Did Gobekli Tepe Appear Out of Nowhere? A Reply to Graham Hancock 

Thank you for this video WoA. You really did a great job of overviewing the work done in the region over the last 3-4 decades. Very succinct and easy to understand! I did my PhD on ground/polished stone artefacts from the Late Epipaleolithic and early Neolithic of the Southern Levant. I actually worked on material from the site Shubayqa 1 in Eastern Jordan that you show a picture of at 08:43-09:00! Great to see our site referenced. It appears that people like Hancock and Co. have a really hard time understanding stone tool technology and prehistoric stone masonry and artistry. It is almost as if they forget that stone (in addition to wood, bone, shell, fibres etc.) was the main material(s) people had to work with. Humans and our ancestors have been shaping stone (with other stones) for more than 2 million years. People didn’t much else to do and got really good at it! Can’t blame them entirely, because unfortunately research of past stone technologies (especially within Paleolithic archaeology) has been heavily focused on flaked stone tools, like flint/chert knives, arrowheads etc. Until the 1990s very little attention was given to the study of prehistoric ground/abraded/polished stone tools. This has changed though! And we now know a lot more about how people shaped and used “ground” stone tools like mortars and querns of coarser igneous and sedimentary rock. Another reason we know less about the process of shaping these rock types is also that the process leaves a lot less traces than other methods of shaping (rock). In flaked/chipped stone technology, people flaked pieces of stone like flint/chert and this usually left lots of flint flakes behind on the ground (for us archaeologists to find) and allows specialists to reconstruct the process from the intermediate steps, i.e. the different flakes left behind. This doesn’t happen as much when shaping “coarser” stone types. Here you would also perhaps flake a basalt boulder into a more manageable size or a preform, but from there your main mode of shaping was abrasion, i.e. shaping by rubbing a stone against another (sometimes with water and sand), and pecking, i.e rapid/short percussion/impaction with another stone. These processes should and would rarely result in flakes but rather the byproduct is small/tiny stone fragments and stone dust released from the boulder you were shaping. This dust and these tiny fragments are almost impossible to find during an archaeological excavation, meaning that all the intermediate steps in the production process are lost. Only preforms or accidentally broken pieces are left behind, and again unlike flaked stone tools, mistakes are easier to correct/remove (by pecking/abrading) so fewer mistakes are also found. Anyways, I just wanted to say thank you for sharing this research and letting people know that people of the past were really good at using and shaping all kinds of stone (and other materials as well!).

"I don't believe (A) because there is not enough evidence, I must therefore believe (B) of which there is no evidence." Yeah, that makes sense.

I used to be one of these people who thought that the most ancient civilizations had "high technology" because a lot of the megalithic stonework was "impossible", but thanks to your channel I'm actually educated now. The only lost technologies are patience and ingenuity!

It's funny how similar the rhetoric is to evolution denial. "Here's a gap, therefore it *must* be filled with [extraordinary and unsubstantiated thing]." I suppose that and creationism and ancient aliens are really just different flavors of the same thing.

hello I am a French sculpture teacher and passionate about archeology... SO BRAVO!!! finally, coherent and structured work on this founding subject of our cultures. YES we must clearly understand this extraordinary mutation and feel this pre-agricultural human journey.

It does get tiring how inept people assume the people of antiquity were. They were just as capable as we are today.

I do find it interesting that Graham Hancock demands evidence of a gradual progression in human development to believe it. Which does actually exist as this vid explains. Yet he has no problem believing in a high tech civilisation of which we can find no trace. Don't expect a reply from him anytime soon David.

I've always wondered why the advanced knowledge brought to ancient people is so primitive.

I love conspiracy theories and alternative history debates for the entertainment value. But, also it then promotes videos like this, where by amazing public education videos are made for general betterment of our understanding of our history. Thank you WoA for this awesome video! ❤

Usually when someone- ESPECIALLY someone who’s expertise is not in the field they are speaking of- disagrees with an overwhelming consensus of the scientific community based on a “lack” of evidence, there isn’t actually any lack of evidence, just their OWN lack of KNOWLEDGE of the existing evidence.

A long-time Graham Hancock fan here. What a brilliant presentation of facts, it completely changed my perspective on the GT site and its implications for contemporary archaeology. Thank you for putting this together. Would love to see you on Joe Rogan someday! Cheers

This is one of the most well-reasoned and evidence-filled videos I've seen about the region and the time period involving Gobekli Tepe.

