The Late Neolithic Pottery Tradition of Southeastern Anatolia and Its Vicinity

UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA DE MADRID

Proceedings of the 5th International Congresson the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East

Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

Proceedings of the 5th InternationalCongress on the Archaeology of

the Ancient Near EastMadrid, April 3-8 2006

Edited byJoaquín Mª Córdoba, Miquel Molist, Mª Carmen Pérez,

Isabel Rubio, Sergio Martínez(Editores)

Madrid, 3 a 8 de abril de 2006

Actas del V Congreso Internacionalde Arqueología del Oriente Próximo Antiguo

VOL. III

Centro Superior de Estudios sobre el Oriente Próximo y Egipto

Madrid 2008

Colección Actas

©ISBN (OBRA COMPLETA): 978-84-8344-140-4ISBN (VOL. III): 978-84-8344-147-3Depósito legal: GU-129/2009

Realiza: Palop Producciones Gráficas.Impreso en España.Diseño de cubierta: M.A. Tejedor.

5th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near EastV Congreso Internacional de Arqueología del Oriente Próximo Antiguo

Scientific Committee Scientific Steering CommitteeComité Científico Organizador Comité Científico Permanente

Joaquín Mª Córdoba Manfred BietakSergio Martínez Barthel Hrouda (honorary member)Miquel Molist Hartmut KühneMª Carmen Pérez Jean-Claude MargueronIsabel Rubio Wendy Matthews

Paolo MatthiaeDiederik MeijerIngolf ThuesenIrene J. Winter

Executive CommissionComisión Ejecutiva

Ana Arroyo, Carmen del Cerro, Fernando Escribano, Saúl Escuredo, Alejandro Gallego,Zahara Gharehkhani, Alessandro Grassi, José Manuel Herrero †, Rodrigo Lucía, MontserratMañé, Covadonga Sevilla, Elena Torres

Technical collaboratorsColaboradores técnicos

Virginia Tejedor, Pedro Bao, Roberto Peñas, Pedro Suárez, Pablo Sebastagoítia, JesúsGonzález, Raúl Varea, Javier Lisbona, Carmen Suárez, Amanda Gómez, Carmen Úbeda,Cristina López, José Mª Pereda, Rosa Plaza, Lorenzo Manso, Juan Trapero

Congress VenueSede del Congreso

Universidad Autónoma de MadridFacultad de Filosofía y Letras

SponsorshipsApoyos y patrocinios

Universidad Autónoma de MadridMinisterio de Educación y CienciaMinisterio de CulturaMinisterio de Asuntos ExterioresComunidad de Madrid

Themes of the CongressTemas del Congreso

1. History and Method of Archaeological ResearchLa historia y la metodología de la investigación arqueológica

2. The Archaeology and the Environment of the Ancient Eastern Cities and VillagesLa arqueología y el entorno de las ciudades y las aldeas antiguas

3. Arts and Crafts in the Ancient Near EastLa artesanía y el arte en el Oriente Antiguo

4. Reports on the Results from the Latest Archaeological SeasonsInformes sobre los resultados de las recientes campañas de excavación

Index - Índice

VOL. I

Á. Gabilondo Pujol, Prólogo...................................................................................... 17P. Matthiae, Opening Speech ........................................................................................ 21J. Mª Córdoba, M. Molist, Mª C. Pérez, I. Rubio, S. Martínez, Bienvenida........ 25

Opening Lectures to Main Themes - Apertura de las sesiones temáticas

N. Chevalier, Considérations sur l’histoire de l’archéologie, ses origines et son développe-ment actuel.............................................................................................................. 31

S. Mazzoni, Arts, crafts and the state: A dialectic process............................................ 37

Papers and posters - Comunicaciones y pósters

M. Abdulkarim, O. Olesti-Vila, Territoire et paysage dans la province romaine dela Syrie. La centuriatio d’Emesa (Homs) ............................................................... 55

G. Affani, Astragalus bone in Ancient Near East: Ritual depositions in Iron Agein Tell Afis ........................................................................................................... 77

A. Ahrens, Egyptian and Egyptianizing stone vessels from the royal tomb and palaceat Tell Mišrife/Qa7na (Syria): Imports and local imitations ................................... 93

B. Ajorloo, The neolithization process in Azerbaijan: An introduction to review............... 107C. Alvaro, C. Lemorini, G. Palumbi, P. Piccione, From the analysis of the archaeo-

logical context to the life of a community. «Ethnographic» remarks on the ArslantepeVIB2 village .......................................................................................................... 127

Sh. N. Amirov, Towards understanding religious character of Tell Hazna 1 oval ............. 137Á. Armendáriz, L. Teira, M. Al-Maqdissi, M. Haïdar-Boustani, J. J. Ibáñez, J. Gonzá-

lez Urquijo, The megalithic necropolises in the Homs Gap (Syria). A preliminaryapproach ................................................................................................................. 151

A. Arroyo, Akpinar.................................................................................................... 163

L. Astruc, O. Daune-Le Brun, A. L. Brun, F. Hourani, Un atelier de fabricationde récipients en pierre à Khirokitia (Néolothique pré-céramique récent, VIIe millénaireav. JC, Chypre........................................................................................................ 175

G. Baccelli, F. Manuelli, Middle Bronze Khabur Ware from Tell Barri/Kahat ..... 187B. Bader, Avaris and Memphis in the Second Intermediate Period in Egypt (ca. 1770-

