UNESCO inscribed Göbekli Tepe on its World Heritage List in 2018, recognizing the site’s universal significance.

The scale of what remains unexcavated at Göbekli Tepe is important to understand.

Geophysical survey work — ground-penetrating radar and geomagnetic measurements — has identified what appear to be many more enclosures beneath the mound than the handful that have been excavated.

Estimates suggest that as few as five percent of the site may have been excavated so far.

The visible, excavated portion of Göbekli Tepe, extraordinary as it is, represents only a fraction of what is buried in the mound.

The Architecture of the Enclosures