Karahan Tepe

Karahan Tepe
Karahan Tepe in 2023
Location in Turkey
LocationŞanlıurfa Province, Turkey
Coordinates37°05′33″N 39°18′13″E / 37.09250°N 39.30361°E / 37.09250; 39.30361
TypeSettlement
History
Foundedc.9750 BCE
PeriodsPre-Pottery Neolithic A to B
Site notes
Discovered1997

Karahan Tepe (Kurdish: Girê Keçel) is an archaeological site in Şanlıurfa, Turkey. The site is close to Göbekli Tepe and archaeologists have also uncovered T-shaped stelae there and believe that the sites are related. According to Daily Sabah, "The excavations have uncovered 250 obelisks featuring animal figures" as of 2020. Additionally, the site may be the earliest known human village, predating the construction of Göbekli Tepe, dating to between 9500-10,000 BCE.

The site is located near Yağmurlu and roughly 46 kilometers east of Göbekli Tepe, which is often called its sister site. It is part of the Göbekli tepe Culture and Karahan tepe Excavations project. The area is known as “Keçilitepe” by local people. It is part of a region of similar sites now being uncovered known as the Taş Tepeler.