There is always going to be a "most advanced" city in the world. Look at a city like Shanghai, or Tokyo, and compare it to an older, more "classic" city like Detroit, or Boston. If civilization fell and in 5000 years humans found Tokyo, and Detroit and realized they came from the same time period, there'd probably be some disagreement as to why there was such a discrepancy in technology. Just a thought I had.

Graham's line of argumentation strikes me as very similar to that of creationists, asking for evidence of transitional forms and then claiming his own ignorance of those transitional forms as evidence that a much wilder claim with even less evidence is somehow the more reasonable explanation

I also used to be one who subscribed to this ancient high civilization idea! Turns out I was just uneducated! The more I learn and the more I research into ancient history, it all makes perfect sense! I was truly a perfect example of Dunning Kreuger. Thanks for all you do to educate us on this phenomenal history! The more I learn the more I realize their is no one hiding the truth, their is no one lying to us! This is our history as humans and its amazing to learn about!

Thank you for taking the considerable time to debunk the uneducated foolishness of Graham Hancock!

This is the definition of "I can't imagine them doing it, therefore they couldn't have done it"

The problem with Graham’s theories is that he often uses phrases like “suddenly”, “just pops up” and “out of nowhere”. Which gives a false impression that these advancements are not a result of technological progression. It replaces all that you’ve explained in this video with a more simplistic but dramatic alternative which caters to people’s imagination rather than sense. I’ve followed Grahams work for several years and I really like the fact that he’s made ancient history and prehistory more popular. But it’s come at a cost. The hard work of people like you and other historians and archaeologists have been over shadowed by a more “fun” and “dramatic” alternative. Thank you for your videos, they are very important.

Graham never asks or answers the question “where did the advanced civilization learn their techniques”. Was it a different advanced civilization?

We didn't just replace hunting and gathering with agriculture, we added agriculture to our skill set and used them both for thousands of years.

Some people used to argue that computer technology, especially at the chip level, just sort of appeared so suddenly, that it must have been reverse engineered from recovered UFO crashes. Not so much these days.

GH: "we haven't found that intermediary technology". What we definitely didn't find is a super advanced global civilization and it seems that doesn't bother him at all. Incredible.

"They were smarter than that!" This is my father's typical response to people always arguing from personal incredulity about the dumbfounding advanced abilities of the ancients. People just assumed because they are ancient that they are therefore "primitive".. My father is an archaeologist and doctoral student at Tel Aviv University, by the way.

OFC Hancock knows about all your examples. But he’s not interested in the truth. Hancock is the Andrew Wakefield of archaeology.

Funny how Graham says because archeologists have not excavated the entire earth their theories cant be proven but when Graham has a fantasy without digging up the earth it must be true.

"You know, we gather here every year, we build some temporary thing, then we disperse and do it all again next year. Wouldn't it be better if we just put a bit more effort in and used rocks? After twenty years it pays for itself. We could decorate it up nice and. . " "Dude! For the last time - we are Hunter Gatherers. We look in hedges, dig up grubs and huck rocks at mammoths. That's that"

I would like to point out how much quality work is showcased here. Not only all the historical research but adding additional context to the places and discussions while staying respectful and giving sources. Great work Dr. Miano

I had a bias going into this video since I like Graham, but your video was well-made, and you helped me keep an open mind during the video. Thanks for the video!

Magnificent video. I'm myself a scientist in a different field (astrophysics) who enjoys learning of ancient history and coming across a video like this to respond in an educated and sound way to unsustained provocative theories from GH was certainly very inspirational. Certainly I liked it and decided to suscribe to this amazing channel.

These theories rely on 2 things: 1- criticizing any and all evidence to other people's theories 2- distracting you from their lack of evidence for their own theories Notice that they will just spend hours discrediting archeologists for every little tiny detail, but never put into question if a drawing of a bucket in 2 cultures is proof of alien contact

I'm surprised by this info and didn't know it existed. You gave me a better understanding. It was well presented, thank you.

I love how they claim they had "high technology". Yet they only accomplished stacking rocks. Big rocks sure but they still only stacked rocks.

The more of your videos I watch the more I am blown away with ancient humans. Such a fascinating subject. I can't be bothered researching this myself but I really appreciate the time and effort you take to make your videos. All presented in such a way that is interesting and engaging. The world has a shortage of great educators like yourself.

"Even Chris Dunn won't be found at Gobekli Tepe putting a straight edge up to one of the T-pillars"... bravo sir! A masterful video, as every. thank you for your hard work and research 👍

There is a difference between "arguing to convince" and "arguing to win". This has been the former. Thank you.

Excellent work and I myself am ever so appreciative to have come across this highly informative channel.

