A roughly 11,000-year-old stone relief from modern-day Turkey offers a glimpse into the beliefs, fears, and stories shared by these Neolithic Anatolians.
About 11,000 years ago in what is now southern Turkey, hunter-gatherers abandoned their roving lifestyles to settle down. They built durable stone homes and monuments centuries before farming took hold there. Now, a recently discovered carving offers a glimpse into the beliefs, fears, and stories shared by these Neolithic Anatolians.
In southeastern Anatolia, lifestyles changed radically between 12,000 and 9000 years ago, as nomadic hunter-gatherers gradually became sedentary and, later, took up farming. During this transition, early villagers constructed fantastic round-walled buildings more than 10 meters in diameter. The stone structures featured megalithic pillars sculpted into lions, serpents, and other frightening creatures, exhibiting their nastiest bits—teeth, claws, horns, and the like.
Other scholars are excited to see the site’s art, which depicts figures usually found in isolation. Interpretations of what the art means differ. Müller-Neuhof thinks only the bull picture, with its figures facing each other, depicts a narrative tale. In contrast, the penis-clutching person may face into the room to greet visitors or scare off unwelcome guests.
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