First burials give insights into mortuary rites at Göbeklitepe, Early Neolithic Türkiye
- 1Faculty of Biology and Psychology, Georg-August University, Göttingen, Germany
- 2Division of Natural Sciences, German Archaeological Institute, Berlin, Germany
Abstract
Since the beginning of excavations at Göbeklitepe, a Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) site in southeastern Türkiye, fragmented human bones have been recovered from the fill of the special (monumental) buildings. These fragments derive from males and females of all age categories and exhibit various taphonomic alterations. Compared with contemporaneous Anatolian burial customs, certain parallels exist; however, the seemingly random distribution of human bone fragments at Göbeklitepe remains enigmatic. Recently, the first two intact burials were discovered in Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (8,700–8,000 BCE) contexts. The taphonomic evidence from these burials could explain the presence of the dispersed human bone fragments. It appears that lower-lying parts of the site became inundated by slope deposits from higher areas of the mound, which contained human remains from originally intact burials. Nonetheless, this explanation does not rule out the possibility of additional mortuary practices, thereby underscoring the considerable diversity of burial rituals in Neolithic Anatolia.
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BibTeX
@article{gresky2026first,
title = {{First burials give insights into mortuary rites at Göbeklitepe, Early Neolithic Türkiye}},
author = {Julia Gresky and Lee Clare},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0358979},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0358979},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - First burials give insights into mortuary rites at Göbeklitepe, Early Neolithic Türkiye
AU - Julia Gresky
AU - Lee Clare
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/22
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0358979
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0358979
AB - Since the beginning of excavations at Göbeklitepe, a Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) site in southeastern Türkiye, fragmented human bones have been recovered from the fill of the special (monumental) buildings. These fragments derive from males and females of all age categories and exhibit various taphonomic alterations. Compared with contemporaneous Anatolian burial customs, certain parallels exist; however, the seemingly random distribution of human bone fragments at Göbeklitepe remains enigmatic. Recently, the first two intact burials were discovered in Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (8,700–8,000 BCE) contexts. The taphonomic evidence from these burials could explain the presence of the dispersed human bone fragments. It appears that lower-lying parts of the site became inundated by slope deposits from higher areas of the mound, which contained human remains from originally intact burials. Nonetheless, this explanation does not rule out the possibility of additional mortuary practices, thereby underscoring the considerable diversity of burial rituals in Neolithic Anatolia.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -