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Symmetry: Culture and Science
Volume 32, Number 2, pages 217-220 (2021)
https://doi.org/10.26830/symmetry_2021_2_217

SYMMETRY PATTERNS OF IMAGES ON MEGALITHIC T-SHAPED PILLARS FROM THE PREHISTORIC SITE GÖBEKLI TEPE IN TURKEY

Ruslan I. Kostov*

* University of Mining and Geology “St. Ivan Rilski”, 1700 Sofia, Bulgaria
E-mail: rikostov@yahoo.com

Abstract: All 7 frieze symmetry groups are described for depictions of animals or symbols carved on the megalithic T-shape limestone pillars forming complex stone enclosures at the Pre-Pottery A and B Neolithic site Göbekli Tepe in south-eastern Anatolia, Turkey (~10th-8th mill. BC). An idea for standardization of the size and shape of pillars and certain measures or ratios are discussed. Regular and irregular division of the plane of carving is observed. Symmetry studies indicate knowledge of periodicity, proportion and counting – a primary science among Neolithic hunter-gatherers.

Keywords: symmetry patterns, standardization, frieze groups, pillars, Göbekli Tepe.

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