Ancient Carvings in Turkey: Earliest Solar Calendar

Markings on a stone pillar at Göbekli Tepe, a 12,000-year-old archaeological site in southeastern Turkey, likely represent the world's oldest solar calendar. Researchers suggest these carvings could have been created to commemorate a significant comet strike that affected human civilization. Experts argue this site, with its intricate symbols and temple-like enclosures, possibly records a critical astronomical event and could demonstrate ancient people's ability to monitor the sun, moon, and constellations.

Recent analysis by scientists from the University of Edinburgh has identified that the V-shaped carvings on the pillars may each signify a single day, allowing for the identification of a 365-day solar calendar composed of 12 lunar months and an additional 11 days, research published in Time and Mind., suggests. A unique V shape worn around the neck of a bird-like figure on another pillar seems to symbolize the summer solstice constellation of the period. Nearby statues also bear similar V-shaped carvings at their necks, suggesting the usage of a lunisolar calendar much older than any previously known examples.

Researchers surmise that these carvings could have been made to chronicle the impact of a comet fragment swarm hitting Earth around 10,850 BC, an event believed to have caused a mini ice age lasting over 1,200 years, wiping out many large animal species and advancing significant shifts in human lifestyles and agriculture. One of the site’s pillars seemingly depicts the Taurid meteor stream, thought to provide the comet fragments and lasting 27 days, originating from Aquarius and Pisces.

These findings indicate ancient observers possibly understood and recorded dates based on the precession—the axial wobble of Earth affecting constellation positions—at least 10,000 years before the phenomenon was documented by Ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus in 150 BC. The sustained relevance of these carvings over millennia at Göbekli Tepe suggests the events they recorded may have spurred the development of a new religious cult influencing early civilization.

Dr. Martin Sweatman, leading this research, emphasized that the keen astronomical insight of Göbekli Tepe’s inhabitants potentially marked the beginnings of writing and structured societal development in response to this significant comet impact. He notes that these efforts to track the changing sky post-impact possibly kickstarted advancements in agriculture to mitigate the resultant cold climate, laying foundations for future civilizations.

Earlier, SSP wrote that the Moon's atmosphere was revealed through Apollo mission soil samples.