Older Than Gobekli Tepe | 12,500-Year-Old Temple of Giants

Oh, it's dangerous, Jay. What you guys may have discovered may rewrite so many things. Oh my good God. What is that? It's detailed, like scales, like you can tell it was not natural. This whole hell site needs excavated. It's like a zoo. We found this hill ridge which seems to be embellished or enhanced with reptilian features, with scales, with what looks like serpentine skin. Between 12,900 and 11,700 years ago, during the Younger Dryas, known in South America as the Alabra stadial, while the northern hemisphere underwent significant cooling, South America experienced a warmer and wetter climate. In the high Andes, the Bogotá, Sabana and present-day Colombia was covered by glacial Lake Humboldt, where a resurgence of Andean cloud forests enhanced hunting opportunities for early human populations. At Pubenza, flaked stone tools were discovered alongside the remains of mastodons, turtles and armadillos initially dated to 14,000 BC. However, this dating remains controversial. The three oldest widely accepted archaeological sites in Colombia, all discovered in the 1970s, are Tecindama, dating to 9,000 BC, Tibito, at 9,800 BC and Elabra, where ritual assemblages of butchered mastodons, American horses, turtles, armadillos, vipers and deer have been found dating to 10,400 BC. The rock shelters at Tibito and Elabra were located on small islands within Lake Humboldt during the Younger Dryas, at an elevation of precisely 2,570 metres or 8,430 feet above sea level. Since the 1970s, due to a lack of funding for such research, the hills of the Bogotá Sabana, once Ice Age islands, have remained largely unexplored. Since 2018, my research partner and I have systematically explored prominent hills across the Sabana using the 10,400 BC lake level as a guide. Near the tip of what was the largest Ice Age island in the centre of Lake Humboldt, situated between Tecindama, Elabra and Tibito, we uncovered four rock shelters situated lakeside during the Younger Dryas. The largest cave was adorned with deeply incised geometric petroglyphs and a red ochre pictogram. Surrounding the shelter, towering sculpted creatures are embellished with scales, snakeskin and carapaces depicting the megafauna, reptiles and birds discovered at Pubenza, Elabra and Tibito. Linked by paths, ponds and stone steps, some of these giant figures are mounted on smaller rocks and feature circular petroglyphs with libation holes carved on top, indicating a ritual function. Since 2019, we have conducted three privately funded non-intrusive site surveys with anthropologists, archaeologists, artists and drone pilots. This film presents our discoveries and poses the question, is this a Younger Dryas temple complex constructed around 10,400 BC or perhaps even earlier? What have we got here? This is a libation hole. These were carved into the rocks and they would have used these to put like special offerings. Once it's full of water, it would have become like a sacred collection point. Most of the sites that you'll see have got these. And look, it's right on the path. This is two big pieces of rock. One of them's rounded off at the top and this second piece of rock, you can see it goes down and it looks like a beak. This long thick one comes down like the beak of a vulture and you see it's all smoothed here, eh? Yeah, man. And do you think that like represents a mouth maybe? I mean, it does look like a beak. And look how hooked it looks here, smoothed at the end. Yeah, it's been rounded off at the end, definitely. And here's where the two rocks join each other. Yep, it's definitely two pieces of rock. Oh, it's dangerous, Jay. Yeah, it's just like ice. No wonder nobody comes up. I started noticing that reptile, the scales, whether it was a turtle shell or whether it was snake skin. As soon as I saw that, I was like, aha. And it felt like the diamonds, like the cross hatching. Serpent skin. Yeah. Reptile skin. Yeah. I knew right away that it was not due to weathering. It was not natural. There were many different forms of reptile. Some were shaped like turtles. Like you could see the turtle shell, the little head poking out. Look at all these cut formations, like reptile skin. This looks very much like a small frog on top of a big rock. And it's kind of looking out. I mean, it's man-made. It hasn't fallen out of the sky. Yeah, it's definitely been set on top. As you see, it doesn't fall out of the sky. No, definitely, that's been put there. This is the pictogram here in the cave. This is obviously very old. You can see it's been painted. I'm not going to touch it because it might deteriorate. It's a big red body with a definite teal. It's definitely very rounded. Look at that, Amy. Yeah, it does look like an eye, but then this here too looks like an eye. This hollow circle there. And you can see it goes around to the kind of snout. Yeah, I've always thought this is the eye, but you're right. It could be here. It's got this hollow in the paint here that really fits in where an eye would be. And then the back going down to the tail at the bottom. But it's definitely red ochre and carbon. The only real elements that are getting in here are wind. So really, that could have been there for thousands of years. Right, both of us have got to guess an animal. I'm going to go with triceratops. No, I'm going to say mammoth or boar. I would say it looks like some kind of wild boar or pig. This area here would have been above the level of the lagoon. What we'd say, end of the last glacial period. I've done classical archaeology and Egyptology and ancient Near Eastern