**Breaking News** Human skull fragments with cut marks discovered at Gobekli Tepe

Posted On: Jun 29th, 2017 at 23:07

**Breaking News**
Turkey
You wait a while for some important discoveries to surface (excuse yet another pun) and then suddenly several turn up in one day, so forgive me while you all get pummelled with reports.
I would certainly be cautious about suggesting a “skull cult” with these findings, but they are astounding nonetheless. Personally, I have always seen Gobekli Tepe – the oldest site in the world – as rather special and somewhat benevolent in many aspects. Certainly the stone carvings on the T-shaped pillars suggest astronomical observations, but these skull fragments with cut marks and deep grooves do point to a more sinister element to the site.
The reason I am cautious of a skull cult is because clearly there was a lot more going on at Gobekli Tepe, and whatever the reason for these skull bone alterations it was but a minor element compared with everything else. In other words, this was not exactly the primary activity of those who were involved in the site.
It is clear that no one ever lived at Gobekli Tepe, but thousands of bones have been found, mostly of animals, some human, but generally they are too small to be put together. The implication here is that this was a “ceremonial centre” (I use the term very loosely), and feasting (or at least eating) was occurring at or near the site, and the bones then used in some way or discarded within the temple enclosures.
So rather than a skull cult, are we looking at cannibalism? These skulls were clearly defleshed, but for what reason remains unknown. Since many skull fragments have been found without cut marks, is the report correct in stating these individuals were singled out for some reason, or were the people eating each other only at times of low harvest? Or is there another reason entirely? Now, however, we can no longer look at the oldest temple in the world in the same way. We humans are a rather weird bunch, aren’t we…

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/06/carved-human-skulls-found-ancient-stone-temple