A door in stone
During the 2009–2010 seasons, excavators opening trenches on the northwestern hilltop found rooms of the site's younger phase — and among them, a 'porthole' stone: a large slab pierced by a round opening, like a doorway or window cut in rock. This one was carved with animals set on either side of the hole.
Watching the threshold
The DAI team's reading is that the beasts flank the opening as guardians — the passage through the stone is watched. It fits a pattern across Göbekli Tepe, where dangerous animals are placed at points of entry and gathering, as if thresholds were charged places that needed protecting.