studies. One would have to analyze the colors of this pictogram and compare it to other pictograms which were found nearby. You had the black color. There's a lot of carbon in there that you could do some carbon dating or something like that. You could see the tusks and the way that the head was shaped. You know, to me, there is no other explanation. Mammoth is the only thing that it could have been. Do you think that's a mastodon? That pictogram is 11,400 years old because they went extinct 11,400 years ago. You can see these lines coming down here. They're clearly linear. And they've been separated by a bigger line chiseled between them. Like parallels. Yeah. Do you think this looks like a tic-tac-tool board? It definitely does. Like they were recording some kind of information. This here definitely looks like some kind of hand print or where someone's been rubbing their hand over time into the rock. These three triangles are not natural. No. And a couple of years ago when Steyr, the German archaeologist, came here, he identified them as clearly man-made. That's totally man-made. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. It's some kind of chisel used. So it's definitely, and also with the angles, it almost resembles a kind of writing. Yeah, and on this secondary panel, again, there's like triangular shapes. They were quite geometrical. You had right angles in there. And you had also like rounded shapes. So this was clearly man-made. I mean, to me, that looks like some kind of writing or they're keeping some kind of record or something. It definitely would have been a very important part in their life, especially as they were hunters, fishing as well. And for the lagoon that would have been here, which was more an inland sea than a lagoon. It's a big one to say a lunar calendar, but it really isn't when you put it in context. And it might be symbolic of the lunar cycles, you know, maybe not a practical hands-on calendar, but symbolic of those cycles that they knew so well. Yeah. You think the different panels could have been lit up at different times of the night or the day, depending on the light coming in? I presume so. And a full moon coming across this way towards itself would have truly illuminated this cave. But if this is a Paleolithic Ice Age form of communication, what we're doing is supplying evidence that who were regarded just now as primitive hunter-gatherers is actually an advanced form of communication, so much so that they were monitoring the courses of the sun and the moon and forming a calendar out of it. There's no evidence of that day in South America at this age. How defined, how sharp, how defined the markings are lead me to believe that they are man-made. And the reason I say that is because of the specific triangle shapes. They're defined. They're very well defined. And they stick out like a sore thumb. They're man-made. This definitely looks like archaeology, Jay, with this seat in the middle. For viewing. Ah, yeah, man. But you can see here that these two rocks have clearly been placed one on top of the other. I mean, it just doesn't happen, you know? And look on top, Jay, there's a big bowl. Is there? Ow! Right on top. A libation hole that's been hollowed out of this rock. This is just treacherous. And a knob here. Really smooth. Is it peridolia? Can you see it or is it just me? No, of course I can see it. ------- eye is perfect. It's the dimensions, the distance between the beak and the eye. Yeah, this here definitely looks like an eye. And it's been made there. Someone's made that indentation. And the way this hooks over is very distinct to the other kind of beak that we saw down there. And there is the beak. There was some even associated with birds. Definitely saw the long beak, like the eye. That is a bird. Let's go, bro. What do you think, Jay? Another turtle shell? And it's got like a tapered tail at the back. Yeah, definitely. And look at that definite dome. Yeah. The way it's got the form for the kind of scales in the shell. Look, perfectly texturized like a turtle or a reptile again. Look, Jay. A really deep bowl carved into this one. Oh, yeah, man. See it? All right there on this long. Really deep. More archaeology right there. Look at that. And all these texturized rocks. OK, boss, where are we going? Look at these knobs, Jay. Like perfect for holding on to. Ash? I'm good, mate. It's just a bit tricky only having the one hand, you know? We are high. Do you not feel how thin the air is? Yeah. If you look at the texture of the skin around where the eye would be, it looks like the top of a trunk, right? Very lifelike. Look at that texture there. And right down what would be the trunk. And it's so defined like as a trunk. And there's the other eye, see, on the other side right there. Yeah, there we are. It is a mastodon mammoth. It might go against conventions, but I don't know what else it would be. I've never walked up the back of a mammoth before. Look at this. It's a symbol known as a circumpunk. A circle with a space for a staff. You could maybe use it as a shadow clock or as a... It's quite centrally placed in the actual mammoth as well. Could put a torch in there with perhaps fire on it or something to light it up. Yeah. And right at the opening to this path that goes down further, look. Wow. Let's move on. This mammoth head has distinct holes carved in the side. Look down here beside the tree as well. See that? There's the top of the head, the eye on the left of the screen, and then this texturized rock that looks like the beginning of the trunk. Which just comes straight down here. I see a crocodile, an