11,000-Year-Old Figure Riding a Leopard Found at Turkish Site

An unusual prehistoric sculpture depicting a person sitting on a leopard has been uncovered at Karahantepe, a Neolithic archaeological site in southeastern Turkey, according to Archaeology Magazine, which cited Yeni Şafak. The sculpture is approximately 11,000 years old and stands 28 inches tall. It was found on a bench positioned along the wall of a circular structure measuring about 10 feet across. Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said the structure’s floor was paved with flat stones. The discovery’s placement on the bench and the details of the human-and-leopard composition were among the reported features of the find. Karahantepe is the site of ongoing investigations into remains from the Neolithic period. The source report did not provide an interpretation of the sculpture’s purpose or explain what the seated figure and leopard may have represented to the people who created it. The find adds another distinctive object to the discoveries reported from the site, where archaeologists have documented architectural remains and artifacts associated with early Neolithic communities.