Few video's warrant a recommendation for "all" to watch... this "is" one. Amazing amount of rich content for others to build upon... a game changing opportunity. Bravo to the author(s) of this video!

The ritual burial and abandonment of sites is incredibly interesting. I wish an advanced civilization had taught them how to write so we could know what they were thinking!

Hancock's theories are called imaginative, but it seems to me like a severe LACK of imagination. Reality may be mundane, but it is far, far more complex and fascinating than a lost civilization.

As one of Graham's biggest supporters, I absolutely love this video! It's really refreshing to get a different perspective on the matter, delivered in this nature. Phenominal video! :)

It’s cute that you treat GH as if he’s making an argument in good faith.

Keep up the awesome job, Dr Miano 👏

I hope people appreciate the level of contextual detail you have compiled in this 45 minute video. Excelsior!

Nice work, very informative.

Love this explanation & elaboration of the gradual growth & development things ! Thank you for the lecture Mr. Miano 👽🙏

I love these videos cuz ppl like Mr Hancock make it hard as a layperson to learn about proper archeological discovery’s and understandings.

Good example for such carvings (petroglyphs) are the ones found in the Konkan Coast of India. Some of them are even contemporary with Gobekli Tepe! Look for the sites of Kasheli, Pansaimal, Ukshi

You, Milo and Stefan all need to go on Joe Rogan

I want Joe Rogan to bring Hancock on and have them watch this together and live react 😂

When someone's wallet is reliant on certain beliefs, those beliefs are unlikely to change.

Thank you so much for making this video, Dr. Miano: The RU-vid "DIY Archaeology," community was severely in need of a comprehensive effort to inform the community of work that has been done (in some or even many cases) many decades ago that paints exactly the picture that Graham Hancock (and others) have been claiming for years does not exist: That the move towards megalithic construction (sites) was a gradual one, and most certainly did not, "appear out of nowhere." I know you put a lot of hard work into this video and judging from a brief glance at the comments section, your efforts were well worth the while. I see dozens and dozens of comments reflecting a lot of, "wow, I never knew that," and, "I used to be a proponent of the lost civilization hypothesis, and your videos have slowly assisted me in emerging from ignorance." Great work, Dr. Miano. You really are a gifted educator and an invaluable member of the community.

why do some think relief carving is somehow super difficult? It is exactly the same as carving something into the stone except you carve away everything outside the line as well. It is just more work, not more difficult.

A fabulous debunking. Thank you for taking the time and trouble. What's great is you are so educational, a great teacher!

This is fantastic. You know, society and technology rarely make huge leaps in short periods of time - it's a gradual process that builds on itself, and I think the same is true for the concept of permanent communities, settlements, and cities. So if you grant that, then you would absolutely expect to see examples along the continuum between pure hunter gatherers and, let's say, Ur or Babylon; Alpha and Beta versions of "civilization" so to speak. What you've shown here is a great example of region where humans truly were beta testing the concept of settled civilization and society. It's so fascinating to me. How did they divide the labor and choose who did what? How did they divide resources? What were their languages like? What stories brought them together? Did people get excited about making the trek to a hub like Gobekli Teppe? I can imagine families and tribes from around the region packing up and making the journey, and how truly amazing it must have been to see a place like that bustling with activity for the first time. Anyway, thanks for the very thorough walk through all of this. I'll never understand why people have to make up fantastical interpretations of human history when it's already so awe inspiring.

One problem with the Hancock crew's arguments that sometimes doesn't get enough attention is their fixation with stone. They seem to view stone buildings and monuments as some inherently advanced feature of a given civilisation, apparently because the durability of stone means that the most visually impressive ancient ruins that survive today tend to be stone ones. Hancock and co seem to think of stone buildings like a tier up from wood on a video game tech tree, but in reality whether or not a given culture chose to use stone as a building material seems to have been down to a whole host of factors, few of them directly related to their level of technological development. Most important seems to be the relative availability of stone and other building materials, with the practical purposes of particular buildings and cultural preferences also playing a role. Although it's durable, stone is quite hard to work, and so many peoples will prefer to generally work with other materials, even if they have the technical ability to work it. Medieval Europe clearly had the ability to work stone because they built castles and cathedrals out of it, but the vast majority of buildings were made of wood, thatch, daub and later brick, because those were just more practical and more affordable building materials for most purposes. These practical and economic considerations will apply across whole cultures- if a culture doesn't have a compelling reason to build stuff out of stone, it may just not do so, or do so very seldom- it's not a comment on their technological abilities. With some ancient stone structures it seems likely that stone was chosen as a building material because of a local shortage of mature trees for building wooden ones- e.g. whilst Neolithic settlements in mainland Scotland seem mostly to have been wooden, those in the Orkney Isles used stone as there weren't any forests and wood would have had to have been brought in from a long way away, but stone was locally available. The Mesopotamian city of Ur was mostly built from mud bricks, because it was on a flood plain, and there was comparatively little wood or stone locally available, but cities in other parts of Mesopotamia used much more stone, as they had better access to it. None of this has anything to do with the technical abilities of the people who built them- they just made practical, economic and aesthetic calls about what construction materials to use based on what was available, as all people have throughout history.

