Göbekli Tepe and the first monumental enclosures

Hunter-gatherers on a limestone ridge near Şanlıurfa raised rings of carved T-shaped pillars, decorated with foxes, boars, snakes and vultures, before farming had taken hold in the region. The site overturned the idea that settled agriculture had to come before monumental building, and nearby Karahan Tepe shows it belonged to a wider regional culture.