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TREASURES · PRE-POTTERY NEOLITHIC A

Engraved stone from Çakmaktepe

Animals and arrows on a stone from Çakmaktepe

Possible animals and arrows have been identified on this stone. The interpretation of the engraving is not certain.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

DIGITAL RECREATION · compare with figure 15f; not a metric facsimile

Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis

Rendered view of the GLB model provided for Tracekeepers. Reconstruction generated with Tripo; not a photograph of an original nor an archaeological scan. See the entry's cautions.

Model contributed to the Tracekeepers project

Digital recreation of an engraved stone, contextually related to the published find from Çakmaktepe
DIGITAL RECREATION · compare with figure 15f; not a metric facsimile

Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis

Rendered view of the GLB model provided for Tracekeepers. Reconstruction generated with Tripo; not a photograph of an original nor an archaeological scan. See the entry's cautions.

Model contributed to the Tracekeepers project

Explore in 3D

Load the model only when you want to explore it. Drag or use the arrow keys to turn it; + and − zoom. Closing it releases its memory.

Digital reconstruction provided by the project and generated with Tripo. It is not an archaeological scan or a metric replica; the gallery scale is adapted for display. The identification of the find relies on the excavation publication, not on the shape of the model alone.

History and context

The publication of the Çakmaktepe excavations presents a grinding stone with three possible gazelles, arrows and other marks. Its authors propose linking the scene to hunting; the identification and interpretation are not definitive.

This record provides context for the project's engraved stone model. It is not the Gorham's Cave grid, which belongs to another place and another period. The digital model is a recreation: it does not itself certify the dimensions or exact reproduction of the published original.

Evidence and interpretation

Published find: Şahin and Miyake, 2025, p. 9, fig. 15f. The gazelles carry a question mark in the study; there is no translation of the drawing or recovered narrative scene.

The find and the tentative reading come from the archaeological publication; the volume, visual materials and GLB details are a contemporary representation.

Catalogue facts

Chronological framework
PPNA · site proposal: ≈9600–8800 BCE, provisional
Provenance
Çakmaktepe · Şanlıurfa, Turkey
Documented object
Grinding stone with incised decoration · fig. 15f
Interpretation
Possible hunting scene; no secure reading
Digital representation
Project recreation · not a certified archaeological scan
Custodianship
Not inventory-verified for this piece

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

Stone19 dated objects

5 / 19In the centre: Engraved stone from Çakmaktepe

Also connected, without a comparable date (10)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 3 sections. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: .

What was published

The report distinguishes small plaques with geometric lines and a figured grinding stone. For the latter it proposes a hunting reading. The excavators' questions must not disappear when a reproduction is prepared: the image may depict animals without our knowing their full meaning.

Regional context

Çakmaktepe belongs to the Taş Tepeler archaeological project: a regional investigation of early settlements in Şanlıurfa.

How to view the reconstruction

Compare the model with the published figure: outline, distribution of motifs and apparent depth of the grooves are distinct aspects. A recreation can serve to observe them without being a facsimile. In this record we do not attribute exact scale, individual use or a concrete history to the digital piece.

Location and territory

Physical world map with routes of human evolutionPresent-day world coastline from Natural Earth in an equirectangular projection. The overlaid markers let you explore each milestone.Map base: Natural Earth 1:110m · public domain · present-day reference coastline

REGIONAL AREA

Çakmaktepe surroundings · southwest of ŞanlıurfaIndicative regional marker: the article places Çakmaktepe about 20 km southwest of Şanlıurfa. It does not represent an excavation grid or the exact location of the piece.

Sources and references

Consult the find publication

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