University of Chicago and Istanbul University researchers examined Göbekli Tepe in the 1960s but dismissed the hill as an abandoned medieval cemetery after finding broken limestone slabs.
Notes on verification
Corroborated by German Archaeological Institute's Tepe Telegrams blog, Penn Museum's Expedition magazine, and Ancient Origins, all agreeing on the 1963 Istanbul-Chicago survey, Peter Benedict's misidentification, and the dismissal as a medieval cemetery. [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
- Gobekli Tepe: The World's First Temple? - Smithsonian Magazine (seed:history_and_archaeology)
- https://www.dainst.blog/the-tepe-telegrams/2016/06/02/gobekli-tepe-the-first-20-years-of-research/ (corroboration)
- https://www.ancient-origins.net/history/gobekli-tepe-0014650 (corroboration)
- https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/cult-as-a-driving-force-of-human-history/ (corroboration)
- https://www.dainst.blog/the-tepe-telegrams/faq/ (corroboration)