Around 25 limestone turtle figurines believed to be up to 16,500 years old were discovered inside a cave at Gedikkaya Hill in northwestern Turkey, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported in late August.
According to Anadolu Agency, radiocarbon dating of the site places the finds during the Epipaleolithic period of the Stone Age, between 14,500 and 11,200 BCE.
Several of the figurines were covered in clay, and the largest figurine found measures approximately 30 centimeters long and 20 centimeters wide.
Professor Deniz Sari of Bilecik Seyh Edebali University first identified that cave as an archaeological site during surface surveys in 2017.
Subsequent excavations on behalf of the Bilecik Museum were conducted in 2019 and 2023, and the current excavations at the site are conducted by presidential decree by a team led by Sari.
"The artifacts show us that this was an important cult and ritual area," Sari said. "The turtle figurines we discovered this year have added a new dimension to the ritual context of the cave."
The figurines are “roughly shaped,” according to Anadolu Agency, lending weight to the researchers’ theory of them being used during ritualistic practices.
"There is a circular architectural arrangement here [in the cave],” she said. “Around it, we found turtle figurines made from limestone, many of them incomplete or quickly shaped, inserted upright into the soil.
Did prehistoric communities think site was shaped as a turtle?
Researchers are also reportedly examining whether or not prehistoric communities believed that Gedikkaya Hill, where the figurines were found, resembled a turtle that may have contributing to a type of mountain worship.
According to Sari, it is too early for the site to be described as that of a mountain cult, but noted to Anadolu Agency that many of the figurines were intentionally placed in the form of Gedikkaya Hill.
The figurines have been transferred to the Bilecik Museum and Bilecik Seyh Edebali University for examination and restoration, according to Anadolu Agency.