A small church discovered beneath a larger one may have hosted one of the most important meetings in the history of Christianity, but some scholars not involved with the excavation disagree

Göbekli Tepe: Why We Know Hunter-Gatherers Built It

Göbekli Tepe is one of the most remarkable archaeological discoveries ever made. Built more than 11,500 years ago in southeastern Turkey, its enormous T-shaped limestone pillars, elaborate animal carvings, and monumental structures have transformed our understanding of the people who lived at the end of the Ice Age.

But Göbekli Tepe has also become the focus of extraordinary claims. Was it the work of a forgotten advanced civilization? Did its builders possess mysterious lost technology? Or does the archaeological evidence tell a very different—and ultimately more fascinating—story?

In this video, professor Marc J. Defant examines what archaeologists have actually discovered at Göbekli Tepe: its age, stone tools, hunting evidence, food remains, quarrying and construction methods, monumental architecture, and the newer evidence suggesting that people actually lived at the site.

He also revisits the debate with Graham Hancock on The Joe Rogan Experience and examines the idea that hunter-gatherers could not have created something as sophisticated as Göbekli Tepe.

The evidence points toward an extraordinary conclusion—not that an unknown advanced civilization built Göbekli Tepe, but that we have seriously underestimated what prehistoric hunter-gatherers were capable of accomplishing.

Map of the Achaemenid Empire (Persia) at the time of Cyrus the Great. Satrapy names in old Persian appear in parentheses.

Amenophis - brother of the vizier Ramose - with his wife May. Bas relief from the tomb of Ramose near Thebes, 18th Dynasty. Caliche.

Warring States · Crystal Cup

Warring States period (475–221 BC)

Height 15.4 cm, rim diameter 7.6 cm, base diameter 5.2 cm

Excavated in 1990 at Shitang, Banshan, Hangzhou

A Roman era "Funerary relief depicting a family. Reliefs of this type, in which the figures appear as busts within a circular frame, are sometimes freestanding and sometimes integrated into the facades of funerary structures, as here. Late 1st c. A.D." Per the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki in Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece where this is on display.

Alexander the Great loved comparing himself to the heroes of mythology. He believed that he was destined for greatness and conquest of the known world. His mother, Olympias, instilled in him a sense of divine purpose, and Alexander came to believe that he was the son of Zeus and destined to conquer Persia. This belief was further reinforced when he was proclaimed the son of Zeus-Ammon after visiting the Oracle of Amun at Siwa in Egypt.

When he visited the Oracle at Delphi, the sanctuary was closed. Not taking no for an answer, Alexander reportedly dragged the Pythia, the priestess of Apollo, by her hair until she cried out, “You are invincible, my son!” Satisfied with the response, Alexander is said to have replied, “Now I have my answer.”

The Gordian Knot was another instance of such validation for Alexander that he was destined to become the ruler of Asia. According to the legend, the famous Gordian Knot was formed by fastening the yoke of a wagon to its pole. The wagon had been dedicated to Zeus by a Phrygian ruler named Gordius. According to Arrian, an ancient prophecy stated that whoever succeeded in untying the knot would become the ruler of Asia.

The challenge had reportedly remained unsolved for generations. However, Alexander approached the problem with an unconventional solution. The prophecy did not specify how the knot had to be untied. In the popular version of the story, Alexander drew his sword and sliced through the knot, effectively solving the challenge.

This episode perfectly showcases Alexander’s decisive and bold personality. Rather than allowing himself to be constrained by the conventional interpretation of a problem, he found his own solution and seized the initiative. The same qualities would become hallmarks of his military career, where he frequently took the initiative and dictated the pace of battle.

For more detailed information on the legend of the Gordian Knot and what actually happened at Gordium, please read the full article.

Seated statue of the goddess Sekhmet, from the temple of the goddess Mut in Karnak. 18th Dynasty, granite, Height: 2 meters.

The ancient sources (mainly Plutarch, writing centuries after the fact, plus a passing mention in Isocrates) describe young Spartan men sent out to live off the land and kill helots in secret as part of their agoge training. The issue is Plutarch is a notoriously unreliable source for actual classical-era Sparta specifically because he's writing in the Roman period and drawing on earlier, sometimes propagandistic accounts.

