Göbekli Tepe's largest enclosure, Building D, measures at least 65 feet across and contains two freestanding limestone pillars each 18 feet tall and weighing an estimated 8 tons.
Notes on verification
Matches original Archaeology Magazine reporting verbatim; corroborated by Templeton.org, Smithsonian Magazine, and the German Archaeological Institute's excavation blog. Minor variance in weight estimates (8-10 tons) across sources, but the 8-ton figure is directly supported by primary excavation source. [tier=unverified indep_score=0.3 clusters=3 claim_tier=notable] [rescored 2026-09-15: curated origin-host map (PR #65); unclassified hosts no longer scored as aggregators]
Sources
- Features - Last Stand of the Hunter-Gatherers? - Archaeology Magazine - May/June 2021 (seed:history_and_archaeology)
- Gobekli Tepe: The World's First Temple? - Smithsonian Magazine (seed:history_and_archaeology)
- https://www.dainst.blog/the-tepe-telegrams/2016/05/03/how-did-they-do-it-making-and-moving-monoliths-at-gobekli-tepe/ (corroboration)
- https://www.templeton.org/news/gobekli-tepe (corroboration)