Places of Encounter: Relational Ontologies, Animal Depiction and Ritual Performance at Göbekli Tepe

Göbekli Tepe, a Pre-Pottery Neolithic site in Turkey, offers new insights into prehistoric ontologies and symbolic systems through its rich iconography. Contrary to previous interpretations that emphasized male-centric violence, this study proposes that the curvilinear enclosures served as places of encounter for human and non-human agents, facilitated by images acting as intermediaries. The research leverages the framework of relational ontologies and analyzes stylistic and contextual aspects, such as cues of motion and three-dimensionality in animal depictions, to argue for a dynamic convergence of beings within these social spaces. This reinterpretation challenges traditional views and advances our understanding of ritual performance and symbolic representation in prehistoric societies.

Busacca, G. (2017). Places of Encounter: Relational Ontologies, Animal Depiction and Ritual Performance at Göbekli Tepe. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 27(2), 313–330. https://doi.org/10.1017/s095977431600072x