Unprecedented archaeological find in Turkey: 11,000-year-old sculpture discovered
A historic discovery has shaken the world of archaeology. The Minister of Culture and Tourism of Turkey, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, confirmed the finding of a unique piece at the Karahantepe site, located in the southeast of the country. It is a sculpture approximately 11,000 years old that shows a human figure mounted on a leopard, a representation that challenges what was previously known about Neolithic art.
The piece, which reaches 70 centimeters in height, stands out for its unique composition by integrating a human being and an animal into a single structure. According to Turkish authorities, this artistic style is unprecedented in the known archaeological records of the period.
Context of the discovery at Karahantepe
The discovery was made in its original location: on a stone bench attached to the wall of a circular structure three meters in diameter, where it was placed more than a millennium ago. This site is part of the ambitious excavation project that Turkey is leading to deepen knowledge of the Neolithic in the Upper Mesopotamia region.
I believe this discovery, which opens the door to new questions about the earliest periods of human history, will resonate widely in the scientific world.
Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Minister of Culture and Tourism of Turkey
A site of global importance
Karahantepe, located about 50 kilometers from the city of Şanlıurfa, was first identified in 1997, although it was from September 2019 that systematic excavations began. Together with the nearby site of Göbeklitepe, this place is recognized as one of the oldest and most relevant Neolithic settlements on the planet.
- Karahantepe and Göbeklitepe are key pieces for understanding societies in the early stages of the Neolithic.
- In 2023, Karahantepe had already captured international attention by unearthing a 2.5-meter-tall human statue, marking a milestone in modern archaeological research.
This new finding reaffirms Turkey’s strategic importance in the research of the origins of human civilization, constantly providing data that forces us to rewrite the most remote chapters of our history.
