The 2025 excavation season at Çakmaktepe provided new insights into both public and domestic structures. Work carried out in the Northern and Southern Excavation Areas offered important data on architectural diversity and planning practices, expanding the research framework of Çakmaktepe, considered one of the earliest settlements in the Taş Tepeler region.

Burnt Gazelle Skulls: Striking Discoveries from Structure 15

Excavations conducted in 2025 in the northern section of Special Building 15 revealed that the structure had been narrowed during a later use phase, at which time its floor was carefully resurfaced with a pebble floor. The most striking discovery of the season was the large concentration of animal skulls uncovered in front of the exterior wall. Over a 10-by-3-meter area, more than thirty burnt gazelle skulls, along with five wild sheep heads, were recovered. The gazelle heads were notably well preserved with their horns intact and appeared to have been deliberately placed.

In the previous season, burnt wild cattle and sheep heads had been found inside the structure along the wall bases; however, the fact that gazelle skulls appeared only in this exterior area suggests a purposeful placement. The presence of such a large number of gazelle skulls in a single location is unprecedented at Çakmaktepe and provides valuable insight into the structure's use phases.

Southern Excavation Area: Domestic Layout and Architectural Traces

Work carried out in 2025 in the H11, H10, G10 and G11 trenches provided a broad perspective on domestic life at Çakmaktepe. Numerous structures of varying sizes and functions were uncovered, bringing the total number of documented buildings at the site to fifty. Only two of these serve public purposes; the rest are domestic units. The fact that none of the structures cut into one another demonstrates that the settlement was built according to a synchronous and planned architectural layout.

Multiple renovation phases observed in many buildings indicate long-term use. In several structures, excavations reached the floor level, revealing bedrock that had been carefully leveled to form the ground surface. Overall, the Southern Excavation Area offers a comprehensive view of the settlement's architectural diversity and planning principles.

Explore Taş Tepeler in More Detail

Each excavation season in the Taş Tepeler region brings new clues about life 10,000 years ago, continuing to shed light on the shared history of humanity.

For more information and visual content from the 2025 excavation season at Çakmaktepe, Göbeklitepe and other sites, download the Stone Mounds app.

👉 For details on the 2025 Göbeklitepe excavation season, click here.