A newly discovered temple in Turkey means Mesopotamians might not have been the first civilization!

Gobekli Tepe is an archaeological site in southern Turkey that made headlines in 2011. It is believed to have been built some 11,600 years ago. It is the oldest known example of monumental architecture, which means it is the first structure more built more sophisticated by humans than a hut. It is believed to be older than the Mesopotamian ruins. Huge temples were built with flint tools and mortared clay.

They built huge pillars and walls.The pillars were big—the tallest are 18 feet in height and weigh 16 tons, yet they were set only 15 inches into the ground, where they were fixed with clay and stone. When a new temple was built, the old one was burned down.
It is unclear what the temples were actually used for, but findings suggest animal sacrifices were common. Large carvings of animals were located at the entrance of the temples. The nearest river at the time of the Gobekli Tepe was three miles away, begging the question as to how workers and laborers got their water.

It is possible that children retrieved the water and brought it to the temples. Anyways, the whole finding is fascinating and changes what we thought we knew about the earliest civilizations.

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