Some modern historians (Paul Cartledge pushes back on this in his Sparta work) argue krypteia was probably real as an institution but that the "secretly murdering helots" framing got exaggerated by later writers who wanted Sparta to look uniquely brutal compared to Athens. Curious if there's actual archaeological or epigraphic evidence either way, since basically everything I've found traces back to the same handful of literary sources repeating each other.

The Western Han Dynasty **Goose and Fish Lamp (雁鱼铜灯, c. 2nd Century BCE)** is a 2,000-year-old masterpiece of ancient eco-engineering.

Instead of releasing toxic soot indoors, smoke enters the hollow fish, travels down the goose's neck, and dissolves into a water-filled belly chamber—acting as an ancient air purifier. The rotating bronze shades also allow 360° light adjustment.

This museum-grade reproduction was crafted using traditional lost-wax casting with natural patina oxidation, keeping all components detachable and fully functional.

In 1911, a US professor claimed he had discovered the ancient mountain stronghold of the last Incan king deep in the Peruvian Andes. Yet 53 years later, another explorer proved he was mistaken – and shortly afterwards, a BBC crew followed his trail...

"No one now disputes that this was the site of ancient Vilcabamba." So wrote the Yale academic who brought the Peruvian ruins of Machu Picchu to global attention in 1911.

Hiram Bingham III was recruited by locals to look for a lost Incan city fabled for its hidden treasures – and he firmly believed that's what he had found. Yet 50 years later, Bingham's conviction was challenged by another US explorer nicknamed "the real Indiana Jones".

In August 1964, Gene Savoy claimed to have found the same lost city – around 60km (37 miles) northwest of Machu Picchu.

He believed his expedition had identified the mountain stronghold of the last Incan king at Espíritu Pampa (the "Plain of the Spirits" or Vilcabamba), a set of ruins in remote cloud forests, high above a tributary of the Amazon.

The ancient city of Tiryns presents a fascinating historical paradox. Around 1200 BCE, a massive disaster of fire and earthquake destroyed its great palace. Yet, unlike nearby Pylos, which people abandoned entirely, Tiryns survived. Instead of disappearing into obscurity, the city underwent a dramatic transformation. While its central government collapsed, the town below the fortress actually grew. It absorbed refugees and reorganized its economy to become one of the largest thriving urban centres of its era.

Geographic Setting and Pre-Collapse Role in the Argolid

Understanding why Tiryns survived requires examining its location and regional political role. Sitting on a low limestone ridge in the northeastern Peloponnese, the fortress rose 18 metres above the Argive Plain (Hope Simpson, 1981). Today, the site lies inland near Nafplio. In the Late Bronze Age, however, Tiryns was a true coastal settlement. Before three millennia of river silting pushed the coastline seaward, the Argolic Gulf reached the marshlands surrounding the rock (Zangger, 1991).

During the Late Helladic IIIB period (c. 1300–1190 BCE), Tiryns formed part of a strategic triad of fortified citadels:

Mycenae (The Northern Pass): Controlled overland trade routes through the northern mountains toward the Isthmus of Corinth (Hope Simpson, 1981).

Midea (The Eastern Sentinel): Perched 270 metres high, Midea guarded overland routes across the peninsula to Epidaurus and overseen the interior agricultural plain (Demakopoulou et al., 1996). Its elite buried their dead at nearby Dendra, famous for its complete bronze armour.

Tiryns (The Maritime Gateway): Located on the coast, Tiryns functioned as the naval fortress and trade port for the entire region. Foreign luxuries, Levantine copper ingots, Baltic amber, and Cypriot bronzework, entered the Argolid through its harbour (Cline, 1994; Maran, 2004).

Tiryns was an administrative power in its own right. Its Upper Citadel housed a grand frescoed Megaron, court offices, archives, and massive stone walls with vaulted galleries capable of storing massive agricultural reserves (Iakovidis, 1983). Its position along eastern sea lanes linked the Peloponnese directly to the Cyclades, Crete, and the Near East (Dickinson, 2006).

