[Muerte]

  Just something I found during some random research.  Chew it up and spit it out Monstrous.

  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1157784/Do-mysterious-stones-mark-site-Garden-Eden.html

[Unholy Saint]

Well i'll be dipped...

[onishadowolf]

The funny thing is, I read this before. The symbolic importance of this is noted. But it isn't the whole story. You can call it the event that inspired the story of Eden, but I don't think it is in Eden. Simply because it doesn't answer all the questions. I think it's a memorial to Eden, but not in the way they think though.

[rave phillaphia]

I think it is interesting that people automatically point out to the garden of eden or biblical stories as to why these monuments were here. I also know that they found different pieces of 'amulets' which are actually bits of seals (which were used for trading and agricultural reasons for labeling belongings) found at this site as well. One of the seals they found had a traditional middle eastern symbol of a tree and snake. Now you see why they want to link it to the biblical story which they forget to mention in these articles.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/gobekli-tepe.html?c=y&page=1

http://www.archaeology.org/0811/abstracts/turkey.html

Yes these are some of the oldest standing monuments in the world but lets not forget that it wasn't impossible for people with just stone tools and primitive pottery to be able to build these things. The article that was posted before says that people didn't have pottery at this time which isn't true at all. The problem with this is that there is limited pottery because it was a luxery good and pottery is hard to kiln. Also because of limited pottery production that means limited finds of pottery bits.

It was a Neolithic community, yes, but now we are neglecting all the earthen mounds created at this time and sites that have been long demolished due to reuse of these areas. So with this in mind, we must not forget that there were centers of religious annual worship because many of these people in this region were horticulture not just hunter/gathering societies.

I think it is interesting that people automatically point out to the garden of eden or biblical stories as to why these monuments were here.

My sentiments exactly. Not that there's anything wrong with automatically pointing to religion, but I don't know - my first thoughts would be, "Which civilization lived here?"
*shrug*

[onishadowolf]

Hmm, they always leave out those little bits of information. Abstract thinking paved the way for civilization, thinking outside the box lead to building things that they wouldn't have otherwise. I believe the reason so many point to religion, is because it was one of the first stitchings that held a people together and gave a semblance of order. I'm sure if we turned back the clock and observed, we would find all our speculations wrong.

[Unholy Saint]

Hmm, they always leave out those little bits of information. Abstract thinking paved the way for civilization, thinking outside the box lead to building things that they wouldn't have otherwise. I believe the reason so many point to religion, is because it was one of the first stitchings that held a people together and gave a semblance of order. I'm sure if we turned back the clock and observed, we would find all our speculations wrong.

Agreed. Perhaps they turn to it because it's the only thing that they know comforts them?

[jordyn]

more people should read The Source, it's fiction but presents a completely probable and practical approach to the creation of man from what we were and how we advanced from cultivating a small handful of grain and one small pillar into the world of religion and worship we have now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Source_(novel)

they usually point to religion because it was the source of our humanity, there's really nothing "mysterious" about it, it's what most people understand and we've been dealing with it since day one, they discover things yearly that counter many established religious points of views, as for advances being inhibited by political correctness...stem cell research would not be a debate, it'd be non existent, the great flood wouldn't be attributed to a pre christian experience and we'd still be living on a flat world in the center of a universe.

religious groups are offended daily.

[Muerte]

  Thank you Jordyn for that.  I myself will view it as time permits.