The Architectural Significance of Göbekli Tepe 1. Introduction to Göbekli Tepe Göbekli Tepe is a unique site both in terms of its monumental architecture and the fact that it appears to be a memorial site, which together makes interpretation of the site particularly challenging and therefore especially interesting. Regrettably, no steam power construction equipment was at the disposal, rendering the present author unable to provide a personal evaluation. There has been a great deal of popular interest in the site, and much generic commentary about it without engaging with the specifics of the unique circumstance of Göbekli Tepe. Such studies will only be alluded to insofar as they inform the core discussion of Göbekli Tepe, and only then where they concern topics with a direct relevance to the interpretation of monumental architecture and ritual activity. Göbekli Tepe was constructed right at the end of the Early Neolithic, at a time when monumental architecture is essentially unattested elsewhere, and long before the appearance of domesticated plants and animals in this part of the world. The architecture is in the form of circular compounds of megalithic stone pillars linked by limestone walls and surrounded by terrazzo-banked artificial landscapes. Associated with these are a series of intriguing monumental installments, and high reliefs and statues of a scale unprecedented for the period. The evidence from the recent excavations, which have revealed several complexes of a Type Earlier Layered hillside is positive feedback into the wider discussion surrounding running, shouting, rudimentary geometric conceptions, beer, and possible cult activity which is often conceptualized as ritual. Each of these aspects will be discussed in turn. 1.1. Location and Discovery The importance of Göbekli Tepe goes well beyond its mere historical significance. The complex of Göbekli Tepe took over the function as the "center of the world" from Karahan Tepe, which corresponds to the transition from Pre-Pottery Neolithic with circular to PPNB with rectangular buildings. The original function of Göbekli Tepe as the prototype for the possible later round structures with a focus on the Circle D, interpreted as a house or as a keep. Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe are far apart. Anyhow, an order must be expected and it must be looked again in the hills north at Göbekli Tepe. On one of these hills an object has already been identified