Excavations at Mendik Tepe in Turkey entered their second year under the leadership of Professor Dr. Douglas Baird of the University of Liverpool’s Archaeology Department, with work focusing on the functions of newly exposed buildings and architectural features that may predate Göbeklitepe and Karahantepe, according to Hurriyet Daily News. Fieldwork began in 2024.
Last year, researchers identified small structures around three meters in diameter, mid-sized ones of four to five meters, and much larger buildings. “Last year, we put some trenches in, one behind me, for example, and we started to discover buildings immediately,” said Baird. “So, our plan for this year was to try and understand these different buildings and why they were of different sizes,” he said. “We expect exciting discoveries. I think one of the interesting things we're starting to see already is that this site isn't exactly the same as the sort of things we get at Göbekli or Karahan,” he added.
One of the most notable differences from Göbeklitepe and Karahantepe is the absence of large T-shaped monoliths; researchers documented smaller, non T-shaped standing stones. “Here, we seem to have pillars, but they're smaller and they're not T-shaped. So, already there are interesting features of the architecture that are a bit different,” said Baird.
The site lay in a rural neighborhood and was discovered by Fatma Şahin, the excavation director of Çakmak Tepe. Similar finds were reported at Çakmak Tepe, about five kilometers away, and both sites might be older than other Stone Hills settlements, according to T24.
Baird said the settlement likely dated to the very beginning of the Neolithic period and might be slightly older than Göbeklitepe and Karahantepe. He noted that the work contributed to understanding how the Neolithic period began and the transition to settled life. “In the excavations we opened last year, many buildings emerged. Some of these are large, some are small. This year, we will try to understand the reasons for these differences... Especially in one trench, the solid and meticulous stone craftsmanship of the large building draws attention. This strengthens the possibility that the structure was for ritual purposes,” said Baird. The team sought to determine whether small structures served for storage or food preparation, whether four-to-five-meter buildings were residential, and whether larger ones served as residences or ritual structures.
The Stone Hills Project aims to study the Neolithic history of the Şanlıurfa region. Within that context, Göbeklitepe’s roughly 12,000-year-old remains were discovered in 1963 by researchers from Istanbul and Chicago universities, and the site was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2018.
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