Göbekli Tepe, Karahan Tepe and many of the Taş Tepeler sites in Southeastern Turkey, are widely known about because of the incredible decorated, and sometimes enormous T-shaped stone pillars.
These megalithic blocks are single pieces of quarried limestone, and have a functional, decorative and symbolic purpose. Since their discovery in the 1990s, they have captured everyone’s imagination, and the amazing thing about Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe is the fact there are unfinished T-pillars still inside the quarries.
I was lucky enough to see the one at Karahan Tepe earlier this year and on my return, I wanted to learn more about the origins of the pillars – the geological formations they came from, and also the ancient techniques used for quarrying.
So, in this video, I’ll be talking about the origins of the T-pillars, taking a closer look at the ones still inside the quarries and sharing all the things I’ve learned about how the ancient people managed to erect these enormous megaliths 10 to 12,000 years ago.
Special thanks to Hugh at Megalithomania for allowing me to use footage in this video.
00:00 - Introduction
00:27 - T-Shaped Pillars
05:05 - The Geology of Göbekli Tepe
07:20 - The Quarries of Göbekli Tepe
08:07 - The Unfinished Pillar at Göbekli Tepe
09:33 - How Hard is the Stone?
10:33 - The Location of the Building Stone
11:28 - How to Make a T-Shaped Pillar
14:28 - Other Stone Objects in the Quarries
14:44 - Terrazzo Mixing in the Quarry
15:48 - The Unfinished Pillar at Karahan Tepe
18:17 - Karahan Tepe Quarries
19:13 - More Taş Tepeler Quarries Discovered
19:56 - Why T-Pillars Imply a Roof
21:23 - Concluding Remarks