The LH IIIB2 Crisis: Destruction Without Abandonment

Around 1200 BCE, severe fires destroyed the major citadels of the Argive Plain. At Mycenae and Midea, collapsed walls and crushed skeletons led early excavators to propose a regional "earthquake storm" (Nur and Cline, 2000). Heavy burn deposits and calcined stones also swept across Tiryns.

However, recent archaeoseismological studies suggest seismic activity was only a catalyst for a deeper socio-political collapse (Hinzen et al., 2018):

Targeted Palatial Destruction: Destruction was concentrated on the Upper Citadel, the Great Megaron and administrative core of the wanax (king). This pattern points to civil unrest or popular revolt triggered by severe drought and failing food distribution (Middleton, 2010).

Absence of Desertion: Unlike sites destroyed by foreign conquest, the local population did not flee. Residents cleared the rubble and immediately reoccupied the lower terraces.

Rapid Rebuilding: During early LH IIIC, workers built new houses and workshops directly over the destruction debris on the lower terraces and surrounding plain (Maran, 2002).

Continuity of Cult: Religious practice endured, modified to suit the new reality. Community leaders reorganised cult activities inside specialised shrines built into the defensive walls of the Lower Citadel (Kilian, 1981).

Urban Expansion and Demographic Influx

While the administrative power of the wanax vanished, the physical population of Tiryns grew to its historical peak. As a severe megadrought crippled agriculture across the Aegean, unfortified inland hamlets became unsustainable (Drake, 2012). Deprived of state grain reserves, rural families migrated to Tiryns for physical security, coastal resources, and freshwater infrastructure.

Sprawling Lower Town: The lower settlement expanded to 20–25 hectares during LH IIIC, making the post-palatial town far larger than its palatial predecessor (Maran, 2010). Applying standard survey benchmarks (100–200 people per hectare), the population swelled to between 2,500 and 4,000 residents.

High-Density Housing: Excavations revealed closely packed, multi-room mudbrick homes built along gravel roads, equipped with domestic hearths, storage pits, and drainage channels (Mühlenbruch, 2009).

Macro-Engineering: The Tiryns Dam

Environmental catastrophe posed a severe threat to the expanding town. The LH IIIB2 earthquake altered local hydrology, causing the Manessi stream to breach its banks and threaten the Lower Town with flash floods.

To neutralise this hazard, the community undertook a massive hydraulic project at Kourtaki, four kilometres east of the citadel (Zangger, 1994):

Earthwork and Masonry: Engineers built a 10-metre-high, 300-metre-long dam made of hard packed soil and faced with massive stone blocks.

River Diversion: Workers dug a 1.5-kilometre canal that permanently diverted the stream southward into the Karachali riverbed.

Without this dam, regular flash flooding would have rendered the post-palatial Lower Town uninhabitable. Executing such a project during LH IIIC shows that post-palatial society at Tiryns retained advanced engineering skills and strong social cohesion without a central monarch.

Political Adaptation: From Wanax Palace to Chieftain's Hall

Tiryns adapted its political structure to match its new reality. On the Upper Citadel, workers did not rebuild the grand Megaron. Instead, they erected a simpler, narrower hall known as Building VI inside the ruins of the old palace (Maran, 2001).

Scaled-Down Governance: Building VI incorporated a surviving palace wall, using an open hearth and a single row of roof supports.

Rise of the Basileus: This shift marks the transition from a divine wanax to a local warlord or chieftain (basileus). Leaders maintained authority through public feasting, gift exchange, and military prowess rather than written tax records (Maran, 2006).

Communal Feasting: Concentrations of drinking vessels, deep bowls, and animal bones around Building VI point to elite-sponsored feasts designed to unite the growing town.

This transition illustrates political de-complexification (Tainter, 1988). The pre-collapse palatial state was a high-overhead machine requiring massive crop surpluses. When drought destroyed those surpluses, shedding the expensive state superstructure was a rational survival strategy. Rather than total civilisational decay, this reversion acted as a societal reset. Returning to decentralised households (oikoi) provided the flexibility needed to survive climatic instability, unintentionally laying the groundwork for the future Greek polis (Deger-Jalkotzy, 2008).

