A new study suggests that the carved symbols at Göbekli Tepe may have been part of a sophisticated belief system that connected timekeeping, sacred space, death, and the heavens.
Published in the International Journal of Culture and History, the research by Oleksandr Zavalii compares imagery from the famous Vulture Stone at Göbekli Tepe with ritual symbols from the later Trypillia culture of present-day Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania.
The study argues that both societies may have used similar symbolic frameworks to understand the cosmos and organize religious life.
Göbekli Tepe, in southeastern Türkiye, dates to roughly 9600-8200 BCE and is considered one of the world’s earliest monumental ritual centers. Zavalii focuses on several of its carved pillars, particularly Stele 43, known as the Vulture Stone.
The monument features birds, snakes, a scorpion, geometric symbols, and a headless human figure. Zavalii argues that the arrangement was deliberate. The upper portion contains bird figures, circles, and abstract signs that may represent celestial forces.
The lower section contains animals and human imagery associated with the earthly world, death, or the underworld. Rather than viewing the carvings as isolated images, the study interprets them as parts of a broader symbolic language.
The Vulture Stone has attracted astronomical interpretations for years. In 2017, researchers Martin Sweatman and Dimitrios Tsikritsis proposed that some animal figures represented constellations and may have recorded events linked to the debated Younger Dryas impact hypothesis.
Did the builders of Göbekli Tepe share cosmological ideas with ancient farmers?
A new study compares the site’s famous Vulture Stone with Trypillia ritual symbolism and suggests both cultures may have used same concepts to understand time, sacred space, death and the heavens. pic.twitter.com/hO1lHtUvYu
— Tom Marvolo Riddle (@tom_riddle2025) June 8, 2026
A later study by Sweatman suggested that V-shaped marks on the pillar could represent a lunisolar calendar. However, these interpretations remain controversial.
Researchers associated with the German Archaeological Institute have argued that repeated rebuilding and possible roofing of the structures complicate claims that the site functioned as an open-air observatory.
According to Zavalii, Stele 43 contains eleven rectangular symbols, while some circular enclosures at Göbekli Tepe include eleven T-shaped pillars. The repeated appearance of the number may have marked divisions of the year or important intervals between solar events.
Stele 33 provides additional evidence for this interpretation. The pillar contains snake-like figures, animals, and abstract motifs. Zavalii highlights the recurring numbers two, three, eleven, and thirteen, suggesting they may have been associated with concepts such as duality, solar cycles, and lunar rhythms.
In this reading, thirteen snake heads could symbolize the lunar year, while eleven may relate to the organization of solar time. Rather than functioning as a precise calendar, the symbols may have formed part of a sacred system used to represent the passage of time.
The study’s most distinctive contribution is its comparison with the Trypillia culture, which flourished thousands of years later in Eastern Europe.
Zavalii points to similarities between Göbekli Tepe’s symbols and Trypillian ritual objects, temple layouts, and ceramic designs. Particular attention is given to the Nebelivka Temple and distinctive “binocular-shaped” ritual artifacts.
The study suggests these forms, along with circular and crescent motifs, may have expressed ideas about duality, seasonal cycles, and sacred time.
The research does not claim a direct cultural connection between the two societies. Instead, it proposes that early farming communities may have developed comparable symbolic solutions for understanding the relationship between the sky, ritual practice, and community life.
Other interpretations of Göbekli Tepe remain influential. Archaeologist Klaus Schmidt and later researchers emphasized the site’s role as a ritual gathering place linked to ancestor veneration and communal ceremonies.
Additional studies have connected the site’s headless figures, vulture imagery, and human remains to funerary practices and beliefs about death and transformation. Meanwhile, archaeologist Giulio Magli proposed that some enclosures may have been aligned with the appearance of Sirius in the night sky.
Together, these theories highlight the complexity of Göbekli Tepe. Zavalii’s study adds a new perspective by suggesting that the site’s carvings formed part of a larger symbolic system in which architecture, ritual, memory, and celestial cycles were closely intertwined.
