Gobleki Tepeh is such a fascinating site. I love the way it both throws a spanner into historical understandings and alludes to them in interesting ways.

It's not just before agriculture, it's just before agriculture, almost moments before. This is also the area where historians think it first happened. That leaves room for curious ideas like agriculture as a byproduct os civilization rather than the other way around.

The next oldest settlements are newer, less ornate and well.. settlements. No one can even figure out what Gobleki Tepeh was. Doesn't seem to be buildings. The next oldest sites are the likes of Ain Ghazal & Jericho. These were proto-cities with dwellings. They come with some pretty weird ancient art, but at least we can imagine what these people were up to. They grew crops, lived in houses, buried dead, made statues. They fit into the narrative mould history. Megalithic outdoor sanctuary on a bronze age scale before known agriculture or settlements, at a time when people were supposed to be living in small bands? Beautiful mysteries.