The Mystery That Remains

After all the sections above — the archaeology, the analysis, the comparisons, the caveats, the contextualizations — what remains genuinely mysterious about Göbekli Tepe?

The most significant remaining mystery is the one that was stated at the outset: the specific meanings that the builders and users of the site attached to what they built and how they used it.

The T-shaped pillars with their carved arms and belts, the vulture holding its round form aloft, the serpent descending the pillar’s length, the procession of birds: these are images that meant something specific and important to the people who made them.

That meaning is not accessible from the outside.