Foxes are one of the most commonly found animal reliefs at the ancient Pre-Pottery Neolithic site of Göbekli Tepe. It’s the most dominant animal depiction in Enclosure B, found on the large central T-shaped pillars, and on either side of the porthole stone.

There is also a fox on the eastern central pillar of Enclosure D, a pillar which is clearly anthropomorphic, having arms in relief, bent at the elbow and hands meeting at the naval. Next to the bend in the arm we see the fox and a fox pelt also hangs down as a loincloth.

The fox can be seen on pillars with other animals too, such as aurochs, cranes and snakes, as we can see on pillars 1, 2 and 20, and also with another fox, on pillar 20.

Due to the frequency of fox relief carvings, it is a fair assumption that the fox was an important animal to the people of Gobekli Tepe, a site that began life around 11,600 years ago.

But why the fox? And why are these animals so prominent on the anthropomorphic pillar? In this video I take a look at the possibility that the people of Göbekli Tepe had actually domesticated the fox, something that may have already happened in the Levant and also later in Bronze Age Spain. Watch the video to learn more.