The Younger Dryas and the Origins of Göbekli Tepe: Who Built It? | Ancient Architects

The earliest radiocarbon date from Göbekli Tepe is approximately 11,600 years ago, which it is thought to be when people first descended upon this hill-top site in Ancient Anatolia and when the first circular enclosures were erected. The date is intriguing to many, because 11,600 years ago, is also the time when the Younger Dryas climate catastrophe came to an end, which for those that don’t know, was a period of global cooling that lasted for approximately 1,300 years. Temperatures returned parts of Europe and North America to Ice Age conditions, but the effects were felt on a global scale. With that knowledge, is it a coincidence that the origins of the enormous megalithic site of Göbekli Tepe, coincide with the end of the Younger Dryas, when temperatures rose sharply and eventually reaching modern levels? How did these hunter-gatherer communities have the technical knowhow to create such a site, such enormous and well-carved pillars of stone, such fantastic vessels and statues and so on? Some believe th