Overlooked, then recognised
Göbekli Tepe was not unknown. A survey by Istanbul University and the University of Chicago recorded the mound in the 1960s, but its scatter of limestone was mistaken for a medieval cemetery and dismissed. The hill kept its secret for another thirty years.
In 1994 the German archaeologist Klaus Schmidt re-examined the site and understood at once what the flint and limestone meant. Excavations began in 1995, run by the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) with the Şanlıurfa Museum. What emerged rewrote the story of the Neolithic.
After Schmidt
Klaus Schmidt led the work until his sudden death in 2014. The project continued under the DAI — today directed by Lee Clare — in partnership with Istanbul University and the Turkish authorities, with a strong shift toward conservation, dating, and careful publication of the vast material Schmidt uncovered. Göbekli Tepe was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018.
Crucially, only a fraction of the site has been excavated — geophysical survey shows many more enclosures still underground. Göbekli Tepe is not a finished story.
The Taş Tepeler program
The most important recent development is that Göbekli Tepe stopped being treated as a lone wonder. Karahan Tepe, recorded in a 1997 survey, became the focus of major excavation from 2019 under Necmi Karul of Istanbul University — and its rock-cut rooms and sculptures showed a whole landscape of related sites.
In 2021 the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism launched the Taş Tepeler research program, coordinating excavations across around a dozen Pre-Pottery Neolithic sites in the Şanlıurfa region — Göbekli, Karahan, Sayburç, Sefertepe, Çakmaktepe, Ayanlar Höyük and more. That shift, from single site to connected world, is the frame this whole site is built around.
Common questions
Who discovered Göbekli Tepe?
It was recorded but dismissed in a 1960s survey; Klaus Schmidt recognised its significance in 1994 and began excavations in 1995 with the German Archaeological Institute and the Şanlıurfa Museum.
Who excavates Göbekli Tepe now?
The German Archaeological Institute (DAI), directed by Lee Clare, with Istanbul University and the Turkish authorities, following Klaus Schmidt's death in 2014.
What is the Taş Tepeler program?
A research initiative launched by Türkiye's Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2021, coordinating excavations across ~a dozen related Pre-Pottery Neolithic sites in the Şanlıurfa region.
Sources & further reading
- Clare, L. (2020). Göbekli Tepe, Turkey. A brief summary of research at a new World Heritage Site (2015–2019). e-Forschungsberichte des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 2020(2): 81–88.
- Schmidt, K. (2012). Göbekli Tepe: A Stone Age Sanctuary in South-Eastern Anatolia. Berlin: ex oriente. The foundational monograph by the site's first excavator.
- Karul, N. (2021). Buried Buildings at Pre-Pottery Neolithic Karahantepe. Türk Arkeoloji ve Etnografya Dergisi 82: 19–29.
Full bibliography: the Taş Tepeler reference library →