Inside The Mysteries Of Göbekli Tepe, The Oldest Temple In The World

By archaeological standards, this is a richly documented site.

And yet the gap between what the evidence shows — the physical forms of the stones, the spatial arrangements of the enclosures, the distribution of animal bones and flint tools and plant remains — and the specific social and cultural reality that produced that evidence is enormous.

Every interpretation of the site involves inferential steps that go beyond what the physical evidence directly demonstrates.

The discipline of limiting claims to what the evidence actually supports, while still communicating the genuine significance of the findings, is the central craft challenge of writing about Göbekli Tepe.