Göbekli Tepe: Is Civilization 5,000 Years Older Than We Thought? (ep 640)

What if civilization didn’t begin the way we thought it did?

For generations, the standard story was fairly straightforward: hunter-gatherers settled down, developed agriculture, built permanent communities, and eventually created cities, temples, art, writing, and civilization.

Then archaeologists discovered Göbekli Tepe.

Built around 9,500 BC in what is now southeastern Turkey, Göbekli Tepe is more than 5,000 years older than the Sumerian civilization and more than twice as far back in time as the pyramids are from us. Its massive stone pillars, elaborate animal carvings, and monumental structures were apparently created by people who had no metal tools, no domesticated animals, and no established agriculture.

So who built it? Why did scattered groups of hunter-gatherers gather there and undertake such an enormous project? Why was the site eventually buried? And why does some of the older work appear more sophisticated than what came later?

Pigweed and Crowhill explore Göbekli Tepe, the Younger Dryas, the traditional story of the rise of civilization, and the strange questions raised by one of archaeology’s most fascinating discoveries. We also venture into the theories of lost civilizations and Atlantis—and ask how much mystery is left once the wild speculation is stripped away.

Plus, we review a pilsner.