https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/10/world/asia/worlds-oldest-calendar-gobekli-tepe.html Skip to contentSkip to site index Asia Pacific Today's Paper Asia Pacific|Ancient Calendar, Recently Discovered, May Document a Long-Ago Disaster https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/10/world/asia/ worlds-oldest-calendar-gobekli-tepe.html * Share full article * * Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. Supported by SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Ancient Calendar, Recently Discovered, May Document a Long-Ago Disaster The markings on a pillar in southern Turkey are more than decorations on the stone, a researcher at the University of Edinburgh says. They may memorialize a time when comet fragments struck Earth. Listen to this article * 3:57 min Learn more * Share full article * * A stone pillar with markings at an archaeological site. Researchers may have discovered what they say is the world's oldest calendar tracking the movements of the moon and the sun in today's Turkey.Credit...Alistair Coombs Claire Moses By Claire Moses Aug. 10, 2024 A researcher at the University of Edinburgh has discovered what he believes is the earliest calendar of its kind at Gobekli Tepe, an archaeological excavation site in what is now southern Turkey that used to be an ancient complex of temple-like enclosures. The researcher, Martin Sweatman, a scientist at the University of Edinburgh, said in research published last month that V-shaped markings on the lunisolar calendar, which combines the movements of the moon and sun, recorded a major astronomical event that had a huge impact on Earth -- making the ancient pillar part of an ancient version of a memorial. Dr. Sweatman said that the intricate carvings at Gobekli Tepe tell the story and document the date when fragments of a comet -- which came from a meteor stream -- hit Earth roughly 13,000 years ago. The comet strike, which the latest research has placed in the year 10,850 B.C., has long been a source of disagreement among academics and researchers. This is not the first time that Dr. Sweatman has been able to connect the impact of the comet to the site in Turkey, he said. In 2017, he linked the two in an academic paper in which he contended that the carvings at Gobekli Tepe were memorialized in the pillars, and that the site was used as a place to observe space. At the time, a group of excavators at Gobekli Tepe challenged those findings. Jens Notroff, an archaeologist who wrote the post on the excavators' website, was not immediately convinced about the new findings and questioned whether the markings had a deeper meaning. He said on the social media platform X that there was an "an obsession with the idea that there *must* be a secret, a hidden code which needs to and can be decoded -- while it's really just about past humans living their lives." Dr. Sweatman said the recent discovery that one of the pillars also depicts a lunisolar calendar -- and thus marks the day of the impact -- lined up with his prior research. "We can be very confident indeed that it's a date," he said. We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Site Index Site Information Navigation * (c) 2024 The New York Times Company * NYTCo * Contact Us * Accessibility * Work with us * Advertise * T Brand Studio * Your Ad Choices * Privacy Policy * Terms of Service * Terms of Sale * Site Map * Canada * International * Help * Subscriptions * Manage Privacy Preferences