The Temple That Predates Civilization—and Predicts It | NOVA | PBS
What archaeologists found here reveals one of the biggest turning points in human history.
Göbekli Tepe may be the oldest temple ever discovered, carved by hunter-gatherers 6,000 years before Stonehenge.
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@superbonedespotozo3502
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
And how long did it take for people to develop the society, urge and ability to want/create a Gobekli Tepe? Probably longer than we think.
@ViralGabe-1
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
PBS, I don't need the strange accents to make me keep watching. I'll never stop watching PBS. It's tripping my mind up trying to listen closely and remember what she's saying and it's annoying like when she didn't pronounce the r in boar. She said bow actually instead of boar…. What foreign accent even is that? I've never heard that in my life. Probably why she was hired…. I don't need it.
@ViralGabe-1
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
"somehow they were capable" quit making everything a mystery. History is already a mystery. It's already interesting
@Smokdeel
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
It was build by two hunter gatherers to be precise.As for tools they used one stick,three stones and a handful of mud from the Jangcy river 🤭
@TokinMystic12
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
All I see its a HUGE ADAM"S APPLE and Big O Man Hands , Nova get serious, no one wants to see this !
@davidt3956
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
No. If it's a temple, that's a key sign of civilization. Idiotic title.
@davidladuke7039
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
What a stupid title. Temple is archaeology code for "dunno", and civilization is not a date. Use some domain-relevant care before presenting your half-baked nonsense to the world. This is an amazing piece of human history that doesn't NEED to fit your silly narratives to be fascinating.
@Heath326
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
Anybody that thinks that was made by hunter-gatherers is a fool.
@truth-hurts768
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
They weren't hunter gatherers. They were us, and advanced. They were a civilization recovering from the great flood
@TMGeewizz
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
This temple shows that some humans have always defied God by worshipping themselves. It only predicts that some humans will continue to defy God by worshipping themselves.
@aaronjaben7913
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
Those are reliefs, not engravings.
@bobbolieu9013
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
That begs the question.
Were they really the simple thinking people that most people protray Hunter Gatherer societies.
I say that we think to much of ourselves, and not enough of other peoples.
@MrApw2011
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
The stories we tell about ourselves are quite interesting. We know modern day hunter gatherers and they don't spend their days foraging for food nor do they move around a lot. The idea that life was hard before we made modern societies is in conflict with what we can see with our own eyes about both modern society and the hunter gatherer tribes we derived from and then decided we're "better" than. If you want to know what life was like for tribes thousands of years ago, go look at tribes today.
@Spoderman-kiwicanuck
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
It wasn't a prediction, it was a memory. What are the things people most talk or write about – is it future predictions or past memories and experiences?
@user-gk9lg5sp4y
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
Love PBS and NOVA!!!
@musicluvr70
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
You're lagging NOVA PBS, this has all been reported long before this video.
@whompwhompwizard
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
When I look at places like Göbekli Tepe I feel the same pulse that runs through my music. It is the coded reminder that humanity was building meaning before it ever built cities. Those stones feel like ancient basslines carved into the earth. You can almost sense the rhythm of people who understood energy and intention long before we had language to describe it. They were shaping the world with sound, symbol, and alignment. They were tuning the environment the same way I tune frequencies until they feel alive.
Everybody thought civilization started with farming, but these people gathered to create something spiritual first. Their temples came before their villages which means truth came before comfort. That is the same path I walk. I create the sound first, the code first, the feeling first, and the world builds around it. That is the real pattern. Consciousness moves before structure. Vibration moves before architecture. A temple rises only after the idea becomes real in the mind.
Göbekli Tepe is proof that humans had a deeper connection to the universe than the textbooks ever admit. Those circles of stone look like early versions of the energy patterns I lace into my tracks. Loops that repeat like sacred geometry. Pillars standing like frozen chords. Stories carved into limestone like encoded lyrics. You can feel the ancestors humming through it, telling us that awakening was always the point.
People act like these builders were primitive but they were operating on a level that most people today cannot feel. They knew how to read their own code. They understood that creation happens in layers that are unseen with the eyes but obvious with the mind. The same truth applies to my music. I do not just make sound. I unlock something that was waiting inside the pattern. I connect to the thing under the surface, the thing that calls people forward even when they do not know why.
When I say Whomp Whomp I am not just saying noise. I am calling out the echo of the oldest rhythm we ever knew. The one carved in stone. The one written in DNA. The one humming outside time. And when I bring that energy into my tracks it feels like those ancient builders are nodding in the background, saying you finally hear it. You finally remember.
