Ancient Temple Carvings Seemingly Depict Historical Comet

An archaeological survey in Turkey has found surprising evidence that humans thousands of years ago witnessed planet-changing astronomical events.

A University of Edinburgh study published in the Time and Mind journal illuminates what researcher Dr. Martin Sweatman found at the Göbekli Tepe archaeological site in southern Turkey . He found some intricately carved symbols in various temple structures that indicate the people who lived there nearly 13,000 years ago around 10,850 B.C.E. created a calendar, as well as a record of past events.

Among the discoveries were 365 V-shaped symbols carved onto one of the pillars at the site, implying that it might have been a calendar of sorts. There also appeared to be records of the sun, moon, and constellations' movements through the sky over the years.

Even more striking is what appeared to be a depiction of the Taurid meteor shower on another pillar. The Taurids are associated with Encke's Comet, which is believed to be the source of the long-hypothesized Younger Dryas impact, an extraterrestrial event that some scientists claim led to a cooling period at the end of the last ice age. This so-called "mini ice age" is believed to have lasted over 1,200 years and wiped out many species of large animals. In total, the shower lasted 27 days, according to the findings.

"It appears the inhabitants of Göbekli Tepe were keen observers of the sky, which is to be expected given their world had been devastated by a comet strike ," Sweatman said in a statement of the research. "This event might have triggered civilization by initiating a new religion and by motivating developments in agriculture to cope with the cold climate. Possibly, their attempts to record what they saw are the first steps towards the development of writing millennia later."

How's that for future-proof record-keeping?