Archeologists unearthed 16,000 year-old mother goddess figurine during excavations in Direkli Cave in the southern province of Kahramanmaraş. Gazi University Archeology Department lecturer Cevdet Merih Erek said that the excavations in Direkli Cave, 65 km away from Kahramanmaras, started on July 15. Noting that it was the third cave excavation of Turkey, Erek said that the clay mother goddess figurine they found was 16,000 years old. Erek said that the figurine showed that the social status of women was very important 16,000 years ago.
     Erek noted that the oldest fired clay god or goddess figurines --unearthed in Mesopotamia, Anatolia and Near East - were made in 5,000 BCE. He added that experts believed that the clay was used earliest in that period, however, the goddess figurine showed that this method was older than thought.

Source: Today's Zaman (17 August 2009)