An alternative view of Gobekli Tepe

At http://archaeology.about.com/od/huntergatherers/ss/Gobekli-Tepe.htm there is a discussion of an article by EB Banning in Current Anthropology (2011) that suggests the T shaped pillars were used to lay a roof over the structure – otherwise compared by archaeologists with stone circles. They are circular in shape – but so are Iron Age houses in Britain and Ireland, and there are lots of these T shaped circles at Gobekli Tepe – within a quite small space. Banning has not abandoned entirely the ritual interpretation as he suggests the structures were both dwellings and subject to cult practise. In fact, he points out that many ancient houses, even here in the UK, appear to have combined dwellings with ancestor worship – but in the case of Gobekli Tepe the jury is out.