Scientists discovered the terrifying figure by closing its mouth

Here’s what you’ll learn as you read this story:

• The Taş Tepeler area of ​​archaeological sites in Türkiye has produced more artifacts that were probably associated with funerary customs.

• One of the recent innovations in this area is a stitched lip and another embedded in the wall, possibly as an offering.

• It is believed that the pursed lips are a visual symbol of silence in death.

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An echo of the oldest established human settlements is the now Turkic Taş Tepeler area. Literally meaning “Stone Hills”, it is a treasure trove of ancient artifacts originating from sites such as Göbeklitepe, Karahantepe, Sefertepe and Sayburc. Unearthed in its rocky landscape are figures and carvings that whisper of the rituals and beliefs that shaped the lives of Neolithic people who lived 12,000 years ago.

Archaeologists excavating these sites were amazed at how advanced these people’s sense of social organization was. Excavations have been going on for five years, and in that time, they’ve found obelisks, stelae, stone statues, and the remains of communities that settled permanently in nomadic hunter-gatherers as the environment became more fertile.

Taş Tepeler has recently revealed some particularly interesting items. Human sculptures, with some possible funerary associations, provide a glimpse into how early society viewed (and dealt with) death.

Perhaps the most fascinating figure was found at Sayburc – a human bust, with what appear to be ribs and a closed mouth (and can be seen here). It is believed that this carving is of a dead person, and the sewn mouth is a visual metaphor for the silence of death. It may be the face of an ancestor, or may have been used in a ritual that is still unknown. Because this and other figures found at Taş Tepeler were made before writing began in the area, it is difficult to identify who or what the carvings represent.

The painting is an “impressive example of the aesthetic and expressive sculptural tradition of the Neolithic period,” Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said. Turkey TodayAdding that it opens up “an opportunity to reevaluate prehistoric concepts of death beyond the skull tradition.”

Until the skull was discovered in Sefertepe last year, almost nothing was known about Neolithic burial rites in Turkey. Burial was secondary, meaning that the dead were left to rot until only skeletons remained. The bones found earlier showed cut marks and burns that suggest some sort of ritual practice. When the skull appeared in a stone cave, next to it, it told the archaeologists that it must have a special significance, and before those practices were performed in the area intended for it. (It was already known that the skull was dismembered and possibly hung outside before the second burial.)

It is not known whether the stitched lip motif had anything to do with the second burial. Sefertepe also had two human faces carved out of stone, with black serpentinite beads carving the faces on either side—all of which differ stylistically from human images at other Taş Tepeler sites. As suggested by slight differences in the structure of the forehead and nose and the curvature of the cheeks, the Sefertepe people may have had their own way of depicting the human face. Another human figure found at Göbeklitepe, better known for its animal sculptures, was embedded in the wall (probably as an offering).

The early foundations of social stratification and family life are attested at Taş Tepeler. Because the fertility of the land after the last Ice Age allowed communities to feed themselves without frequent hunting, populations grew, explaining the expansion of human settlement. When there was a surplus of food, the people who produced it made money. Those who could not produce as much food, or whose crops were not plentiful, were seen as having a lower social status. Structures with living spaces also show frequent merging of religious and domestic spaces.

As artifacts continue to be recovered, Ersoy sees Taş Tepeler as an area “known as the Neolithic Capital of the World”.

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