Carved Skulls Flesh Out Neolithic Cult Evidence

Birds and scorpions — and an apparently headless human (lower right) — adorn a pillar from one of the buildings excavated at the Neolithic site of Göbekli Tepe, where newly-discovered carved skulls point to unique ritual treatment of the dead. (Credit German Archaeological Institute (DAI)) Fragments of uniquely carved skulls — at least one of which may have also been decorated — have turned up at one of Turkey's most important Neolithic sites. Investigation into how the skulls were modified, and what they might have been used for, points to a skull cult that's the first of its kind in the world. The archaeological trove of Göbekli Tepe sits on an artificial hill in southeastern Turkey. It's a complex of monumental buildings with enormous pillars, many of them carved with animals and other symbolic art. Artifacts at the early Neolithic site date back nearly 12,000 years. (Some perspective: It's older ...