Taş Tepeler – The discovery of a Neolithic cultural landscape

Research conducted since the mid-1990s at Göbeklitepe – an UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2018 in southeastern Türkiye – has fundamentally changed our understanding of how humans became sedentary. Current excavations as part of the Şanlıurfa Neolithic Research Project show that Göbeklitepe cannot longer be considered an isolated exception, but rather part of a vast Neolithic cultural landscape – the so-called Taş Tepeler (“stone hills”).

The exhibition “Building community” at the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin now provides insights into the social and architectural developments of these early communities. Exhibits, reconstructions, and photographs illustrate the world of hunter-gatherers 12,000 years ago at the transition to sedentary life, while also highlighting the close collaboration and joint research with colleagues from Türkiye today: “I am very pleased that we are able to show this history in all its complexity for the first time – research has developed rapidly. The fact that this is happening in close and trusting cooperation with our Turkish partners is of particular importance to us,” emphasizes Barbara Helwing, Director of the Vorderasiatisches Museum of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.

From exceptions to key finds
Characteristic T-pillars of the same type as discovered at Göbeklitepe can be found at numerous other sites in the region, including Karahantepe, Sayburç, Sefertepe, Harbetsuvan Tepesi, and Yenimahalle. The dating of these sites to between 10,000 and 7,000 BC attests to a shared cultural identity and a far-reaching interaction sphere extending from southeastern Anatolia to northwestern Syria. New findings show that the region formed a network of complex Neolithic communities whose monuments served both ritual and social functions. Community cohesion was a crucial factor for survival and adaptability amid changing social and climatic parameters.

Şanlıurfa Neolithic Research Project
Since 2021, these Taş Tepeler sites have been investigated in an international research project led by Prof. Necmi Karul (Istanbul University). Its aim is to explore social structures and interactions of early Neolithic communities, which established complex meeting and communal spaces long before the introduction of agriculture and animal husbandry: "In recent years, we have been able to show that Göbeklitepe was not only a sanctuary for local hunter-gatherer communities, but also a place where people lived. These findings are confirmed by excavations at other sites in the Taş Tepeler project. One focus of our current research is on the living areas and their relationship to the monumental special structures with their characteristic T-pillars," says Lee Clare, Prehistoric Archaeology Officer at the DAI Istanbul.

Of life and death
At over 12,000 years old, the stone monuments are among the oldest of their kind.
Archaeological findings document not only ritual use, but also everyday life and social interaction: human figures are increasingly coming to the fore, often in narrative scenes with animals that illustrate power, danger, and social roles. This points to the development of a new cultural self-perception in which humans actively shape their environment. In addition to numerous reliefs of foxes, boars, cranes, vultures, and snakes, finds of human skulls and long bones as well as skeletonized figures testify to an increasing iconographic engagement with death and dying. Monumental architecture and funeral rituals indicate that the deceased continued to play an important social role for the living.

Identity and society in the Neolithic period
The Taş Tepeler illustrate the transition from mobile hunter-gatherer communities to sedentary, food-producing societies. Monumentalization, communal buildings, and the deliberate staging of human and mythological figures up to six meters high mark a turning point in social organization. These developments had a lasting impact on both cultural identity and community structures and laid the foundations for later societies.

“Building community. Göbeklitepe, Taş Tepeler and life 12,000 years ago”
The exhibition in the James Simon Gallery displays images, everyday objects, and jewelry that tell the story of how people lived together during this period of a shifting framework in human history. Archaeological finds and architectural reconstructions are complemented by contemporary photographic interpretations by Spanish photo-artist Isabel Muñoz, inviting visitors to immerse themselves at the transition from hunter-gatherer cultures to sedentary life. Together with current research findings, it provides essential insights into the emergence of complex communities in the early Neolithic period and broadens our understanding of cultural development during the transition from mobility to sedentary life. The exhibition can be seen at the James Simon Gallery on Museum Island in Berlin until July 19, 2026. For more information about visiting the exhibition, please visit: https://www.smb.museum/en/exhibitions/detail/building-community/

The exhibition "Building community. Göbeklitepe, Taş Tepeler and life 12,000 years ago“ was developed by a team led by Barbara Helwing, Vorderasiatisches Museum, and Necmi Karul, Istanbul University, and is a collaboration between the Vorderasiatisches Museum, the Şanlıurfa Archaeological Museum, and the ”Taş Tepeler" research project at Istanbul University, with the participation of the German Archaeological Institute. Most of the archaeological objects from the Şanlıurfa Museum are being shown abroad for the first time. The exhibition is made possible with funding from the German Foundation Klassenlotterie, the Board of Trustees of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, the Freunde der Antike auf der Museumsinsel Berlin e.V., and Turkish Airlines.