Rare Neolithic figurine depicts human astride a leopard in ancient Turkish settlement

Excavations in southern Turkey have yielded an 11,000-year-old carved statue showing a person seated on a leopard, a motif previously unknown in Neolithic art. The find comes from one of the region's earliest known farming communities, offering fresh insight into symbolic life at the dawn of settled societies. Researchers describe the artifact as exceptional, with no comparable example found at any contemporary site.