This post is about the marvellous rock paintings of the Latmos Mountains, the range in western Turkey today known as Beşparmak. These prehistoric paintings (6th-5th mill. BCE) have the human being as part of a society as the main subject and are unique. Harald Hauptmann described the paintings as follows:

The singular pictorial language of Latmic rock art represents a new world of religious symbols of a society that had become settled and lived increasingly from farming and stock-breeding. This new form of life which spread from the mountainous periphery of the Fertile Crescent, the southern Levant and Upper Mesopotamia through Central Anatolia to the West in the Aegean to Europe, found its special expression in the Latmic rock pictures quite unlike anywhere else in Anatolia.

Unfortunately, the rock paintings are threatened with destruction by the constant expansion of stone quarries in this area. This exploitation has increased dramatically in recent times, so that now not only parts of the wonderful pine forests and fascinating rocky landscape have been damaged, but also sites of rock paintings are endangered too.

You can help to make the Turkish government aware of the situation. There is a petition at Change.org where you can sign and help with the rescue of the Latmos Mountains. We totally support this matter as the Latmic rock paintings are endangered and need to be protected. Furthermore, we know the people behind the petition and can attest there seriousness and dedication. If you are interested, you can learn everything about the rock paintings on the official website, before you sign the petition.

Official website: http://latmos-felsbilder.de/
Change.org petition: https://www.change.org/