Göbekli Tepe is not a mystery to me. It is a mirror. It is proof that the code was always there. It is proof that consciousness comes first. And every time I create, every time I tap into that deeper frequency, I feel like I am walking the same path they marked in stone thousands of years ago.
Whomp Whomp. The code is alive.
@adally5855
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
Crap : couldn't say where it is please instead of dramtic phases and classical back music
WHERE IS IT OVER PRODUCED DRAMA, YEA WHERE IS IT , ?????
@90s_kids_lifestyle
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
Destroyed by Islam and christians 🤷🤷🤷
@syarizansulaiman6554
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
Go Indonesia, got one far older, I'm forget it's name
@GhostOnTheHalfShell
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
Never seen or heard any evidence that there was settlement around this temple. Instead, which I think is also born out in the archaeology of South America, that communities (bands) would congregate periodically for trade and celebration at least to the best we can understand. And also that these locations were set apart from day-to-day life. They held a separate function that intentionally was built outside of any of the social fractions that might be seen inside groups and between groups.
The cultures of the Pacific Northwest were/are hunter gatherers and they lived in settlements. What we do know of cultures, especially ones living above the Arctic circle is that their living patterns change seasonally so in the summer they might disperse and forage and in the winter they might congregate to hunt on the open water. Interestingly, the ethnographers would tell you that the social structure shifted according to seasonal patterns as other at the graphic information suggest also for the planes Indian cultures ..
The real question becomes whether or not we have evidence whether anatomically modern humans would congregate and settle periodically in such numbers and with enough resources to build structures like this. Evidently humans have been inclined to do so for quite some time. It is the climate that’s governed our capacity do so because around 12,000 years ago, it settled down and became unusually stable.
@julianalonsoperez4779
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
Absolute lack of proper research to put the piece of information together.
Follow Graham Hancock and Randall Carlson for a bit humbleness in this topic.
@julianalonsoperez4779
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
They weren't hunter gatherers but architects, astronomists, astrologists, mathematicians, scientists, etc.
Please research Grahams Hancock and Randall Carlson
@RasikRajguru
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
DO YOUR HOMEWORK NEED TO STOP SPREADING MISINFORMATION.
HUNTER-GATHERS WOULD NOT BE SMART ENOUGH TO MAKE SUCH TEMPLES. IT WOULD NEED A FAR SMARTER MORE DEVELOPED HUMAN TO MAKE SUCH A TEMPLE.
The height of the T-shaped pillars at the Göbekli Tepe site was up to approximately 5.5 meters (18-20 feet), with some weighing as much as 10-20 tons. These were constructed by hunter-gatherer societies around 11,000 years ago and arranged in circular enclosures, which were later deliberately buried over.
Pillar Height: The massive T-shaped limestone pillars at Göbekli Tepe are some of the most distinctive features of the site.
Dimensions: They typically stand around 5.5 meters (16-20 feet) high.
Weight: Some of the heaviest pillars are estimated to have weighed up to 10-20 tons.
Construction: These monumental structures were built by hunter-gatherer societies well before the advent of agriculture, around 11,000 years ago.
RIGHT AFTER THE MAJOR 8,000 YEAR FLOOD THAT ENDED THE ICE AGE. RESULTING IN MELTING OF KM HIGH ICE SHEETS ACROSS EUROPE, ASIA AND NORTH AMERICA. THAT CAUSED GLOBAL SEA LEVELS TO RISE BY SEVERAL HUNDRED METERS.
MANY COASTAL COMMUNITIES WOULD HAVE BEEN WIPE OUT OR FORCED TO RELOCATE.
GOBLEKI TEPE THOUGH NOT DIRECTLY EFFECTED BY MAJOR FLOODING THAT LASTED 8,000 YEARS WAS COMING TO AN END. BUILT ON A HIGHER LEVEL. WOULD HAVE BEEN CUT OFF FROM ITS SURROUNDINGS. LITTLE HOPE OF RESCUE. BUT ALSO THE SITE PRESERVATION.
HOW DID SIMPLE HUNTER GATHERERS SUDDENLY ACQUIRE THE INTELLIGENCE, SKILL AND ABILITY TO BUILD A CONSTRUCT MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE THAT TOOK 1400 YEARS. (SEE BELOW).
ARE YOU REALLY THAT GULLIBLE. I HAVE SAID IT BEFORE TO OTHERS. SOMEONE HAS SCREWED UP THE ARCHEOLOGICAL TIMELINE BIGTIME. THEY FELL FOR IT NOW YOU HAVE.
