Archaeologists in southeastern Türkiye have unearthed an unusual 11,000-year-old stone sculpture showing a human figure seated on a leopard, offering a rare glimpse into the artistic world of one of the world's earliest settled communities. Archaeologists found the 70-centimetre-high figure at Karahantepe during the excavation period. The discovery is striking as the sculpture was found on a stone bench running along the wall of a circular structure about three metres across. According to T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı (Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey), Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy described the sculpture as a unique work with a style not previously seen at Karahantepe, saying the discovery could open the door to new questions about the earliest periods of human history. The discovery adds to growing evidence of the advanced artistic and architectural traditions that developed in the region during the Neolithic period, thousands of years before the emergence of cities and writing.
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