Turkey Site Carvings May Show Historic Comet Strike

A site in Turkey, believed to be older than the Great Pyramid of Giza by about 7,000 years, is now revealing mysterious carvings that might depict a major ancient comet strike. The Göbekli Tepe archaeological site, dating back nearly 12,000 years, is considered one of the oldest known places of worship, predating the 4,500-year-old pyramids.

The site features temple-like enclosures adorned with intricately carved symbols. Recent analysis suggests that these carvings may record an astronomical event that led to a significant shift in early human civilization. If correct, this could indicate that the ancient inhabitants of Göbekli Tepe created the world’s oldest solar calendar, using techniques later adopted by the Greeks.

Martin Sweatman, a chemical engineer from the University of Edinburgh and lead author of the study, notes that the site’s inhabitants were keen sky observers. Their world was possibly affected by a comet strike, which is thought to have occurred around 10,850 BC. This event might have led to a mini-ice age lasting over 1,200 years, contributing to the rise of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent as societies transitioned from hunter-gatherer lifestyles.

The V-shaped symbols carved on pillars at Göbekli Tepe might represent individual days, forming a calendar of 365 days that includes 12 lunar months and 11 extra days. One symbol is thought to denote the summer solstice, while other carvings might depict deities. This potential lunisolar calendar could be the earliest known, pre-dating other similar calendars by millennia.

Another pillar at the site possibly illustrates the Taurid meteor stream, believed to be the source of the comet fragments that bombarded Earth for 27 days. The impact of this comet strike could have sparked the development of a new religion and prompted advancements in agriculture.

Sweatman’s findings suggest that ancient people could record dates by observing the Earth's precession, a phenomenon that alters the movement of constellations across the sky. This would mean that the people of Göbekli Tepe had sophisticated timekeeping methods around 10,000 years before similar techniques were documented by the Greeks. These early records might represent the first steps toward the development of writing.