has become exposed due to the significant drop in water levels within the reservoir basin and contains a contains significant findings, including ritualistic construction and T-shaped stone pillars, which were built before the advent of a permanent urban civilisation. Archaeologists from Adıyaman University and personnel from the local museum have begun to carry out immediate rescue operation activities on these artefacts, so that they can document the materials prior to them once again being submerged in water. According to the study published in The Archaeologist, this discovery provides evidence that these sophisticated symbolic and architectural traditions that had previously been assumed to have only existed at Göbeklitepe actually extended throughout the Euphrates basins and thus represent a substantially larger geographic area than has previously been recognised as having potential Neolithic activity. Therefore, the information provided by this site is critical to expanding knowledge of the Neolithic period and dramatically changes the perspective of the region as being one of the original areas of human ritualistic and social complexity.
A Neolithic period structure discovered in Turkey
After experiencing a significant recession in its reservoir levels, archaeologists from the Adıyaman Museum Directorate have discovered T-shaped stone pillars near Kızılöz village, in the Samsat district. ‘There is evidence that these monuments were originally buried two to three meters deep and have now been exposed because of erosion from the dam’s water,’ said Adıyaman Museum Deputy Director Mustafa Çelik. According to experts, these pillars and the associated patio are typical of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period, estimated to be roughly 11,000 years old.
Architectural hallmarks of the Taş Tepeler culture
Professor Dr Sabahattin Ezer of Adıyaman University stated that the structures represent evidence of the ‘Taş Tepeler’ culture, which is characterised by a large number of monumental, human-shaped, vertically oriented, stone pillars in the area. The same type of shallow, hole-shaped constructions, surrounded by large, flat, rectangular stones, with a single T-shaped pillar in the middle, were described as ‘ritual centres’ located in Şanlıurfa. The findings reveal that the cultural influence of the ‘Stone Hills’ extended farther northwest into the Euphrates River corridor than other archaeological sites previously documented.
Rescue operations and preservation efforts at the Atatürk Dam site
Due to being within a reservoir zone, the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism classified the site as a ‘rescue excavation.’ The fluctuations in the levels of the dam present a threat of additional erosion from the water or permanent submergence. To conserve and display many of the movable artefacts, the archaeologists have moved them to Perre Ancient City. In the meantime, the archaeologists are working quickly to document the remaining structures before the water rises back to its maximum pool elevation.