1770-1550/40 BC)............................................................................................... 207F. Baffi, Who locked the door? Fortification walls and city gates in Middle Bronze Age

inner Syria: Ebla and Tell Tuqan .......................................................................... 225L. Barda, El aporte de los mapas y descripciones antiguas en el ensayo de reconstrucción

de sitios arqueológicos, periferias y rutas (con uso del SIG) ...................................... 245C. D. Bardeschi, A propos des installations dans la cour du Temple Ovale de Khafajah ..... 253C. Bellino, A. Vallorani, The Stele of Tell Ashara. The Neo-Syrian perspective............ 273D. Ben-Shlomo, Iconographic representations from Early Iron Age Philistia and their

ethnic implications ................................................................................................... 285A. I. Beneyto Lozano, Manifestaciones artísticas desde Oriente Próximo a Al-Andalus 305L. Bombardieri, C. Forasassi, The pottery from IA II-III levels of Late-Assyrian

to Post-Assyrian period in Tell Barri/Kahat .......................................................... 323B. Brown, The Kilamuwa Relief: Ethnicity, class and power in Iron Age North

Syria....................................................................................................................... 339A. Brustolon, E. Rova, The Late Chalcolithic settlement in the Leilan region of Nor-

theastern Syria: A preliminary assessment .............................................................. 357S. M. Cecchini, G. Affanni, A. Di Michele, Tell Afis. The walled acropolis (Middle

Bronze Age to Iron Age I). A work in progress..................................................... 383B. Cerasetti, V. A. Girelli, G. Luglio, B. Rondelli, M. Zanfini, From monument to

town and country: Integrated techniques of surveying at Tilmen Höyük in South-EastTurkey.................................................................................................................... 393

N. Chevalier, Fouiller un palais assyrien au XIXe siècle: Victor Place à Khorsabad....... 403L. Chiocchetti, Post-Assyrian pottery from the Italian excavations at Fort Shalmaneser,

1987-1990 ............................................................................................................ 417X. Clop García, Estrategias de gestión de las materias primas de origen mineral en Tell

Halula: primera aproximación................................................................................ 441A. Colantoni, A. Gottarelli, A formalized approach to pottery typology: The case of

some typical shapes from the Late Bronze Age in Northern Syria .......................... 455A. M. Conti, C. Persiani, Arslantepe. The building sequence of the EB3 settle-

ment ....................................................................................................................... 465C. Coppini, Mitannian pottery from Tell Barri ........................................................... 477J. Mª Córdoba, Informe preliminar sobre las últimas campañas en al Madam (2003-2006).... 493F. Cruciani, The atributes of Ishtar in Old Syrian glyptic and the Mesopotamian literary

tradition.................................................................................................................. 509A. Daems, Alternative ways for reading some female figurines from Late Prehistoric

Mesopotamia and Iran............................................................................................ 519

10 Proceedings of the 5th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East

A. D’Agostino, Between Mitannians and Middle-Assyrians: Changes and linksin ceramic culture at Tell Barri and in Syrian Jazirah during the end of the 2ndmillennium BC ....................................................................................................... 525

A. D’Agostino, S. Valenti, N. Laneri, Archaeological works at Hirbemerdon Tepe(Turkey). A preliminary report or the first three seasons ......................................... 549

M. B. D’Anna, R. Laurito, A. Ricci, Walking on the Malatya Plain (Turkey): Pre-liminary remarks on Chalcolithic pottery and occupation. 2003-2005 ArchaeologicalSurvey Project ......................................................................................................... 567

I. de Aloe, A preliminary report on the 1995 Tell Leilan survey: The pottery fromthe Hellenistic to the Sasanian Period ..................................................................... 575

F. Dedeoglu, Cultural transformation and settlement system of Southwestern Ana-tolia from Neolithic to LBA: A case study from Denizili/Çivril Plain.................. 587

K. De Langhe, Early Christianity in Iraq and the Gulf: A view from the architec-tural remains .......................................................................................................... 603

T. De Schacht, W. Gheyle, R. Gossens, A. De Wulf, Archaeological researchand CORONA: On the use, misuse and full potential of historical remote sen-sing data ................................................................................................................. 611

C. del Cerro, Life and society of the inhabitants of al Madam (UAE). Interdisciplinarystudy of an Iron Age village and its environment .................................................... 619

G. M. Di Nocera, Settlements, population and landscape on the Upper Euphrates betweenV and II millennium BC. Results of the Archaeological Survey Project 2003-2005in the Malatya Plain .............................................................................................. 633

S. Di Paolo, Dalle straordinarie avventure di Lady Hester Stanhope alla «Crociata» archaeo-logica di Butler : la politica «religiosa» dei viaggi delle esplorazioni scientifiche nellaregione di Damasco tra XIX e XX secolo .............................................................. 647

R. Dolce, Considerations on the archaeological evidence from the Early Dynastic Templeof Inanna at Nippur.............................................................................................. 661

R. H. Dornemann, Status report on the Early Bronze Age IV Temple in Area E atTell Qarqur in the Orontes Valley, Syria ............................................................... 679

A. Egea Vivancos, Artesanos de lo rupestre en el alto Éufrates sirio durante la época romana.. 711A. Egea Vivancos, Viajeros y primeras expediciones arqueológicas en Siria. Su contribución

al redescubrimiento de Hierapolis y su entorno ........................................................ 731B. Einwag, