Ancient Gods In Anatolia: Founders Of The Neolithic Era
Almost 12,000 years ago, in the remote recesses of Anatolia, today's southeast Turkey, something happened that, seemingly overnight, completely changed the course of human evolution. Far flung bands of hunter-gatherers who previously had wandered the landscape, existing day to day by foraging from whatever nature provided, suddenly gathered in one place, organized themselves into a work force, built huge megalithic structures for what seems to be religious purposes, and invented agriculture, giving birth to what is now called civilization. But some pieces of the puzzle are missing. Why did they do it? What motivated them? How did they learn so much so fast? The fact that something drastic occurred is recorded in the archaeological record.
Egyptians with domesticated cattle and corn circa 1422-1411 BC ( Public Domain )
Everything mankind experiences today in terms of a common world-wide system of physical infrastructures and political organizations, everything known about farming and raising animals for food, everything practiced when it comes to specialized labor, including every time a child is asked what he or she wants to become when they grow up, every church, mosque, temple, or house of worship passed in the course of a day's travel, even a modern worldview - all began on the plains of Anatolia almost 12,000 years ago. It marks what is called the birth of civilization, and no one knows what happened to spark its appearance.