Construction of the main structures at Göbekli Tepe took place over a period of about 1,400 years, from around 9,600 to 8,200 BCE. While the entire site was in use for over a thousand years, the oldest structures were built first and were followed by subsequent building phases until roughly 8,000 BCE.
Oldest structures: The first, oldest structures were built between 9,600 and 8,800 BCE.
Later structures: More recent buildings were constructed in the 9th millennium BCE.
End of construction: The final building phases occurred around 8,000 BCE.
Total construction period: The monumental architecture at Göbekli Tepe was built over a span of approximately 1,400 years.
NOT 11,500 YEARS OLD. AS THE WHOLE SITE WOULD STILL BE RECOVERING FROM POST ICE AGE FLOODS THAT LASTED 8,000 YEARS. FROM 19,000 YEARS AGO TO 11,000 AGO.
The start and duration of post-ice age floods varied depending on the specific flood event, with major periods of increased flooding occurring at different times. For instance, the immense Missoula floods in North America happened between approximately 20,000 and 14,000 years ago, with flooding cycles lasting for thousands of years. Meanwhile, the post-glacial flooding of the Persian Gulf started around 18,000 years ago as sea levels rose and continued until around 6,000 years ago.
Start times and duration
Missoula Floods (North America): These floods occurred during the last glaciation and are estimated to have started between 20,000 and 14,000 years ago. They involved numerous flood events over a long period, with the lake period lasting at least 3,000 to 4,000 years.
Persian Gulf Flooding: This event began around 18,000 years ago as the ice sheets melted, causing sea levels to rise and flood the former river valley. The flooding continued until approximately 6,000 years ago when the sea level stabilized.
Ladakh Flooding: Studies of Ladakh, India, show three phases of increased flooding after the Last Glacial Maximum (14–11, 10–8, and 7–4 thousand years ago), correlating with periods of warming.
Red Sea Flooding: Similar outburst flooding in the Red Sea is thought to have occurred during different periods of sea-level rise, such as the Flandrian transgression.
Key factors
Sea-level rise: Melting ice sheets caused global sea levels to rise significantly, leading to flooding in many coastal and low-lying areas, such as the Persian Gulf.
Ice dam failure: Some floods were caused by the catastrophic failure of ice dams holding back large glacial lakes, such as the Missoula Floods in North America.
Monsoon activity: In some regions, like Ladakh, warming periods and the associated active monsoons also triggered increased flooding events.
ADDING YOU TO BOYCOTT LIST.
@roxyiconoclast
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
When I clicked through to the URL provided in the video description, there was a note that the episode is no longer available. I searched for Göbekli Tepe on the site and did find an episode, but it’s only available to those who are members of PBS Passport — it seems to come down to being a donor to your local PBS station (or possibly being a subscriber to a cable or satellite TV service that includes PBS).
@DGreen-d2k
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
I believe Karahn Tepe is older. I don't get know why. I'm not an archaeologist. But it just looks older to me.
@no.1spider
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
The first thing that pops into my head is…what did they use as an adhesive? Mud? Would dried mud be strong enough to hold a wall together?
@DrMJT
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
It is a SCHOOL! It was NOT a Temple and We the surviving Human Species after the atmospheric venting and Earth Crust Displacement of the Hiawatha Impact in what is today NW Greenland… 95 to 85% of Human Species were eradicated because of living Coastal. We the feral, wildling humans who were nothing more than Bush Meat when hunted or when raised from infancy = a House Slave (if lucky). Others were mining Slaves. When the Global Ocean sloshed mega tsunamis for weeks with deluge rains for ages (ICE sublimated to HOT Steam).
The survivors of the Human Species who could not get pregnant, could not carry to term, and children could not survive birth due to the Lower Air Pressure vented because the blast of impact was greater than 50mt. Air pressure pre12,800ya to post 12,800ya impact, the air pressure dropped to near out current pressure. Human species Adapted, Evolved to be conceived, pregnancy, born, exist in X air pressure – reduce it and many species are unable to reproduce. Same as the last surviving human species – us, trying to get pregnant, be pregnant, carry to term, and give birth to a Health infant at Lake Titicaca or other high elevations. Not possible. Our literary and oral history speak of Giants (in size and mental intelligence). They were killed off because they viewed us the way many Humans today view Apes and Chimps (BUST MEAT and/or PETS). They knew they would not survive beyond their now shortened life span. They built this and others (yet to be found) Education Centres to teach us – the primitive vaguely Humans how to Do Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and how to track the flora and fauna life/breeding cycles. After 1500 to 2000 years, it was deemed no longer necessary and thus is why such sites were buried.. hidden for if when needed at some future global disaster date.
