Tiny carved animals found in Turkey tell story of prehistoric myth making

Animal sculptures, discovered at the Karahan Tepe archaeological site, are on display at the "Golden Age of Archaeology" exhibition at the Presidential Complex Exhibition Hall in Ankara, Turkey, August 21, 2025. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan

ISTANBUL (Reuters) -A set of carved stone animals - a fox, a vulture and a wild boar - is shedding light on the way prehistoric people told stories after being unearthed by archaeologists in southeastern Turkey.

Dating back some 11,500 years, the trio of figurines found at the Karahantepe archaeological site is the first known example of objects being arranged in a specific way to convey a narrative, archaeologists say.