Ancient structure more than 6,000 years older than Stonehenge is going to 'rewrite history' after insane discoveries

An ancient stone circle site thought to be twice as old as Stonehenge is set to rewrite what historians thought they knew about ancient civilisations.

You may have heard of Göbekli Tepe before. If you haven’t, then you need to know that it is a Neolithic archaeological site situated in the Germuş mountains of south-eastern Anatolia, close to the border of Syria.

This Turkish World Heritage Site comprises round-oval and rectangular structures, thought to have been erected by hunter-gatherers between 9,600 and 8,200 BCE.

The site is thought to be more than 6,000 years older than Stonehenge (OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Experts believe the limestone monuments were possibly used during social events and rituals and that they have been rebuilt or remodelled at least three or four times over the last 1,000 years.

As per UNESCO, Göbekli Tepe is one of the first manifestations of human-made monumental architecture and is a testament to innovative building techniques of the past.

Unbelievably, it's said to predate Stonehenge by 6,000 years and is considered even older than the era of Sumer, which experts often consider one of the earliest true civilisations.

However, last year, archaeologists admitted that what we think we know about the megalithic site is probably wrong.

Previously, it was believed that the seven to ten-ton T-shaped pillars at the site were designed to represent humans or (at a push) mythical humanoid beings.

Some also believe the site was supposed to be used for burials, making it the world’s oldest temple in the world by some stretch of time.

Others claim it was the famed Garden of Eden, as referenced in the Bible.

A recent breakthrough saw archaeologists discovering dwellings at the site (Sercan Ozkurnazli/ dia images via Getty Images)

However, Dr Martin Sweatman, from the University of Edinburgh's School of Engineering, has claimed Göbekli Tepe could be the world’s oldest calendar.

“It appears the inhabitants of Göbekli Tepe were keen observers of the sky, which is to be expected given their world had been devastated by a comet strike,” he told The Express.

Göbekli Tepe was discovered in the 1960s, but its significance wasn’t truly understood until 1994.

Now, it’s currently in the process of being restored by archaeologists.

According to Dr Mehmet Önal of Harran University’s Department of Archaeology, it is likely to take around 150 years to excavate the full site.

A number of breakthroughs have taken place in recent years, including experts realising they’d stumbled upon dwellings of an ancient civilisation.

The discovery of living quarters disproved earlier archaeological theories that the site served solely as a ceremonial pilgrimage destination.

This idea, therefore, pre-dates the common palaeontologist notion that humans began settling into permanent locations and building cities around 10,000 years ago, as per Ranker.

Instead, it’s looking as if this happened 1,000 years earlier. Thus Göbekli Tepe could rewrite everything we know about human history.

It's thought Göbekli Tepe could take 150 years to fully excavate (Mehmet Masum Suer/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Speaking about the ongoing efforts, Dr Lee Clare of the German Archaeological Institute's Istanbul Department said on X: "The team excavating at Göbekli Tepe is doing a tremendous job.

“I invite those individuals commenting on here to the contrary to get up at 4.30 am and do a day's manual work, shifting rubble and sediment in 40 degree heat."

He said in the future, excavations will focus on uncovering ‘special buildings’ that have already been partially excavated and that other areas - including stone circles thought to have been buried underneath the soil - will be left for future generations.