The variety suggests that the imagery was not drawn from a simple, limited symbolic repertoire.

Whatever the specific meanings attached to specific animals in the belief system of the people who carved them, the carved surface of a Göbekli Tepe pillar represents a broad engagement with the animal world — and specifically with the dangerous, powerful, or unpredictable aspects of that world.

The animals most prominently depicted are not the gentle, docile ones.

They are predominantly predators, venomous creatures, and powerful wild animals that posed real and significant threats to people living in the landscape of Upper Mesopotamia.

This emphasis on dangerous animals has led to various interpretive proposals.