Göbeklitepe symbols identified as humanity's first architectural drawings

Bora Uluurgun, an interior architect and lecturer at Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, proposes that the symbols on the monoliths at Göbeklitepe are not everyday objects like bags, buckets, or baskets, but rather the oldest known architectural schematic drawings in human history.

Focusing on the three motifs on Pillar 43 (the Vulture Stone), Uluurgun argues these symbols are ‘dual-layer’ iconographic documents. They represent both a technical cross-section of a physical structure—such as the enclosures at Göbeklitepe—and a schematic model of the cosmic order consisting of the sky, earth, and underworld.

Uluurgun notes that while the symbols themselves are perfectly symmetrical, the presence of asymmetrical animal figures indicates the location of an entrance or door, a detail consistent with real architectural sections. He suggests the upper curved forms represent roofs or domes, the side pillars represent walls, and the central T-shaped form corresponds to the ritual focus of the T-shaped pillars.