I'm glad you did a video on this. Previously I didn't know where to get a more mainstream view of these sites on RU-vid.

Let's explain this with the 3 little pigs. The first pig builds a house of straw, the second builds a house of wood, and the third builds a house of brick. Then we wait 10000 years. The straw has rotted, the wood has rotted, and the bricks are still around. You conclude that brick buildings came out of nowhere, spontaneously! They must've been taught how to build by an alien race! Stoneworking is a very old craft, and woodworking is probably even older. There's no evidence that any of these things appeared suddenly, they only seem sudden from an archaeological perspective because so much of the contemporary work has been lost to time.

Excellent! I'm so happy to see a respectful answer to a question that I think was honest. I am so used to hearing fringe ideas being shut down and silenced without regard or anything but condescension and hatefulness. I really like Graham Hancock because I believe he is genuine, and I really like you Dr. M., because you are fair. I've commented on many of your videos and you always read and respond. You never bashed me for thinking the alternate history hypothesis was plausible. After Ancient Apocalypse came out, I was enthralled with the idea. Graham gets so much hate from scholars, but he won my interest in the subject. It's you, Dr. Miano, that clarified on the facts. You took the time to make a reasonable argument. If scientists shut down fringe ideas without ever respecting the who and why behind them, we'll be hard-pressed to find out something new. Your thoughtfulness and dedication inspires me so much Dr. Thank you for clarifying a magnificent mystery for me. When I win the lotto, we're goin' to Egypt haha.

Outstanding and precise reply. Thank you for your work, friend!

A bit offensive to say that a prior advanced civilization (or extraterrestials?) had to have intervened, implying that paleolithic hunters and gatherers wouldn't have been intellectually capable of constructing Gobekli Tepe.

This is a landmark video, David. Extremely well done. Thank you for taking the time to research and present it. Bravo!!

Graham Hancock and his ilk really give me "fan of an IP that takes their headcanon theory crafting way to seriously" vibes

Nice work brother! I’m going to watch this video more times because it has a lot of information, thank you! By the way, the history of humanity definitely needs to be rewritten, as we can see advanced civilizations didn’t start as we are usually taught nowadays.

I love the excitement I hear in your descriptions

So according to Graham, if we’re missing some artifacts from the timeline between cave art and gobekli tepe, the only possible explanation is the existence of a whole civilization, one that we are entirely missing?

Thanks for doing this. Fascinating! The Natufians have been an interest of mine for a long while. My personal hypothesis is that the Natufians expanded north with their wild rye food processing and storage technology and met another culture in Anatolia that had massive einkorn wheat resources to which the same food processing technologies could be applied. The chocolate got applied to the peanut butter and this Anatolian culture bloomed. I read a paper a while back that proposed the shift from circular to rectangular architecture was merely a response to population density and the extra corner space provided more living space in an urban environment.

Thank you for this video. The research you put into this is amazing. Such a wealth of information if you just go looking for it.

Thank you! One thing I often come across with people is that they do not realise that while prehistoric people are not creating new sites etc...modern archeology/history/research keeps on discovering and interpreting. Honest scientists are ready to adapt their theories to the new knowledge. The others do not budge. I wonder what Hancock will reply, and if he does reply.

For your ongoing efforts to enducate and inform

I love the over abundance of evidence of evolution well done!

Good video, I'd have to watch Graham's again and this one again before commenting on your commentary, but it seemed fairly thorough.

Great research. Time consuming but productive. Thank you.

Looks like i should dump all my Hancock books.

Graham Hancock's lifelong use of Psychedelic Drugs has molded his brain to expect fantastic findings that'll prove fringe theories. Real archeology is fascinating enough for me.

