Mendik Tepe

Mendiktepe · Mendik

Being excavatedNot open to visitors

A very large early PPNA ridge-top site that may be older than most of Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe. It is key to the question of why foragers settled down.

Visiting

Not open to visitors

Excavation site.

Source: BIAA · checked 19 Oct 2026

Dating

c. 10,000–9000 cal BC, possibly end of the Epipalaeolithic

Phase: PPNA

Source: BIAA Heritage Türkiye 2025

Discovery

Found by Fatma Şahin (Çakmaktepe director); survey 2023

Source: AA 2025-08-28; BIAA

Excavation

Being excavatedRecorded as: ongoing excavation (since 2024)

University of Liverpool (Prof. Douglas Baird), with the Şanlıurfa Museum and BIAA

Key find

  1. At least 4 ha of PPNA buildings of different sizes: kitchen/storage, houses, ritual

    BIAA

Where

Eyyübiye

District level only. We don’t publish coordinates or directions to excavation and survey sites.

Field Log · 3 entries

  1. Research paperMendiktepe 2025 report: a very large PPNA site with buildings of different roles
  2. DiscoveryTaş Tepeler 5th anniversary: 30 new finds shown, including a ‘stitched-mouth’ statue
  3. ExcavationMendik Tepe, possibly older than Göbekli Tepe, under excavation by Liverpool team

Open these in the Field Log

Sources · 2

  1. Mendiktepe 2025 (D. Baird, Ö. Sarıtaş, D. Sönmez, C. Uludağ), Heritage TürkiyeBritish Institute at Ankara (BIAA) · Jan 2026
  2. Mendik Tepe, believed to predate Gobeklitepe, being unearthed in southeastern TürkiyeAnadolu Agency (English) · 28 Aug 2025