Taş Tepeler Guide 2026: Şanlıurfa's Neolithic Sites Explained

Last reviewed: 29 August 2026 by İlyas Bayrak, licensed Turkish guide. Quick Answer: Taş Tepeler ("Stone Hills") is a revolutionary archaeology project in Turkey covering a dozen 11,000-year-old Neolithic sites around Şanlıurfa . For travelers in 2026 , only Göbekli Tepe and Karahantepe are fully open to the public; the others are active digs. A comprehensive 2-day private tour of the accessible sites and the essential museum typically costs between $400 USD and $600 USD per day for a guide and vehicle. What Exactly Is the Taş Tepeler Project? For years, the world knew only one name: Göbekli Tepe . It stood alone, a perceived miracle of Neolithic engineering that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, rewriting the dawn of human civilization. But the truth is far more profound. Göbekli Tepe was not an outlier; it was a capital. The Taş Tepeler project, a monumental undertaking by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism launched in 2021 , is the official initiative to prove it. The name literally translates to "Stone Hills," and it encompasses a network of at least 12 contemporaneous sites spread across the vast, sun-baked landscapes of the Harran Plain and the Tektek Mountains in Southeastern Turkey . This coordinated research effort brings together Turkish and international archaeologists to excavate these sister sites simultaneously. Their collective goal is to piece together the most detailed picture ever of humanity's greatest transition: the shift from nomadic hunting and gathering to settled life. These weren't just isolated shrines; they were settlements, workshops, and ceremonial centers built by interconnected communities within a few generations of one another, roughly 11,000 years ago during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period. For a traveler, this changes everything. Visiting just Göbekli Tepe is like seeing the Eiffel Tower and thinking you've understood Paris. It's the headline attraction, but the real narrative lies in the connections between the hills.