‘World’s oldest calendar’ found carved onto ancient monument

The timekeeping system was unearthed at the Gobekli Tepe site in Turkey.

The ‘world’s oldest calendar’, unearthed at the Gobekli Tepe site in southern Turkey (Martin Sweatman/University of Edinburgh/PA)

The world’s oldest calendar, carved onto an ancient pillar around 12,000 years ago, has been discovered by UK archaeologists.

The timekeeping system, unearthed at the Gobekli Tepe site in mountains of Anatolia in Turkey, suggests people were accurately recording dates 10,000 years before it was documented in Greece in 150 BC.

Analysing the markings, a team led by the University of Edinburgh found 365 “V” symbols etched on one of the pillars at the site, each thought to represent a single day.

This calendar also shows 12 lunar months with 11 additional days, the researchers said.

Additionally, the carvings appear to depict a comet strike that wiped out large animals 13,000 years ago and triggered a mini ice age that lasted 1,200 years.

This event is thought to have shaped human civilisation with new developments in agriculture and religion.

Dr Martin Sweatman, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Engineering, who led the research, said: “It appears the inhabitants of Gobekli Tepe were keen observers of the sky, which is to be expected given their world had been devastated by a comet strike.

“This event might have triggered civilisation by initiating a new religion and by motivating developments in agriculture to cope with the cold climate.

“Possibly, their attempts to record what they saw are the first steps towards the development of writing millennia later.”

The Gobekli Tepe site, which features the oldest-known man-made structures, was built by hunter-gatherers between 9,600 and 8,200 BC, predating Stonehenge by more than 6,000 years.

The monument’s exact purpose has puzzled experts for decades, although many believe the place was used in connection with rituals, such as funerals.

The markings also depict the summer solstice as a separate, special day, represented by a “V” worn around the neck of a bird-like beast, the researchers said.

The team also uncovered a second pillar showing a meteor stream that lasted 27 days.

The findings, published in the journal Time And Mind, suggest these ancient humans used precession, the wobble in Earth’s axis which affects the movement of constellations across the sky, to record dates.

The markings also appear to show both solar and lunar cycles, which the researchers said could represent the world’s earliest calendar, combining the motions of the sun and moon.