OBJECT RECORD · ESTABLISHED · CHECKED 2026-10-22

Human–bird composite sculpture from Building II

Nevalı Çori · Cult Building II

Site view at Nevalı Çori: A stela from Nevalı Çori displayed in the Şanlıurfa Archaeology Museum.Photo: Marco Restano, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsPhoto credits & licences

Site view at Nevalı Çori: A carved head from Nevalı Çori in the Şanlıurfa Archaeology Museum.Photo: Marco Restano, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsPhoto credits & licences

Site view at Nevalı Çori: A Nevalı Çori carved head with a snake motif, displayed in the museum.Photo: Marco Restano, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsPhoto credits & licences

Site view at Nevalı Çori: A limestone sculpture from Nevalı Çori in the Şanlıurfa Archaeology Museum.Photo: Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsPhoto credits & licences

Site view at Nevalı Çori: A museum diorama reconstructing a building at Nevalı Çori.Photo: Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsPhoto credits & licences

Site view at Nevalı Çori: Panoramic museum reconstruction of the Nevalı Çori building.Photo: Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsPhoto credits & licences

Site view at Nevalı Çori: A small human statuette from Nevalı Çori in the museum.Photo: Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsPhoto credits & licences

A small stone human figure displayed upright in a glass-lit museum case. — Site view at Nevalı Çori: Museum display of a human statuette attributed to Nevalı Çori.Photo: Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsPhoto credits & licences

A close view of a pale, irregular stone terrazzo floor display. — Site view at Nevalı Çori: A terrazzo floor example from Nevalı Çori, displayed in the museum.Photo: Cobija, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsPhoto credits & licences

An oblong pale stone vessel fragment with carved figures across its surface, mounted on white supports in a museum case. — Site view at Nevalı Çori: A decorated stone-vessel fragment attributed to Nevalı Çori, displayed at the Şanlıurfa Archaeology Museum.Photo: Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsPhoto credits & licences

Record

Site	Nevalı Çori
Enclosure	Cult Building II
Location now	Reported embedded in a bench in Cult Building II.
Dating	Pre-Pottery Neolithic B; a more precise object-specific date is not stated.
Dimensions	Approximately 1 m high.

What is carved

A roughly metre-high limestone composite sculpture combines human and bird elements. “Totem pole” is a conventional descriptive nickname, not a claim about a specific ethnographic function.

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