The World’s Oldest Observatory Proven at Karahan Tepe

The Karahan Tepe winter solstice alignment with reconstruction on the right. Images: Hugh Newman and Kevin Eslinger.

A remarkable winter solstice sunrise phenomenon at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic site of Karahan Tepe (9400 BC - 8200 BC) was discovered by the authors of this article, Hugh Newman and JJ Ainsworth in December 2021. Known as the sister site to Göbekli Tepe, and part of the Taş Tepeler (Stone Hills) project, it is located in the Tektek Mountain, some 20 miles southeast of Şanlıurfa, Turkey. Karahan Tepe was first discovered in 1997 by Bahattin Çelik with excavation beginning in 2019. Hunter-gatherers constructed large stone circular structures, sunken bedrock pits and hundreds of T-shaped pillars and intricate statues. This unique winter solstice discovery may be the oldest solstice alignment built into a megalithic site on the planet (being 7000 years older than Stonehenge’s summer solstice). However, it has recently been claimed that the ancient builders had little interest in astronomy and that a roof may have blocked any such alignment.² The authors stand by their findings as new 3D reconstructions and astronomical data reveal how well it worked in ancient times, even with a hypothetical roof.