Turkey, 11,000-year-old donkey figure discovered in Karahantepe

New, important discovery at Karahantepe, one of Turkey’s most important archaeological sites: the figure of a wild donkey engraved on a stone dating back to the Neolithic period has in fact been discovered. The discovery came as part of the Taş Tepeler (“Stone Hills”) project, which is uncovering the millennia-old history of this site (near the city of Şanlıurfa), home to one of the first sedentary communities in human history.

The donkey decorated a floor consisting of large flat stones, some of which were used as grinding stones, and it was on one of these that the figure was found, one of the animals with which people of those remote times habitually coexisted: we are talking about a find that dates back some 11,000 years. This is the first time that, in Anatolian sites, the figure of a donkey has been found. “This is, of course, a discovery that will further contribute to our understanding of animal iconography here and its relationship to humans and their environment,” Professor Necmi Karul, head of the excavation at Karahantepe, explained to the Turkish news agency AA.

Karul also pointed out that the presence of multiple grinding stones in the area of the site where the donkey figure was found proves that this was a place where various activities of daily life took place. Karul also said that the presence of such depictions of animals or obelisks at these sites also shows that they also have symbolic aspects.

Announcing the find was, in a social post in recent hours, the Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, who said that “Karahantepe sheds light on the depths of history by being one of the most important Neolithic settlements,” and that “the Taş Tepeler project continues to shed light on the history of the world.”

Turkey, 11,000-year-old donkey figure discovered in Karahantepe

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