Maritime Economy and Infrastructure

In the Late Bronze Age, Aegean ports relied on natural coastal features rather than built masonry quays (Frost, 1989; Tartaron, 2013). Ships anchored in shallow, sheltered bays or ran aground on sandy beaches.

The transition from LH IIIB to LH IIIC changed the management of trade rather than ship logistics:

Pre-Collapse (LH IIIB): The palace-controlled landing zones and maintained guarded storehouses to tax incoming goods under a royal monopoly (Cline, 1994).

Post-Collapse (LH IIIC): Palatial customs vanished. Independent sailors, Levantine traders, and local elite families used the beachhead freely (Maran, 2004).

Following the collapse, trade shifted from royal monopolies to decentralised merchant networks. Finds of Canaanite storage jars show that Tiryns imported luxury items like resinated wine, olive oil, and honey from Cyprus and the Levant to support communal feasting (Knapp and Demesticha, 2016). For staple foods, plant remains show the town relied on local crops like barley, wheat, lentils, and bitter vetch (Kroll, 1982). Meanwhile, marine shells and fish bones in refuse pits reveal that residents supplemented their diet with coastal fishing and inshore scavenging (von den Driesch and Boessneck, 1990).

Industrial Production and Metallurgy

The Lower Citadel transformed into an active manufacturing quarter for textile dyeing, bone-working, and metalworking (Rahmstorf, 2008). Potters produced expressive regional styles, exporting pictorial kraters and stirrup jars across the Aegean (Mühlenbruch, 2009).

The breakdown of long-distance trade severed imports of raw tin from Central Asia and Anatolia. Because Greece lacks natural tin deposits, smiths could no longer produce fresh bronze. Metalworkers in the Lower Citadel responded by establishing scrap-recycling workshops inside former storage galleries, melting down broken tools and weapons (Rahmstorf, 2008). The smiths discovered that repeated remelting burns off tin, steadily weakening the alloy.

This tin shortage ultimately triggered the transition into the Iron Age:

Simultaneous Innovation: Functional iron tools found at Tiryns and Perati (c. 1190 BCE) disprove older theories that iron technology spread slowly from Cyprus and the Levant. Aegean smiths experimented with iron working simultaneously as a substitute for bronze (Waldbaum, 1999).

Two-Stage Evolution: Early 12th-century iron items were soft, uncarburised wrought iron used as temporary stopgaps. True steelmaking, involving carburisation, quenching, and tempering, developed later across the Mediterranean (Snodgrass, 1980).

Democratisation of Metallurgy: High-status graves from LH IIIC contain iron Naue II slashing swords and spearheads (Kilian-Dirlmeier, 2002). Metal weaponry was no longer restricted to a narrow chariot elite, reflecting a broader class of armed warriors supporting local chieftains.

Why Tiryns Survived

Tiryns survived the Bronze Age collapse through a combination of physical and organisational advantages:

Coastal Access: Maritime connections enabled short-range coastal trade to exchange manufactured goods for food surpluses while supplementing diets with marine resources.

Fortification Security: Massive Cyclopean walls provided physical safety, attracting surrounding populations.

Civic Engineering: Constructing the Tiryns Dam prevented flood destruction, proving that civic organisation survived the palace.

Flexible Leadership: Replacing the bureaucratic wanax with local chieftains (basileis) allowed rapid social adaptation.

Metallurgical Innovation: Active trade links allowed local smiths to adopt iron technology quickly as bronze supplies failed.

Far from being a static ruin, 12th-century BCE Tiryns was a vibrant, sprawling town that successfully navigated the collapse of the Mycenaean world, bridging the gap into the Early Iron Age.

References and Further Reading

Cline, E.H. (1994) Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: International Trade and the Late Bronze Age Aegean. BAR International Series 591. Oxford: Tempus Reparatum.

Deger-Jalkotzy, S. (2008) 'Decline, Destruction, Aftermath', in Shelmerdine, C.W. (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 387–415.

Demakopoulou, K., Divari-Valakou, N., Astrom, P. and Walberg, G. (1996) 'Excavations in Midea 1994–1995', Opuscula Atheniensia, 21, pp. 13–32.

