Archeologist Ergül Kodaş said his team was excavating the site as part of a project focusing on documenting and rescuing cultural sites located in the Dargeçit district, when they came across the 11,800-year-old sewer system and over two dozen architectural artifacts.
A total of 15 restorers and archaeologists as well as 50 workers are currently excavating the area, which was designated a historical and cultural site by Turkish authorities.
Kodaş, the head of the excavation team, said the historical site was inhabited for a long period around 9800 B.C. and that there were eight-story historical buildings reaching up to seven meters in height.
He noted that the sewer system was the oldest known in history, saying: "We were only able to unearth a certain portion of the sewer system, and confirmed it was [located] in a public use area."
On Oct.31, an ancient temple estimated to be over 11,000 years old -- which belongs almost to the same period as Göbeklitepe, the famed "oldest temple in the world" located in southeastern Şanlıurfa province of Turkey -- was found at the same excavation site.
