Abstract

Since the start of excavations at Göbekli Tepe, a Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) site in southeastern Türkiye, fragmented human bones have been recovered from the fill of its monumental structures. These fragments represent male and female individuals of all ages and exhibit a range of taphonomic modifications. While some parallels can be drawn with contemporaneous Anatolian burial customs, the seemingly random distribution of the bone fragments at Göbekli Tepe remains puzzling.

Recently, the first two intact burials were discovered in Early PPNB (8,700–8,000 BCE) contexts. The taphonomic evidence from these burials suggests a possible explanation for the presence of dispersed human bone fragments at the site. It appears that lower-lying areas were inundated by slope deposits from higher parts of the mound, which contained human remains from originally intact burials. However, this does not exclude the possibility of additional mortuary practices, highlighting the considerable diversity of burial rituals in Neolithic Anatolia.