Thread by @AntiquityJ

NEW: Archaeologists have discovered what may be the earliest known narrative scene, telling an ancient story, at the 11,000-year-old site of Sayburç in south-eastern Turkey.

Here's an #AntiquityThread on the new research 1/14 🧵

The two panels depict people interacting with dangerous animals. In one, a human grasps their penis whilst leopards approach from either side. In the other panel, a squatting male holding a rattle or snake faces a bull. 2/14

📸: The panels

🐆 The teeth of the leopards and horns of the bull are emphasised, highlighting the danger in the scenes. 3/14

Whilst similar art has been found at other ancient settlements in the region, the Sayburç images are unique in that they appear to be related. The panels are adjacent and have a similar theme – someone facing off against dangerous animals. 4/14

📸: The scary leopard

🗨 “These figures, engraved together to depict a narrative, are the first known examples of such a holistic scene,” said archaeologist Dr Eylem Özdoğan, from Istanbul University, “This was a picture of the stories that formed the ideology of the people of that period.” 5/14

⛏ The discovery was made during excavations at Sayburç which began in 2021. The site is located beneath a modern village in the Şanlıurfa Province of Turkey. 6/14

📸: Location of Sayburç and other contemporary sites

👩‍🌾 The excavations revealed the site was inhabited during the Neolithic, in the 9th millennium BC. This period saw an important transition, with people shifting from a mobile hunter-gatherer lifestyle to farming and living in long-term settlements 7/14

📸: Excavations at Sayburç

🛖 Archaeologists uncovered several residential buildings as well as a large communal structure. This may have served as a place for special gatherings, with benches lining the walls. The narrative images were found carved into their back rests. 8/14

📸: The communal building

🗨 “This building has all the characteristic features of the communal structures in the region. In this structure, as in other similar ones, animal and human images were found. However, here the characteristic figures of the period coexist and form a scene,” said Dr Özdoğan. 9/14

Given that the art decorated an important structure, Dr Özdoğan believes that the figures depicted in the narrative scenes were important characters to this early farming community. 10/14

🦸‍♂️ Perhaps historical characters or mythical figures that were a key part of the community’s traditions. 11/14

(modern heroes fight fewer leopards)

🗨 “Archaeological evidence can provide some insight into the traditions of the past societies but clearer evidence rarely survives, so this discovery is exciting,” said Dr Özdoğan, “Sayburç has very clear evidence in this respect.” 12/14

The communal building is still only partially excavated, so more scenes from this ancient story may yet be uncovered. 13/14

Check out the full paper FREE:
The Sayburç reliefs: a narrative scene from the Neolithic - Eylem Özdoğan
doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2…
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