GGöbekli Tepe Visit

OBJECT RECORD · REPORTED · CHECKED 2026-10-22

Paired human faces on a dressed stone block

Sefer Tepe

View of the archaeological site at Sefer Tepe.
Site view at Sefer Tepe: View of the archaeological site at Sefer Tepe.Photo: Frantisek Trampota, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsPhoto credits & licences
T-shaped stelae at Sefer Tepe.
Site view at Sefer Tepe: T-shaped stelae at Sefer Tepe.Photo: Frantisek Trampota, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsPhoto credits & licences

Record

SiteSefer Tepe
Location nowReported set at the front corners of a stone platform at Sefertepe.
DiscoveredPresented in November 2025 reporting on the 2025 excavation season.
DatingReported as Neolithic / PPNB; no calibrated date for the block has been published.

What is carved

Two human faces are carved on a single dressed block: one in high reliefCarving that projects strongly from its background surface, leaving much of the figure modeled in depth. The paired Sefertepe faces contrast a high-relief face with one barely raised. and one barely raised. Excavation imagery shows the faces at the front corners of a platform.

[1][2][3]

Interpretations

Speculation

The excavation team has suggested the contrasting faces may express differing identities or states, including life and death; this is explicitly provisional.

[1][2]

By Excavation team, as relayed by field reporting

Glossary

Related Field Log entries

Continue through the record: Glossary · Chronology · Show Sefer Tepe on the map · Plan a visit

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