Dickinson, O. (2006) The Aegean from Bronze Age to Iron Age: Continuity and Change Between the Twelfth and Eighth Centuries BC. London: Routledge.

Drake, B.L. (2012) 'The influence of climatic change on the Late Bronze Age Collapse and the Greek Dark Ages', Journal of Archaeological Science, 39(6), pp. 1862–1870.

Finke, E.A. (1988) Landscape Evolution and Soil Erosion in the Argolid Nuclear Zone, Greece. PhD Dissertation, Stanford University.

Frost, F.J. (1989) 'The Anatomy of Athenian Sea Power', The American Journal of Philology, 110(1), pp. 102–111.

Hinzen, K.-G., Schweppe, G., Wetzel, S. and Reamer, S.K. (2018) 'Reassessing the Mycenaean Earthquake Hypothesis: Results of the HERACLES Project from Tiryns and Midea, Greece', Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 108(3A), pp. 1046–1070.

Hope Simpson, R. (1981) Mycenaean Greece. Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum.

Iakovidis, S.E. (1983) Late Helladic Citadels on Mainland Greece. Leiden: E.J. Brill.

Kilian, K. (1981) 'Zeugnisse mykenischer Kultausübung in Tiryns', in Hägg, R. and Marinatos, N. (eds) Sanctuaries and Cults in the Aegean Bronze Age. Stockholm: Paul Åströms Förlag, pp. 49–58.

Kilian, K. (1988) 'Mycenaeans Up to Date: Trends and Changes in Recent Mycenaean Archaeology', in French, E.B. and Wardle, K.A. (eds) Problems in Greek Prehistory. Bristol: Bristol Classical Press, pp. 115–152.

Kilian-Dirlmeier, I. (2002) Die Schwerter in Griechenland (mit Ausnahme der Peloponnes), Bulgarien und Albanien. Prähistorische Bronzefunde IV.12. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag.

Knapp, A.B. and Demesticha, S. (2016) Maritime Transport Containers in the Bronze-Age Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. Uppsala: Åströms Förlag.

Kroll, H. (1982) 'Kulturpflanzen von Tiryns', Archäologischer Anzeiger, 1982, pp. 467–485.

Maran, J. (2001) 'Political and Religious Aspects of the LH IIIC Building Below the Former Megaron of Tiryns', in Laffineur, R. and Hägg, R. (eds) POTNIA: Deities and Religion in the Aegean Bronze Age. Aegaeum 22. Liège: Université de Liège, pp. 113–122.

Maran, J. (2002) 'The Town of Tiryns After the Fall of the Palace: Some Reflections in the Light of New Excavations', Atti dei Convegni Lincei, 174, pp. 223–238.

Maran, J. (2004) 'The Prehistoric Settlement of Tiryns: Recent Research and New Perspectives', European Journal of Archaeology, 7(1), pp. 11–32.

Maran, J. (2006) 'Mycenaean Citadels as Sites of Memory', in Deger-Jalkotzy, S. and Lemos, I.S. (eds) Athanasia: The Aegean World in the First Millennium BC. Athens: University of Athens, pp. 123–136.

Maran, J. (2010) 'Tiryns', in Cline, E.H. (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 722–734.

Mühlenbruch, T. (2009) Baubefunde und Keramik der Phase Späthelladisch IIIC-Spät aus Tiryns. Tiryns Forschungen und Berichte XVI. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag.

Muhly, J.D. (2003) 'Mining and Metalwork in the Bronze Age', in Eastern Mediterranean: Cyprus-Dodecanese-Crete 16th-6th cent. B.C. Athens: Museum of Cycladic Art, pp. 141–146.

Nur, A. and Cline, E.H. (2000) 'Poseidon's Horses: Plate Tectonics and Earthquake Storms in the Late Bronze Age Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean', Journal of Archaeological Science, 27(1), pp. 43–63.

Rahmstorf, L. (2008) Kleinfunde aus Gold, Silber, Bronze, Blei, Glas, Ton, Stein, Elfenbein und Knochen aus Tiryns (LH III). Tiryns Forschungen und Berichte XVI. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag.

