First intact burials at Göbeklitepe reveal why hundreds of bones were scattered
12,000-year-old Göbeklitepe burials explain scattered bones
Archaeologists have uncovered the first two intact burials at Göbeklitepe, dating to 8,700–8,000 BCE. One pit held at least three individuals—a woman, a man, and a girl—with skulls grouped together and small hand and foot bones still present. The bones show no cut marks or ochre, but rodent gnawing and soil damage match the 928 scattered fragments found across the site. The findings suggest many loose bones came from ordinary subfloor graves that erosion later carried into the monumental buildings.
The scattered bones don’t need to represent one unusual burial rite. Many likely came from normal subfloor burials that were later disturbed by the movement of the mound.