The discovery of Göbekli Tepe in

Position 1: In this view, ritual and monumental building, rather than agriculture, may have been the initial catalyst for the social complexity we associate with early civilisation.

Position 2: The site consists of massive carved stone pillars arranged in circular enclosures and has been dated to approximately eleven thousand years ago.

Position 3: Some researchers now argue that the organisational demands of constructing such a monument may themselves have driven communities toward more sedentary, food-producing lifestyles.

Position 4: The discovery of Göbekli Tepe in southeastern Turkey has fundamentally challenged long-held assumptions about the origins of civilisation.

Position 5: This predates the earliest known agricultural settlements by at least a thousand years, suggesting that complex ceremonial architecture did not require a farming economy.