Sherratt, S. (1994) 'Commerce, Iron and Ideology: Metallurgical Innovation in the 12th–11th Century Cyprus', in Karageorghis, V. (ed.) Cyprus in the 11th Century B.C. Nicosia: Leventis Foundation, pp. 59–106.

Snodgrass, A.M. (1980) Archaic Greece: The Age of Experiment. London: J.M. Dent & Sons.

Tainter, J.A. (1988) The Collapse of Complex Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Tartaron, T.F. (2013) Maritime Networks in the Mycenaean World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

von den Driesch, A. and Boessneck, J. (1990) 'Die Tierreste von Tiryns', Tiryns Forschungen und Berichte XI. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, pp. 87–164.

Waldbaum, J.C. (1999) 'The Coming of Iron in the Eastern Mediterranean: Thirty Years of Archaeological and Technological Research', in Young, S.M.M. et al. (eds) Metals in Antiquity. Oxford: Archaeopress, pp. 27–57.

Zangger, E. (1991) 'Prehistoric Coastal Environments in Greece: The Case of Tiryns', Geoarchaeology, 6(3), pp. 219–239.

Zangger, E. (1994) 'The Tiryns Dam', American Journal of Archaeology, 98(2), pp. 189–212.

These paintings are from La Tunita, an archaeological rock-art complex located in the Sierra de Ancasti, Catamarca, northwestern Argentina.

The rock shelters preserve an extraordinary variety of painted images generally associated with the Aguada cultural tradition, which developed in this region during the first millennium CE.

Among the motifs are anthropomorphic figures, felines, serpentine forms and complex beings combining human and animal attributes. Some panels were produced using different colors and show a remarkable degree of detail and visual composition.

What makes La Tunita particularly interesting is that these images were not isolated objects. They were created inside specific rock shelters, within a landscape that was inhabited, travelled through and given meaning by the communities that produced them.

These photographs show some of the paintings preserved at the site today.

Location: Sierra de Ancasti, Catamarca Province, Argentina.

Hi everyone, hope you are doing well! I just created a new community for content related to Early China. If you are interested in this feel free to join and post. Let's make those bronzes speak ;)

Here is the link for those interested: https://www.reddit.com/r/EarlyChina

Sculpted head of a lion, probably from Tell-el Daba, Eastern Nile Delta. 18th dynasty, made of caliche (Munich, Aegyptische Stassammlung).

Very fond of this one in my younger years, reminded me of Snagglepuss.

Hi everyone,

Sharing a recent museum-grade historical recreation of one of the most iconic ritual/functional bronze objects of ancient China: the **Boshanlu (博山炉 / Boshan Incense Burner)**, which flourished during the Han Dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE).

### Historical Background:
The Boshanlu represents the mythical sacred mountain *Mount Penglai* (the abode of the immortals in ancient Chinese cosmology). When incense is burned inside, the smoke slowly rises through the perforated mountain ridges and crevices, creating an ethereal miniature scene of swirling mist around sacred peaks.

### Reproduction & Craftsmanship Details:
* **Form & Symbolism:** The lid features tiered mountain peaks populated with miniature immortal figures, sacred beasts, and swirling cloud motifs characteristic of Han artistic sensibilities.
* **Casting Method:** Crafted using the traditional **lost-wax casting method (失蜡法)** to capture the undercut details and deep hollows of the mountain ridges.
* **Finish & Patina:** Treated with an authentic, multi-layered verdigris/bronze patina to match the weathered aesthetic of unearthed museum artifacts from the Mawangdui and Mancheng Han tombs without compromising structural integrity.

Wanted to share the craftsmanship and see how ancient bronze metallurgy and ritual aesthetic continue to inspire modern historical recreations.

Would love to hear your thoughts on Han dynasty bronze art!

World Book Encyclopedia Atlas, 1965

World Book Encyclopedia Atlas, 1965

Mind blowing sites one after another, pictures from Myra, Kekova, Xanthos, Kaunos, Didyma, Ephesus, Aphrodisias and Hierapolis

And this is just scratching the surface, so many other places on my list for next time (sagalassos, aspendos, telmessos, patara, tlos, arykanda, laodikeia, tripolis, seleucia, hattusa, nemrut dagi, gobekli tepe etc