The Mysterious 11,000-Year-Old Kilisik Sculpture of Turkey

Some of the incredible ancient finds from Pre-Pottery Neolithic Turkey deserve a dedicated video, and the Kilisik sculpture found in Adiyaman, southeastern Turkey, back in 1965, is one such find.

Until the first discovery of the famous T-shaped pillars at Nevali Cori in the 1980s, the Kilisik Sculpture was, as Jens Notroff says in a brilliant article I’ve linked below, an archaeological oddity.


Thought to be around 11,000-years-old, the limestone statue only measures 80cm in height and has a broad, curved back, an oversized head but slim face with a well-emphasised nose, and of course it’s this strange shaped head that has led to many obvious comparisons to the xenomorphs of the Alien franchise of movies.


And no, the Kilisik scupture is not evidence of ancient aliens, but it does incorporate many Pre-Pottery Neolithic styles of art and sculpture into one rare object.


Watch this video to learn more.

Matt Sibson
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