Göbekli Tepe Object Profile
Pillar 27
Pillar 27 matters because it brings two different carving modes together on one T-pillar: a boar in low relief and a predator or leopard in high relief. It should be shown as a pillar object, not mixed with the separate porthole-stone predator near Pillar 36 or the boar-marked porthole slab at the dromos.
Quick Facts
- Site
- Göbekli Tepe
- Structure
- Enclosure C
- Type
- pillar imagery object
What We Know
Pillar 27 is Enclosure C's strongest pillar-imagery anchor, carrying a low-relief boar and a preserved high-relief predator/leopard on its front side.
Main Details
- Pillar 27 is Enclosure C's strongest pillar-imagery anchor, carrying a low-relief boar and a preserved high-relief predator/leopard on its front side.
- Pillar 27 matters because it brings two different carving modes together on one T-pillar: a boar in low relief and a predator or leopard in high relief. It should be shown as a pillar object, not mixed with the separate porthole-stone predator near Pillar 36 or the boar-marked porthole slab at the dromos.
- The structured dataset and Enclosure C inventory place Pillar 27 in Enclosure C / Building C.
- Dietrich et al. 2012 directly reports a low-relief boar on Pillar 27.
- Dietrich et al. 2012 directly reports a spectacular predator carved in high relief on Pillar 27, with animals and pillar carved from one piece of stone.
- A 2025 clothing-source figure caption describes Pillars 37 and 27 in Building C during 2009 excavations, says both have relief bands along their entire front sides, and identifies Pillar 27 as the only then-known Göbekli example with a preserved high relief on its front side.
- Dietrich et al. 2012 and Schmidt 2010 use predator wording, while the 2025 caption describes a leopard lurking in front of a boar; public wording should preserve predator/leopard until taxonomy is reviewed.
- Schmidt 2010 separately discusses a predator found atop the wall east of Pillar 36 as a possible porthole-stone/slab fragment; that is not Pillar 27 evidence.
- The dromos porthole slab with boar relief south of Enclosure C is a separate entrance/porthole object and is not part of Pillar 27.
- T-shaped pillar in Enclosure C / Building C
- front-side relief band noted in figure-caption source
- preserved high relief on front side
Public Reading Path
- Pillar 27 is Enclosure C's strongest pillar-imagery anchor, carrying a low-relief boar and a preserved high-relief predator/leopard on its front side.
- Pillar 27 matters because it brings two different carving modes together on one T-pillar: a boar in low relief and a predator or leopard in high relief. It should be shown as a pillar object, not mixed with the separate porthole-stone predator near Pillar 36 or the boar-marked porthole slab at the dromos.
- The structured dataset and Enclosure C inventory place Pillar 27 in Enclosure C / Building C.
- Dietrich et al. 2012 directly reports a low-relief boar on Pillar 27.
- Dietrich et al. 2012 directly reports a spectacular predator carved in high relief on Pillar 27, with animals and pillar carved from one piece of stone.
- A 2025 clothing-source figure caption describes Pillars 37 and 27 in Building C during 2009 excavations, says both have relief bands along their entire front sides, and identifies Pillar 27 as the only then-known Göbekli example with a preserved high relief on its front side.
Physical Evidence
- The structured dataset and Enclosure C inventory place Pillar 27 in Enclosure C / Building C.
- Dietrich et al. 2012 directly reports a low-relief boar on Pillar 27.
- Dietrich et al. 2012 directly reports a spectacular predator carved in high relief on Pillar 27, with animals and pillar carved from one piece of stone.
- A 2025 clothing-source figure caption describes Pillars 37 and 27 in Building C during 2009 excavations, says both have relief bands along their entire front sides, and identifies Pillar 27 as the only then-known Göbekli example with a preserved high relief on its front side.
- Dietrich et al. 2012 and Schmidt 2010 use predator wording, while the 2025 caption describes a leopard lurking in front of a boar; public wording should preserve predator/leopard until taxonomy is reviewed.
- Schmidt 2010 separately discusses a predator found atop the wall east of Pillar 36 as a possible porthole-stone/slab fragment; that is not Pillar 27 evidence.
- The dromos porthole slab with boar relief south of Enclosure C is a separate entrance/porthole object and is not part of Pillar 27.
- T-shaped pillar in Enclosure C / Building C
- front-side relief band noted in figure-caption source
- preserved high relief on front side
Motifs And Feature Groups
- front-side relief band noted in figure-caption source
- preserved high relief on front side
- low-relief boar
- high-relief predator/leopard
- pillar and animals described as carved from one piece of stone
- boar: low relief: direct source support
- predator / leopard: high relief: direct source support with taxonomy wording split
What To Be Careful About
- Use reported wording where exact locus, phase, function, species, image rights, or restoration details remain open.
- Keep object description, placement, motif identification, and interpretation separate unless the source explicitly joins them.
- Pillar 36 possible porthole-stone predator slab
- dromos porthole slab with boar relief
- Pillar 12 boar relief and boar sculpture
- Pillar 35 boar sculpture / stone plates / bowl cache
- general Enclosure C boar corpus
- shamanism or myth interpretation
- exact predator species unless source-attributed
- mythic story encoded by boar and predator
Source Trail
- GT-ENC-C-SRC-001
- GT-ENC-C-SRC-002
- GT-ENC-C-PINV-SRC-006
- GT-ENC-C-PILLAR-INVENTORY-001
Open Questions
- Build GT-ENC-C-CHILD-PILLAR-12-BOAR-001 to separate Pillar 12's boar relief and adjacent boar sculpture from the Pillar 35 cache.
- Predator versus leopard wording: Use predator/leopard or source-attributed wording until taxonomy is reviewed across source figures and text.
- Exact architectural position needs plan check: Pillar 27 is secure in Building C, but exact ring/interior placement should be reconciled with plan/figure evidence.
- Keep Pillar 36 predator slab separate: The predator found east of Pillar 36 is a possible porthole-stone/slab object and must not be folded into Pillar 27.
- Keep dromos porthole slab separate: The boar relief on the dromos porthole slab south of C is a separate entrance object.
- Images not public-ready: Academic-source figures for Pillar 27 require image identity and rights review before public display.
- Which exact source image or excavation figure should be used when public image rights are cleared?
Evidence Review
- source refs
- lineage
- taxonomy review
- exact architectural position review
- comparative high-relief discussion
- image-rights status
- Predator versus leopard wording: Use predator/leopard or source-attributed wording until taxonomy is reviewed across source figures and text.
- Exact architectural position needs plan check: Pillar 27 is secure in Building C, but exact ring/interior placement should be reconciled with plan/figure evidence.
Sources
- GT-ENC-C-SRC-001
- GT-ENC-C-SRC-002
- GT-ENC-C-PINV-SRC-006
- GT-ENC-C-PILLAR-INVENTORY-001