5,000 Years OLDER than Gobekli Tepe: 16,500-Year-Old Animal Statues Discovered in Turkey!

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Published Oct 24, 2026

Thousands of years before Göbekli Tepe, there was a site in Turkey called Gedikkaya Cave, and dozens of incredble artefacts have been discovered, from ritual stone circles, animal and human figurines, and this years, archaeologists have discovered 25 tortoise statues carved from limestone, and some of them date back to 16,500 years ago!

In this video I take a closer look at Gedikkaya Cave and the incredible artefacts that have been uncovered in the past few years, as we look at life in Turkey in the Epipalaeolithic, 5,000 years before Göbekli Tepe!

All images are taken from Google Images, Google Earth and the sources listed below for educational purposes only. Please Subscribe to Ancient Architects, Like the video, and please leave a comment below. Thank you.

Video Contents:
0:00 Introduction
0:56 Gedikkaya Cave in Turkey
1:30 Palaeoclimatic at 14,500 BC
2:57 Excavations at the Cave Settlement
5:42 Archaeological Site 1: Ritual Niches
7:36 Archaeological Site 2: Stone Circle
9:02 New Discovery; 25 Tortoise Statues
10:38 Why So Many Tortoise Figurines?
12:37 Concluding Remarks

Previous videos to watch:
https://youtu.be/-6HgDCfBUc8?si=8yGsrhdKNUybTn0N
https://youtu.be/bNnIWBN4ekA?si=7iXyNvxAqhQSjfEL
https://youtu.be/cN0jcvehcV0?si=cKaaWdVifFicx3sz

Sources:
https://arkeonews.net/25-turtle-figurines-unearthed-in-a-turkish-cave-some-dating-back-16500-years/
https://iupress.istanbul.edu.tr/journal/anar/article/epipalaeolithic-ritual-practices-at-gedikkaya-cave-northwestern-turkiye
https://belleten.gov.tr/tam-metin-pdf/3750/tur
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/life/25-turtle-figurines-dating-back-16-500-years-found-in-turkiye/4032689
https://allthatsinteresting.com/turkey-prehistoric-turtle-figurines

#archaeology #ancienthistory #ancientarchitects