Beyond Stonehenge - with The Prehistory Guys
Dr. Lee Clare is the research co-ordinator and archaeologist in charge of the excavations at Göbekli Tepe. Dr Clare took on the position of research coordinator of the DFG long-term project at Göbekli Tepe in 2015, and in 2019 moved to the DAI’s Istanbul Department where he is now acting consultant for prehistoric archaeology.

The image of Göbekli Tepe in the wider world has become a bit distorted over time as far as we can tell and has not kept up with the most recent discoveries and interpretations. We thought we’d go straight to the source and talk to the man who can give us the very latest on the excavations and current views one of the oldest megalithic site in the world

We truly were thrilled to be able to talk with Lee (from his home in Istanbul) and are very excited at the prospect of one day being able to visit the site and expand our knowledge further.

00:00 - Introduction
01:44 - What brought you into archaeology?
04:26 - Göbekli Tepe as an institution.
08:08 - Excavating a tourist attraction!
10:50 - Göbekli Tepe in its broader context
14:38 - How do settled hunter-gatherers subsist?
18:17 - Some Göbekli Tepe myths dismissed
25:00 - How the buildings at Göbekli Tepe are perceived
29:42 - The T-pillars are not monuments.
34:43 - The T-pillars: arms but no heads and animal imagery
38:44 - Göbekli Tepe ‘back-fill’ re-interpreted.
41:34 - Chronology of Göbekli Tepe rebuilds.
44:24 - Human bones found in the rainwater cisterns.
45:51 - Lithics overload.
47:25 - How much more is there still to be found?
48:59 - Are there other Göbekli Tepes?
52:06 - Göbekli Tepe: where we are now.
53:49 - Goodbyes and acknowledgements.

There is an extended version of this interview with more questions answered available to Patreon supporters here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/gobekli-tepe-dr-62006084.

Mirrored from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16paeSPUIjo