The question of who was organized and who did the organizing is related to the broader question of social structure in PPN communities.

The traditional image of hunter-gatherers as strictly egalitarian, with minimal social hierarchy and no mechanisms for accumulating authority or prestige, has been significantly revised by research over the past several decades.

Mobile hunter-gatherer societies show a wide range of social structures, and the degree of social complexity and hierarchy varies substantially.

Communities at the transition to more sedentary or semi-sedentary lifestyles often show evidence of increasing social differentiation and the emergence of leadership or authority structures.

Göbekli Tepe, whatever the specific social arrangements that produced it, is evidence that some form of organized authority or social structure capable of mobilizing significant collective labor existed in the PPN of Upper Mesopotamia.