The Dawn of Civilization

The night sky over one of the world’s oldest known man-made structures. Göbekli Tepe is an archaeological site in the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey, near the town of Şanlıurfa. The hill includes two phases of ritual use dating back to the 10th-8th millennium BC. It included circles of over 200 massive T-shaped stone pillars were erected. Each pillar is up to 6 m high and 20 tons. The function of the structures believed to be early neolithic sanctuaries. In the sky the Milky Way in Cepheus and Cygnus is visible. Bright star Deneb is on the right and Vega is on the left. Polaris is also visible just over the edge of the site. When the site was in used 11000~10000 years ago, Vega was only a few degrees away from the north celestial pole. Click on the second photo to see another nightscape view of the site.