alligator. Where? Look, here is the mouth. You see the eye? Oh, the eye at the top with the small, like an eyebrow in the lens. And like, it's like these. I would give you a crocodile for that one for sure. Look at that eye at the top. The carved stones around the mouth, the nose, the snout. The beak at the front, bulbous head, the round eye. The condor. Could be the condor. Yeah. With the hooked beak, the deep, deep eye, and then the bulbous back of the head. Look at that, Jay. I want you to convince me that that is not a carved eye. Right. This clearly here has the shape of a snake. It has the eye. It's got the scaled layers in the rock. You can see the eye socket, the way it bulges above the eye. I mean, that goes in about a foot deep, right? It has a horn nose at the end. And you can see here where a piece of rock has literally fallen away from the side of it. So this would have been like the jaw of the snake, like a python head. I would imagine this has fallen off during an earthquake or some sort of natural catastrophe like that. I think that this was definitely that part of that stone. It's a common theme. The other heads seem to be slightly out of place or angled or fallen over. This is the back of what we believe to be the snake head. And there's a triangular cave that's been cut into the back of this. There's another offering hole at the top. Every one of these stones has an offering pond. It seems like it. For libation, water rituals. There's a rock wedged under for support. Oh yeah, look at this. Bloody filming here. Yes, look at this. What appears to be a snake's head is definitely propped up by smaller boulders underneath. And then a kind of horn nose leading back to what's clearly an eye. I agree with you 100% on that. Look at it. I mean, it's hard not to. Almost like a shaman's seat. Where the fire would have been conducted there beneath the rock that's blackened. With the chief's seat at the center of what might be a temple. Yeah, there's been fire lit under there. A lot of fire. And another libation hole. It's not carved at the bottom. It's smooth. It seems to just be the shell on top. Right there. Got this really definitive crack here. That looks nothing like the natural one next to it. And it's definitely man-made. It's so distinct. And it just separates this whole front part off as a head. Oh my good god. Oh my god. What is that? This would have been where all the roads lead to. Right, what have you got, Laurie? I am facing directly south. I think this is the center. You know, like a sea tortoise with its arms going like so and it's... Oh yeah, swimming. Looks like a giant, maybe a giant tortoise scraping its way out the ground. And it's only patterned on the top which would have been its arms coming out. Laurie, is that cave beneath the gull? Yeah, two rocks already here and this one was placed. Parts of it that look like they were carved. Look at that. Whoa, it's so perfectly preserved. That's amazing, Noah. Nice one. Peel that back, sir. Look, that looks a bit unnatural. Yeah, it's definitely a hole for the nose. I wonder how long ago the graffiti was done. What might lie beneath this? Anything. X marks the spot. Yeah. Laurie, did you see what he's revealing on the other side? It's so damn deep. What do you think of this one? Another vulture's head? It definitely looks modified, doesn't it? The big eye on the top. Yeah. Hooked beak. It's definitely been modified. Yeah. Okay, let's go back this path. What do you see, Noah? And that's the eye to my right. There. Oh, yeah. Wow. Okay, to me, with the two stripes behind the head and that small circle, that's like a chameleon. You know, one of these lizard-type creatures. What do you see? In my opinion, that could be a giant sloth, which would have been one of the biggest land mammals for the time we're kind of relating to, you know? And they would have existed, co-existed with a mammoth and with all the other kind of animals that vaguely appear here in this temple. This looks as if it's wedged in. Yeah, this definitely formed. That's formed for some elongation of something up here, I suppose. I'm not going to say an elongated skull. Look, there's a layer of mud underneath, so it isn't getting there. It's definitely been placed on top of that. This has clearly been formed here for this to fit in. If you look at the front, it looks like perhaps the eye sockets and the nose. Noah, is there any chance we could send you in again? Of course. Great. Before we know it, he's going to do one of his runs. Wow, look at that. What have you found? And there's the serpent's head down to the eye. Look at that. This side is very, very rustic, but I think that it's been made to be approached from the side, so it looks like this. Now, here we've got some steps which come down between the rocks. If you can see these, these are proper stairs. Oh, wow. Look at this, stone steps. Obviously, they're pretty fairly worn down. But these steps that lead down, which are quite distinct, you can see that they come down here and they lead to this. Look at the eye. That's a head coming out of the ground. Yeah, it looks to me like a snake head. Yeah, what do you think, Noah? Turtle or tortoise, because the eye's further forward. It doesn't have that long mouth that a snake has. What do you see, Laurie? I'd like to go over there and look up. Do it. Another perspective. Where do you see the turtle from? This is a turtle. Yeah, from that perspective where you are, it is. If you look here, we've got... Which I think looks like a snake coming out of the ground. It's got an eye there. Yeah, it is. Looking around here behind