National Post (National Edition)
The comet that led to the dawn of civilization
TURKISH CARVING
LONDON • When Graham Hancock, a British author and journalist, suggested that an ancient Turkish carving held the secret of a spectacular comet strike around 13,000 years ago, he was largely ignored by the scientific community.
In his book Magicians of the Gods, Hancock claimed that mysterious symbols carved onto stone pillars at Gobekli Tepe, in southern Turkey, actually represented constellations and spoke of the devastation caused when an asteroid struck the Earth.
Now, experts at Edinburgh University have confirmed that the markings do indeed suggest that a swarm of comet fragments hit Earth at exactly the time that a miniice age struck — a catastrophic event that wiped out giant species such as the woolly mammoth and sparked the rise of civilizations.
Scientists have speculated for decades that a comet strike could be behind the sudden fall in temperature known as the Younger Dryas event. But the theory seemed to be debunked by a revised dating of the craters in North America, where the comet fragments struck.
However, when engineers studied carvings of animals made on a pillar at Gobekli Tepe, known as the vulture stone, they found the creatures were actually astronomical symbols representing constellations and the comet.
And, using a computer program to show where the constellations would have been above Turkey thousands of years ago, they were able to pinpoint the comet strike to 10,950 BC, the same time as ice-core data from Greenland indicates Younger Dryas beginning.
The Younger Dryas event is seen as crucial for humanity, as it roughly coincides with the emergence of agriculture and the first Neolithic civilizations.
Before the comet strike, vast areas of wild wheat and barley had allowed nomadic hunters in the Middle East to establish permanent bases. But harsh climate conditions after the impact forced communities to unite and work out new ways of maintaining their crops: the start of watering, selective breeding and the concept of farming.
The Edinburgh research, published in the journal Mediterranean Archeology and Archeometry, says the carvings seem to have remained important to the people of Gobekli Tepe for millennia, suggesting they relate to a significant event.
Martin Sweatman, of the University of Edinburgh’s school of engineering, who led the research, said: “I think this research, along with the recent finding of a widespread platinum anomaly across North America, virtually seal the case in favour (of a Younger Dryas comet impact).
“It appears Gobekli Tepe was, among other things, an observatory for monitoring the night sky. One of its pillars seems to have served as a memorial to this devastating event.”
The symbols on its pillars also indicate that long-term changes in the Earth’s rotational axis were recorded at this time using an early form of writing.
Researchers believe the images were intended as a record of the cataclysmic event, and that a further carving showing a headless man may indicate human disaster and extensive loss of life.
The findings also support a theory that Earth is likely to experience periods when comet strikes are more likely, owing to the planet’s course intersecting orbiting rings of comet fragments.
Gobekli Tepe is thought to be the world’s oldest temple site and is around 6,000 years older than Stonehenge.