Turkey unearths ancient sculpture of human riding leopard
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Archaeologists in southeastern Turkey discovered a Neolithic sculpture depicting a person riding a leopard at the Karahan Tepe site.
The carving stands 28 inches tall and provides new insight into early monumental landscapes. Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism found the sculpture while excavating seating within a circular enclosure measuring about 10 feet across, indicating deliberate architectural planning from a time before cities and writing.
The discovery builds on previous work at nearby Göbekli Tepe, a site that has already changed understandings of the Neolithic period. Karahan Tepe, part of the broader Taş Tepeler archaeological zone, appears to have been built a few hundred years after Göbekli Tepe, around 11,500 to 12,000 years ago. Ministry officials believe the artifact demonstrates that prehistoric people engaged in symbolic art and complex social coordination earlier than previously understood.
They note the find sheds light on the transition from hunter-gatherer lifestyles to settled agricultural communities. Turkey continues to excavate the region through the Taş Tepeler project and its “Heritage to the Future” initiative, hoping further discoveries will reveal more about how these ancient communities lived and what they believed.
