Markings on a pillar at the Gobekli Tepe site in Turkey may be the world’s oldest known solar calendar, scientists revealed Tuesday.
Though writer Graham Hancock has long argued the markings on the pillars at Gobekli Tepe represent a date, scientists are now confirming his hypothesis with peer-reviewed data, according to Eurekalert. The site is estimated to be around 12,000 years old, with the markings representing an astronomical event around that period of time that triggered a drastic shift in human civilization — as Hancock suggested in “Ancient Apocalypse:” a comet strike.
The megalithic site has long-been the subject of deep contention, given it represents a level of technological advancement considered impossible by humanity during the Paleolithic-Neolithic period. Big Archaeology also often disputes the notion a comet or comet swarm struck Earth around 13,000 years ago.
@Graham__Hancock has found something profoundly important in human history. Why is archaeology so determined to not do any work on his hypothesis?
‘Ancient Apocalypse’ Is Revolutionary, Beautiful, A True Must-See Series | @DailyCaller https://t.co/SnMEub0MYx
— KAY SMYTHE (@KaySmythe) November 15, 2022
The new study, published in the journal Time and Mind, argues the carvings at Gobekli Tepe show the Taurid meteor stream, as previously argued by Hancock. (RELATED: If The Largest Asteroid Near Earth Hit Us, Here’s What It Would Look Like)
“The find also appears to confirm that ancient people were able to record dates using precession – the wobble in Earth’s axis which affects the movement of constellations across the sky – at least 10,000 years before the phenomenon was documented by Hipparchus of Ancient Greece in 150 BC,” the statement notes.
“It appears the inhabitants of Göbekli Tepe were keen observers of the sky, which is to be expected given their world had been devastated by a comet strike. This event might have triggered civilisation by initiating a new religion and by motivating developments in agriculture to cope with the cold climate. Possibly, their attempts to record what they saw are the first steps towards the development of writing millennia later.” University of Edinburgh’s Dr. Martin Sweatman said in the statement.
More concerningly, the study supports the idea that Earth faces a heightened risk of a devastating comet strike when we orbit through the path of fragments. (RELATED: Dear Kay: I Watched ‘Ancient Apocalypse’ And Now I’m Scared We’re Going To Die Before 2025)
While the study doesn’t necessarily lean into details on who built Gobekli Tepe — or how — understanding this “why” offers archaeologists not indoctrinated by Big Archaeology’s firm interpretation of the past, a chance to explore new ways of seeing our ancestors evolve.
