A recent excavation at Karahan Tepe, a significant Pre-Pottery Neolithic site in southeast Türkiye, has unveiled a fascinating artifact: the figure of a running wild donkey carved on a stone. This discovery adds to the growing body of evidence that Karahan Tepe, along with other sites in the Taş Tepeler (Stone Hills) region, played a crucial role in the development of early human civilization.
Karahan Tepe: A Key Site in the Stone Hills Region
Karahan Tepe is part of the broader Taş Tepeler project, a region in Şanlıurfa province known for its ancient sites featuring T-shaped anthropomorphic pillars similar to those first discovered at Göbekli Tepe, reports Arkeonews. Located just 23 miles (37 km) southeast of Göbekli Tepe, Karahan Tepe is one of several sites that have transformed our understanding of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period, dating back around 11,000 years.
The 2024 excavation season at Karahan Tepe has been particularly fruitful, uncovering over 250 T-shaped obelisks and now, the striking depiction of a wild donkey.
Karahan Tepe is a large and complex Neolithic site, dated over 11,000 years. (mknisanci/Adobe Stock)
The figure, carved into one of the stones paving the floor of a sunken building, stands out not only for its detailed representation but also for its context. The building, with a branch roof supported by a short stone wall, had a floor paved with large, flat stones, some of which were used as grinding stones. The discovery of the donkey motif on one of these stones…
The post Wild Donkey Motif Found at Karahan Tepe appeared first on Leak Project.
* This article was originally published here