### ch02p74 monumental architecture pre-dates agriculture <blockquote class=paraphrase> Gobelkli Tepe has around 20 megalithic monumental stone circles with T-shaped pillars and low-relief carving (of animals and geometric shapes) and three-dimensional sculptures. It’s unclear what their purpoes was, but archaeologists suspect the site was used for ritual feasts (there’s evidence for huge feasts) and gatherings of hunter-gatherers. The complex job duties requires to build such enormous monuments (quarrying, engineering, etc) indicate that complex societies and social hierarchies and job division pre-dates agriculture. There’s speculation that instead of eating the grain, they might have fermented it into beer and “paid” laborers that way. </blockquote> Something to bear in mind when teaching the neolithic revolution. - [[Tamed by Alice Roberts#ch02p74 monumental architecture pre-dates agriculture|View in Vault]]