Carvings on a 12,000-year-old monument in Turkey appear to mark solar days and years, making it possibly the oldest solar calendar in ancient civilization. The monument, Göbekli Tepe, features intricately carved symbols that researchers believe track astronomical events, including single days. The summer solstice was marked as a special day on the monument.
The carvings suggest that every “V” symbol represents a single day, with one pillar featuring 365 days. The team believes that the V symbol around the neck of a bird-like beast represents the summer solstice constellation during that time. This highlights the significance of the summer solstice and its connection to the calendar.
The discovery of the ancient solar calendar has sparked theories about the impact of a comet strike on ancient civilization. The event, which occurred roughly 10,850 BC, may have triggered the development of agriculture and motivated changes in society.
The carvings also track cycles for both the Moon and the sun, predating other similar finds by many millennia. This ancient research may have shown that comet strikes happen more frequently when Earth’s orbit crosses the path of circling comet fragments, a theory later confirmed by modern researchers.
One pillar at the site appears to picture the Taurid meteor stream lasting 27 days, which was possibly the source of the ancient comet strike. The team believes that the temple carvings demonstrate the ancient civilization’s ability to record dates precisely, noting how the movement of constellations across the sky differed based on the time of year.
This newfound calendar is remarkable for being well ahead of its time, 10,000 years before Hipparchus of ancient Greece documented the wobble in the Earth’s axis.
Source: https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/archaeology/a61806016/oldest-calendar-ever-turkey/