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Tell Sabi Abyad is a major Late Neolithic settlement mound in Northern Syria, belonging to the seventh and early sixth millennium BC. This book presents the results of large-scale fieldwork conducted at the site between 1994 and 1999, under the auspices of the Netherlands National Museum of Antiquities and Leiden University. For six successive field campaigns, the relatively low and gently sloping southeastern part of Tell Sabi Abyad - termed Operation I - was the focus of broad horizontal excavation and a diverse, interdis- ciplinary series of investigations, aimed at the exploration of the sequence of local Late Neolithic (or Pottery Neolithic) villages dating from around 6200-5850 BC. Because of the large-scale investigation at Tell Sabi Abyad, we are much better informed on the local development of culture and society in the Late Neolithic - an era which received little scholarly attention, if not sheer neglect, for a very long time but which has rapidly gained recognition in the past two decades. This monograph takes the reader through an account of the excavation and an analysis of the material remains from the 1994 to 1999 field campaigns at Tell Sabi Abyad. The book provides reports on the stratigraphy, architecture, material culture, plant remains, human skeletal remains, and other finds from the various phases of Neolithic settlement at the site.
Tell Sabi Abyad II is a small prehistoric mound located in the steppe region of northern Syria. The large-scale excavations have revealed eight main levels of occupation mainly represented by multi-roomed rectangular buildings. These levels are dated between 7550 and 6850 cal B.C., i.e. in the Late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period. This extensive and well-illustrated interim report deals with respectively stratigraphy and architecture, flint and obsidian industries, small finds, early pottery found in the topmost level, plant remains and animal remains. In the conclusions the main results of the excavations are summarized, and the site is being discussed in its wider context.
Excavations in North Uist dating from 1974-1984 identified two cists with human remains in kerbed cairns, many bowl pits dug into the blown sand, two late Neolithic structures and a ritual complex.
This was the first book to present a comprehensive review of the archaeology of Syria from the end of the Paleolithic period to 300 BC. Syria has become a prime focus of field archaeology in the Middle East in the past thirty years, and Peter Akkermans and Glenn Schwartz discuss the results of this intensive fieldwork, integrating them with earlier research. Alongside the major material culture types of each period, they examine important contributions of Syrian archaeology to issues like the onset of agriculture, the emergence of private property and social inequality, the rise and collapse of urban life, and the archaeology of early empires. All competing interpretations are set out and considered, alongside the authors' own perspectives and conclusions.
This is the first monograph that deals with the Middle Assyrian remains at Tell Sabi Abyad, northern Syria. It offers a detailed description of the ceramics excavated between 1991 and 1998 in the project of Leiden National Museum of Antiquities. The study integrates technological, morphological, stylistic, and archaeological data to come to an understanding of pottery production and use. The book contains seven lavishly illustrated chapters and six appendices presenting the raw data on typology, pottery kilns, archaeometric analyses and functional analyses. The large-scale excavation and the excellent preservation of pottery workshops, tools and kilns as well as the meticulous study of technology and standardization provide a unique insight into the organization of pottery production. The chapter on function and use combines information on performance characteristics, shape and capacity, traces of use, depictions of vessels in iconography and information from texts, in an attempt to reconstruct how vessels were used. In a contribution by Dr. Frans Wiggermann two cuneiform texts from Sabi Abyad dealing with pottery have been published, and a first step has been taken to connect the ceramic repertoire with Middle Assyrian vocabulary. This study will be interesting to Near Eastern archaeologists, ceramicists and Assyriologists as well as to students of craft production in archaeology or ethno-archaeology. Dr. Kim Duistermaat is director of the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo. She has participated in archaeological research projects in the Netherlands, Egypt and Syria, where she directed the Netherlands Institute for Academic Studies in Damascus between 1997 and 2005.
