11,000-year-old Neolithic settlement found in Sayburç village, Şanlıurfa

Excavations in Sayburç village in Şanlıurfa have revealed an 11,000-year-old Neolithic settlement. The work began when stones from villagers' garden walls were found to be human-figure pillars from the Neolithic period. The T-shaped stones were noticed in 2020, and official excavations started in 2021 after Şanlıurfa Museum experts reviewed them.

By 2026, about 70 Neolithic structures, including homes and shared spaces, had been uncovered. Stone tanks and grinding tools suggest pre-farming hunter-gatherers processed grain there and possibly brewed beer. In a circular building within one of five public structures, a 3.7-metre stone bench carries five carved figures.

Istanbul University archaeologist and excavation head Eylem Özdoğan, writing in Antiquity, says the composition is the earliest known narrative stone carving. Burials were also found beneath the floors of homes, and plans are under way to turn the site into an open-air museum. Özdoğan notes that the exact story the figures represent cannot be known for certain.