Dear sir! I only - so sorry - found your channel only yesterday. Watched the video about sacsayhuan. "If you would only be more direct" and showed sonewhat more tenaciousness" , I thought. And today I saw your reply to Graham Hancock about Gobleki Tepe!: What a joy and strength! Your road could not have been easy. But your self-esteem has won! Thank you so very much! It will be a long fight against the Hancock's ànd their younger successors. So proud of you that you dare to take this on. 🙏

I had been skeptical of Hancock’s theories, but was entranced by the idea of a lost civilization. After viewing the debate between Dibble and Hancock and finding your videos, I am not convinced by Hancock’s (lack of) evidence. I enjoy your videos based on their fastidiousness and civility. Thank you.

Think of the complexity of negotiating trade and communicating what you had to offer and what you required in return as part of that trade. Cultures mingling and being influenced by trade and availability of materials and connections to other areas geographically. Incredible video. Setting a marker for Hancock

Do you remember when the Pyramids or Ancient Egypt "appeared out of nowhere?" Ya, Hancock has to keep the schtick up. If he lets it go, the bank coffers will empty too fast. He won't be able to keep his Ayahuasca addiction going or, any other new addition.

Its really nice to listen to you when u speak like this. Keep doing It like this. Great video!

I love how every response ive seen to Graham Hancock has been incredibly respectful and only attacked his arguments or his impact on the field, while every time ive seen Graham Hancock talk about archeologists he’s made at least one dig at them Its hilarious

One piece of evidence id like to put into the record against graham hancocks proposed ancient history is the history channels "Life After People" , both the tv movie and the series. Which in my opinion shows pretty clearly that we would have more evidence of this lost advanced civilization.

Thank you for a video and detailed analysis. I am not a fan of Graham Hancock, however as a fan of ancient history it needs to mention that all these places are still poorly studied. Methods of excavation and study are not carried out according to modern standards everywhere. I don't agree with Graham Hancock that this place appeared suddenly, but I also disagree with scientists that this place was created by hunter-gatherers. As for me, all the accessories of civilization are already present here, and I would not be surprised if, over time, writing is also found here.

It's a revelation to realise my own ignorance that a hunter-gatherer society was sometimes sedentary and well equipped with skills other than a hand to mouth lifestyle.

Thanks for all your hard work. Hard to imagine it will have the desired effect.

So many cool facts from this video! Prehistoric people ground up so much grain that they had deformities in their palms and elbows to prove it. A prehistoric village of 250 people existed for 2000 years. The summary of all the gradual advancements at the end was great. I kind of wish there was also a visual timeline showing all the advancements between early paleolithic and gobekli tepe though

Absolutely fantastic! Even setting Hancock aside, it’s a really great piece of science-communication to lay viewers such as myself who are just interested in this paleo-archaeology/pre-history stuff. Great to see the developmental time line all laid out like that. I’ve never seen it set out clearly like that before. Much appreciated!

Great job, and very informative. Looking forward to the Gunung Padang video.

I think if you look at Gobekli tepe, karahan tepe, and Boncuklu tarla show that Graham really underestimates these people's capabilities. Same goes with Egypt. It's sad how much credit Hancock robs the ancient people of.

Please never stop making videos. We need your voice of reason to combat all the perceived knowledge.

Wow. Apparently this went up 13 hrs ago, and already it has 29K views. Go you. As for me, I spent the entire video going "Wow!" and "Oh wow!" I think what you have shown is that we have discovered these lost advanced cultures of the past. They might not be aliens, and they might not be Atlantean, but they definitely are far more advanced than even Graham Hancock could imagine.

Thank you for posting. This is unknown to most of us and extremely interesting!

Graham Hancock is the Alex Jones of archaeology.

I value your content, and I appreciate your ability to sustain a measure of academic politeness vis-à-vis the seemingly intentional research laziness of Graham Hancock.

Well I believe in an even more ancient advanced civilisation that taught Graham's ancient civilisation all the skills that they know. My evidence is the lack of an intermediate stage.

Graham Hancock = TLDR: Aliens of the Gaps.

9:32 basalt is generally 6-6.5 on the MOHs scale. so just above medium hard. in comparison a fingernail is 2.5, iron is 4.5, steel is 6.5, granite is 7, diamond is 10. the hardness of rock depends also on its actual composition and porosity, so hardness can vary. and keep in mind that this is scratching resistance, not toughness. you can smash a diamond with a iron hammer.

The whole 'Ancient High Technology' narrative is very hard to swallow

Excellent survey of the literature. I think Hancock raised valid questions but this helps answer them very well. I've wondered how many precursor megalithic structures existed undiscovered in SE Anatolia. You helped answer this. Cheers!

Love to hear both sides of a story Will be watching without bias 💙🙏💜

Thank you, your descriptions make lots of sense