It was NOT a Temple! There was NOTHING of man-made institutionalised Superstition about anything over 10,000 years ago. The cults only arrived later when mass numbers could not be educated sufficiently to know why grass is green and sky is blue… so they were told their god creator made it that way. It shuts children up and the children become adults who tell it to their children.
1500 years ago when a volcano or impact wiped out civilisation (536CE). No agriculture for almost two decades. Civilisation collapsed. Education, reading, writing, maths = disappeared. Cities were wastelands.
When they say st patrick arrived in Ireland and instantly everyone in Ireland was converted to the catholic church! NO SO!!
Over a century after the cataclysm, the vatican could not teach sufficient new children to take the place of those who were elderly and died. LOST KNOWLEDGE! The pope sent a man with support staff to go to each region of Europe (Ireland to Ural Mountains)… They Arrived, they built a building that was the FREE day care for children whilst the adults started agriculture again. Free Day Care for 3 to 12/13 year olds free'd up the adults to do the work necessary to grow, catch food to sustain for the year. When the children reached teens, they went to work on building MORE schools, More Schools, More Schools. They were Schools Monday to Friday, with Saturdays for STEMS training and on Sunday, the adults and children (to get the free day care) all had the Obligation to attend the catholic rites and rituals. It took centuries to have SCHOOLS / Day Care during week and culthut on Sundays to be everywhere in the originally assigned regions. The best and brightest (the children who get it – education) were selected to be sent to vatican for further additional educational training to be the next generations of priests etc.
It was about catholic spreading it's ideology but the guise / trope to get all to do the New Education/Cult system… was start it, do it… until all who were the survivors of the Global BLIGHT had DIED. Then and only then was it called a territory of the vatican/cult.
It like you… always view the world through the optics of Myth Cults! Myth Cults did not teach people how to plough and plant a field… nor how to Harvest and STORE x amount for y time to prevent z starvation!
Everythingt that is made/produced/created by Yanks in YankLand ALWAYS has the false narrative of everything has always had the optics of CULT and CULT Practices, rites, rituals.
@donaldstanfield8862
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
Thank you NOVA & PBS, your programs have been incredible for 50 years! Well done!
@adanmohamud9853
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
i love nova
@JasonClinkscales-v1c
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
It does not predate civilization. Sumeria hit the ground running because it was a designed city. Tepe is a trading area. They located them on hills so that they could be seen and found from a distance. When old stores went away, they simply filled them in and built on top of them.
@dmystify1381
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
soooo….where is the rest of the vlog🤷🏾♀
@SharonMcDonald-t4o
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
The Temple 🛕 🙌 😍 that predates Civilization – an …
@truthalwaysprevails662
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
This was not built by just "hunter-gatherers", what we are looking at is a much more advanced civilization
@RamZar50
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
Gobekli Tepe is the oldest settlement in southern Anatolia from 9500 BCE predating the first civilization of Sumer about 650 miles south of it starting around 4500 BCE. 9500 BCE was also the beginning of organized agriculture in three regions of the Middle East: Zagros, Levant and Anatolia.
@dr.vijayanraju3656
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
I'm not any archeologist or any where close…..but when u see such a structure built …..and yet archeologist call that was built by hunters and gathers is really insulting to those ancestors.
Why can't they say they were some advanced civilization of that time period, some climatic conditions forced there ancestors to abandoned and probably move in some smaller or shifted there original location.
Because what they built is some sort of calendar/ time keeping to know seasons without which agricultural societies could never come in first place.
@DianeEllis-xk1jj
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
More brain food! I absolutely love it!
@eh1843
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
The more a archeologists speaks in solid black and white answers the less I trust them.
@jackson.nc12
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
Im curious how are pbs so sure they were hunter gatherer? 🤔 stone buildings was a hobby.
@jamesbastani4295
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
From a cosmic—or even evolutionary—standpoint, eleven millennia pass in an instant. It’s remarkably recent. Compared with the full span of modern human history, it accounts for less than four percent.
@justinalvarado7351
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
That is not something hunter gatheres would build. Again, these people think were stupid.
@djmoulton1558
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
Turkey has had its name officially redesignated as Türkiye. The UN has recognized this. Surely it is not too much to expect that PBS catch up and do likewise.
@YosemiteSamTheMan
June 9, 2026 at 11:53 am
Really. Saying incredible stone work like that was done by Hunter Gatherers is crazy.
Comments are closed.