A Newly Identified Boar Piglet Engraving Emerges from Sefertepe’s 2025 Excavations
The 2025 excavation season at Sefertepe, a rapidly emerging Neolithic site within the broader Taş Tepeler landscape of southeastern Türkiye, has brought to light a striking example of early symbolic expression. During ongoing fieldwork directed by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emre Güldoğan of Istanbul University’s Department of Prehistoric Archaeology, researchers identified a finely incised depiction of
At Sefertepe, Tiny Carvings and a 10,000-Year-Old Skull Room Reveal an Unexpected Symbolic World
The first days of the 2025 excavation season at Sefertepe were expected to bring steady progress, not paradigm-shifting discoveries. Yet on a gentle rise overlooking the plains of Viranşehir, two deceptively small finds—a micro-carved basalt bead and a compact limestone block with dual faces—have redirected scholarly attention toward this lesser-known corner of the Taş Tepeler
A New Wave of Neolithic Surprises at Taş Tepeler: Mysterious ‘Death Mask’ Sculpture Unveiled in Southeastern Türkiye
Human-like faces carved into stone, a rare double-sided bead, and an unsettling sculpture evoking the stillness of death—Türkiye’s vast Taş Tepeler region has revealed some of its most enigmatic Neolithic discoveries to date. The announcements came this week in Şanlıurfa, where the Ministry of Culture and Tourism shared 30 previously unknown finds that reshape current
Two 10,000-year-old ornaments with leopard, vulture and human figures found in Sefertepe excavations
During the ongoing excavations at Sefertepe in Şanlıurfa, two ornaments, one with a leopard, the other with a vulture and human figures, dating back to approximately 10 thousand years ago, were discovered. The excavations at Sefertepe are being carried out within the scope of the “Stone Hills” project under the direction of Assoc. Prof. Dr.