Prehistoric Turtle Figurines Found in Turkey

BİLECİK, TURKEY—Hürriyet Daily News reports that 25 turtle figurines carved from limestone have been discovered in a cave in northwestern Turkey. Some of the figurines, which measure less than one foot long and eight inches wide, had been coated with clay. The figurines have been dated to between 14,500 and 11,200 years ago by a team of researchers led by archaeologist Deniz Sarı of Edebali University. They suggest that the figurines were placed in the cave for ritual purposes. “There is an architectural arrangement forming circular rings,” Sarı said. “Around these, we found turtle figurines, mostly half-shaped or quickly fashioned from limestone, inserted into the ground,” she explained. Gedikkaya Hill, where the cave is located, resembles a turtle, and may have inspired the activity, Sarı added. “It may be too early to speak of such a cult for this period, but we know that most of the small figurines recovered appear to have been deliberately designed in the form of Gedikkaya Hill,” she said. Turtles were also used to represent longevity and endurance, she concluded. To read about a sixth-century b.c. burial of a woman and child interred with turtles in southeastern Turkey, go to "Let a Turtle Be Your Psychopomp."