The prehistoric site of Tell Sabi Abyad lies in the valley of the Balikh River, a tributary of the Euphrates in northern Syria. Between 2001 and 2008 excavations focused on the north-western, western and southwestern slopes of the main mound (Operations III, IV and V). Relentlessly Plain presents the results of detailed investigations into the 7th millennium BC ceramic assemblages recovered from those excavations by an interdisciplinary group of scholars. The 7th millennium BC was an era of profound cultural transformations in the ancient Near East. This began with the sustained adoption of pottery c. 7000 cal BC, followed by the slow advance of the new craft as pottery containers became increasingly common. Important social, economic and ritual activities became increasingly dependent on pottery containers. Over the course of the millennium, prehistoric communities began to cook food and drink, store surpluses, and send symbolic messages via the medium of pottery vessels. Tell Sabi Abyad offers a unique vantage point from which to study these innovations. Supported by a strong program of radiocarbon dating, extensive excavations have revealed a lengthy, continuous sequence of prehistoric occupation from the start of the Late Neolithic into the Early Halaf period. Pottery changed dramatically in the course of this long trajectory. Whereas in the initial stages pottery containers were rare, at the end of the sequence they represented a mass-produced craft. Initially ceramic containers were visually conspicuous, occasionally decorated, but masses of relentlessly plain pottery characterize subsequent stages. The book combines detailed discussion of themes relevant to the study of early ceramics in the ancient Near East with extensive analyses of each of the individual wares currently distinguished at the site. Separate chapters offer perspectives on the archaeometry, the depositional context, early repairs, food residues, provenance, and associated human burials.
This study focuses on a major issue in Near Eastern prehistoric archaeology: the rise of the Halaf culture, ca. 5900 - 5400 cal. BC. The book presents in a detailed, quantified and lavishly illustrated manner the ceramics excavated by the National Museum of Antiquities Leiden at Tell Sabi Abyad, northern Syria. Concentrating on the 1996 - 2000 campaigns, the book also synthesizes much earlier work in order to come to a comprehensive overview. Tell Sabi Abyad thus far remains the only archaeological site in the Near East where the shift from a Pre-Halaf to an Early Halaf cultural assemblage can be followed within a continuous, meticulously stratified sequence. This shift occured during a short-lived transitional stage, radiocarbon dated at 6100-5900 cal. BC, In terms of the ceramics, this transition is characterized by the gradual replacement of plain Coarse Ware by intricately painted Fine Wares, and by numerous innovations in ceramic technology, morphology and decorative style. More than merely a pottery report, the book offers a lively discussion of past and present views on the origins of the Halaf culture. It also places the excavated ceramics in the broader socio-economic and symbolic context of Late Neolithic societies in northern Syria. Using the concepts of feasting and emulation, the study aims to gain insight in patterns of rapid ceramic innovation and change. The book is of interest not only to specialists of prehistoric pottery but to a wider archaeological audience as well.
The times between the Neolithic and Urban revolutions in Mesopotamia have for a long time been interpreted as a period of stagnation. This volume is part of an emerging discourse that challenges such assumptions. Focussing upon the northern parts of ancient Western Asia, where most recent research has concentrated, an international group of researchers demonstrates that Upper Mesopotamia underwent complex historical changes that we just begin to grasp fully. The Late Neolithic was a critical phase of the history of the ancient Middle East. Authors investigate settlement patterns, practices of painting pottery, distributions of various raw materials, the role of craft industries, the emergence of seals and other issues from a variety of theoretical and practical questions. The book is a must-have for prehistorians working in the Near East, and a rich source of information for archaeologists working in other parts of the world. Olivier Nieuwenhuyse is a Research Fellow at Leiden University and at the DAI-Berlin. His research focuses on reconstructions of landscape and prehistoric settlement and the meanings of material culture. Reinhard Bernbeck is professor at the Freie Universitat Berlin and Binghamton University, New York. His research focuses on critical assessments of ancient Western Asian prehistory and historical periods. Peter Akkermans is professor at Leiden University. He is the director of the excavatons at Tell Sabi Abyad and had published widely on the prehistory of the ancient Near East.
In this new paperback edition of Early Civilizations of the Old World, Charles Keith Maisels traces the development of some of the earliest and key civilizations in history. In each case the ecological and economic background to growth, geographical factors, cross-cultural intersection and the rise of urbanism are examined, explaining how particular forms of social structure and cultural interaction developed from before the Neolithic period to the time of the first civilizations in each area. This volume challenges the traditional assumption of a band-tribe-chiefdom-state sequence and instead demonstrates that large complex societies can flourish without social classes and the state, as dramatically shown by the Indus civilization. Such features as the use of Childe's urban revolution theory as a means of comparison for each emerging civilization and the discussion of the emergence of archaeology as a scientific discipline, make Early Civilizations of the Old World a valuable, innovative and stimulating work.