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.

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.

This is not the first time that 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 memorialised in the pillars and that the site was used as a place to observe space.

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.

New York Times News Service