you, Ash, I think you can quite clearly see what that is. Oh, yeah. Noah's just uncovered the nostril there. Oh, look at the nose on it. Natty, come here from here and see this then. Laurie, have a look at this thing. It's like a massive serpent's head. It's got the nostril. It's got the eye. It's got the detail on the scales as well. It's just undoubtable. There's no arguing that. What do you see? A coiled snake. And he's coiled guarding the whole place. He's ready. He brings himself in so he can strike like that. That's how they protect their eggs, isn't it? It is. It's how they protect the nest. They coil over it. Oh, it's like coiled that way. That's amazing. Now you see it, don't you? Now I see it. All of that top platform scales. Look at that. That's this body curled around and the head. The head on top. Unbelievable. And in the middle where the holes are would represent where it's eggs. That's the eggs, yeah. That's the nest. All over this there's grooves and little offering points hidden. There's another one back here. That eye behind you from here is so definitely a serpent. It's so striking. It's just incredible. So we're all in agreement that this is a coiled serpent. Yes, that was my first impression. Yeah. Nadi? Coiled serpent or not? Yeah. What have you found? It's an incredibly deep hole in this. Get in there. Why would you have a reptilian temple if you weren't at a time that the landscape was dominated by these reptiles? Oh, look at that hole there, Noah, that you've just dug out. That is for offering right to that snake's head. Right in the snake's eye. You've just revealed archaeology there. Have a look around in case there's more. If you find another one of these circles, I'm going to be very impressed. This is where you find the masks. It's another offering point. He's found almost like a long ditch. This whole hillside needs excavated. It's like a zoo. Could somebody take a still photograph from the Waka so we've got the GPS for it? Yeah. And then we can map it and plot it. You want me to just drop a pin? Just drop a pin. Get as many good pictures as we can, stitch them together and make an orthophoto of the entire area here. So you take out all the variabilities, the elevation and things like that. The famous Walter's turtle. Walter's turtle, look at it. He pointed out the head clearly distinct from the body and then the tapered tail. And that head is so clear from the shell of the turtle. But these are what do it for me, that flowing shape underneath. The oval part where the legs would have been. Yeah. As if they've left the space for the legs to come out of it. It's just, look at the curve. Yeah. That's incredible. Beautiful is what that is. You could have someone sitting facing out this way onto the path with their feet or their legs in this groove right here. Which would have been almost north and south, almost. Got another sneak's head, G. Yeah, man. Look at the detail on it. Look at the eye. And at least half of this is buried underground still, you know? I'm mesmerized, to be honest. Every part of me is looking for an argument to say that that's not a reptile head. Clearly, man, mate. G, look at this. He noticed something missing on this one. It looks like a very flat, boring piece of rock compared to 90% of the other rocks that are up there that have got this distinct reptilian scale effect carved into the top of them. So if it was natural, this rock would have it too. I agree, Ash. The patterns, they weren't on every rock. And if it was natural, it would be on all of them. What do you think? Look at that. That's great. What is that? A turtle? Again, that looks like a turtle with a pointed snout. A bit like a snapping turtle. And it's got these wide, triangular jaws like this that a turtle would have had. I see it so clearly. With the nose like that sort of protrusion at the top. And the mouth. Come and see this, Laurie. Wow. And YouTube decided it gives a great perspective. With the nose at the top. There's the mouth. I think it was fitting to the environment. Like, if you had a lagoon there, you obviously would want to represent the animals living there. Giving thanks to having these foods. Supporting the theory that this collection of ancient sculptures functioned as a temple complex during the Younger Drives, the site not only aligns with the shoreline of Glacial Lake Humboldt, around 10,400 BC, but the depicted species, without one exception, all inhabited these islands during that period. Many correspond with the zoological remains excavated at Elabra and Tibito. And to have executed these lifelike renderings, the artists must have observed the creatures firsthand before their extinction between 10,000 BC and 8,000 BC. In France's Fontainebleau forest, giant sculptured Ice Age creatures are similarly adorned with scales, snakeskin, and tortoiseshell. Featuring deep libation holes and ponds. While the hunters of Elabra and Tibito left behind lithic tools and animal remains. This culture, like their contemporaries in France, enjoyed a profound relationship with animals that extends far beyond mere utility. Resulting in this animal-oriented stone megastructure. Situated on the lakeside, where megafauna, reptiles, and birds would have been unloaded from kayaks and butchered. The surrounding sculptures reflect day-to-day life, offering new insights into the development of art and worldviews during the Younger Dryas in the Americas. And if this vast zoomorphic temple complex was indeed established before or around 10,400 BC, almost 1,000 years before Gobekli Tepe in Turkey, it ranks among the oldest religious structures ever built.