Archaeological research in Turkey has found surprising evidence that humans witnessed astronomical events that changed the planet thousands of years ago.
A study published at the University of Edinburgh Time and Mind The journal highlights what researcher Dr. Martin Sweatman found at the Göbekli Tepe archaeological site in southern Turkey. He found intricately carved symbols on several temple structures that suggest the people living there around 10,850 BCE, some 13,000 years ago, created a calendar and record of past events.
Among the discoveries was a 365 V-shaped symbol carved into one of the pillars at the site, suggesting it could be a calendar of some kind. There were also records of the movements of the sun, moon and constellations in the sky over the years.
Even more striking is what appears to be a depiction of the Taurid meteor shower in another column. The Taurids are associated with Comet Encke, which has long been hypothesized to be the source of the Younger Dryas impact. This otherworldly event is an event that some scientists claim led to a cooling period at the end of the last ice age. This so-called “mini ice age” is thought to have lasted more than 1,200 years and wiped out many large animal species. According to the findings, the shower lasted a total of 27 days.
“The inhabitants of Göbekli Tepe appear to have been careful observers of the skies, which is to be expected given that their world was devastated by a comet strike,” Sweatman said in a statement about the research. “This event may have spurred civilization by initiating a new religion and spurring improvements in agriculture to cope with the cold climate. Their attempts to record what they saw are likely the first steps toward the development of writing millennia later.”
What do you think about keeping records for the future?