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Researchers studying two burials at Göbeklitepe say many of the site’s widely scattered human bone fragments may have come from ordinary graves beneath building floors. Erosion and slope movement could have carried the remains downhill, though evidence of deliberate treatment of some skulls points to varied burial customs.
Two intact burials at Göbeklitepe have given researchers new evidence that many human bone fragments scattered through the ancient site may have been carried from ordinary graves by erosion and slope movement. The study, published in PLOS One, examines the burials and compares them with 928 human bone fragments recovered from the wider site in southeastern Türkiye.
The burials date to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period, between 8,700 and 8,000 BCE. One was beneath the plaster floor of a rectangular building and contained the remains of at least three people: a woman aged at least 35, a man aged 20 to 30, and a girl aged 11 to 14. Some bones may represent a fourth person. Their remains had shifted into clusters, but the presence of small hand and foot bones suggests complete bodies, or complete limbs, were initially placed in the pit.
The second grave held a young adult, likely a woman aged 20 to 30. The body had been placed on its left side in a flexed position, facing east. Much of the skeleton remained in place, although many bones were fragmented. Researchers link the damage to calcareous deposits and soil pressure; rodent activity may also have moved smaller pieces. The first burial showed no cut marks, heat damage, or traces of ochre, while some bones had been gnawed by rodents.
The researchers report that the damage and fragmentation in both graves resemble patterns among the scattered remains. They propose that graves beneath buildings on higher ground were disturbed as the mound accumulated soil and debris. Erosion and slope slides could then have carried bones downhill into the monumental buildings, mixing remains from people of different ages and sexes with other material.
How Graves Reached the Buildings
The study offers a physical explanation for the bones’ distribution: remains found inside monumental structures may have been displaced from graves elsewhere on the mound. That interpretation would change how researchers read the 928 fragments, which are spread across about 3,000 square meters and several meters of deposits. Their presence together need not mean that all those people were placed in one unusual burial or that the fragments were deliberately scattered across the site.
The finding also matters because burial customs are part of how archaeologists interpret life at Göbeklitepe. If many fragments arrived through geological movement, their location alone cannot establish a ritual practice. The study connects evidence from intact graves with material from the wider site, while leaving room for different customs and deliberate treatment of some remains.
Burials Beneath Neolithic Floors
Göbeklitepe has been excavated since 1995. Researchers have recovered hundreds of human bone fragments among deposits in and around its monumental buildings, but their scattered positions have made their origin difficult to interpret. The newly described graves are the first two intact burials reported from the site, according to the source report.
Earlier research found that some skulls had deep cuts associated with deliberate treatment. The assemblage also contains 408 skull fragments, compared with 283 fragments from other parts of the skeleton. These observations support the possibility that some people received special treatment after death. They do not, by themselves, establish that every scattered bone was part of the same practice.
The new study, by J. Gresky and L. Clare, was published in PLOS One as “First burials give insights into mortuary rites at Göbeklitepe, Early Neolithic Türkiye.” Its comparison of two graves with fragments from the site’s buildings supports an explanation based partly on movement of the mound, rather than a single burial custom accounting for all the remains.
““First burials give insights into mortuary rites at Göbeklitepe, Early Neolithic Türkiye.””
— J. Gresky and L. Clare, study authors
Which Burial Customs Remain Unclear
The researchers’ explanation applies to many of the scattered fragments, but it does not rule out other burial customs at Göbeklitepe. Some skulls bear evidence of deliberate modification, and the source report notes that other Neolithic sites in the region show different ways of handling human remains. The evidence described so far does not establish how widespread or when each practice was used at Göbeklitepe.
It is also not yet clear how many of the 928 fragments came from graves displaced by erosion, or how much movement occurred through erosion compared with slope slides and other changes in the soil. The reported ages and sex assessments for people in the graves are estimates; one burial may include bones from a fourth person. Further bone studies and direct dating are needed to clarify these points.
Further Dating and Bone Studies
The study identifies further bone analysis and direct dating as next steps for establishing when burial practices took place at Göbeklitepe. Dating remains from graves and the wider assemblage could help researchers test whether the scattered fragments and intact burials belong to the same periods. More analysis may also help distinguish displacement caused by the mound’s movement from deliberate handling of particular remains.
Until those studies are available, the two graves provide a useful comparison rather than a complete account of every human bone found at the site. The current interpretation is that many fragments were moved from graves by the changing landscape, while some evidence points to additional mortuary practices.
Key Questions
What did researchers find at Göbeklitepe?
They examined two intact burials dating to between 8,700 and 8,000 BCE, the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period. One held at least three people; the other held a young adult, likely a woman.
Why are human bones scattered through the site?
The study suggests that many fragments came from graves beneath buildings higher on the mound. Erosion and slope movement may have carried remains downhill into the monumental buildings as soil and debris accumulated.
Does the study rule out ritual treatment of the dead?
No. Some skulls at Göbeklitepe show signs of deliberate modification. The study offers a likely explanation for many scattered fragments, but it does not rule out other burial customs.
What remains uncertain?
Researchers still need further bone studies and direct dating to establish when different practices occurred and how many scattered fragments came from displaced graves.
Source: hn
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