<< Text Pages >> Nevali Cori - Ancient Temple in Turkey
Submitted by AlexHunger on Friday, 04 August 2006 Page Views: 27961
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Nevali Cori Alternative Name: Nevalı ÇoriCountry: Turkey Type: Ancient Temple
Nearest Town: Urfa Nearest Village: Lake Atatürk
Latitude: 37.586330N Longitude: 38.630000E
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Ancient Temple in Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey
Nevali Cori was an early Neolithic settlement dating back to around 8000 BCE at the Kantara Cay river, a tributary of the Euphrates in eastern Turkey. As the river valey is steeply cut at this area, it was damed up to create the Atatürk-dam which will generate power and provide irrigation for the region.
The temple measured about 16 metres length and width and had 12 3 metre tall T shaped stone pillars with engravings of possibly human hands, of which 2 where in the middle. The outer 10, where imbedded into the surrounding benches set against the high quality dry stone outer wall. We can only surmise if there was a roof. The construction is very similar to the 1000 year older roundish temples at Göbekli Tepe, about 20km south east, which probably belonged to a similar culture. The drawings also remind one of the 4000 year younger temples in Malta. Life-size limestone anthropomorphic figures, representing "Bird-Men" were also excavated at Nevali Cori and are probably the earliest known sculptures.
The settlement marks the transition between the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period B, where pottery was still unknown and the post-pottery neolithic periods several hundred small burnt clay votive figurines of have been found. The rectangular buildings and houses of the settlement have dry-stone walls and terrazzo-floors made of burnt lime. A human skulls with overlayed clay was found buried beneath the floor of one of the dwellings. The site was excavated from 1993 onwards by the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Istanbul, just ahead of the rising waters. At the end the site was dismantled in order to be rebuilt at a later date at a safe location.
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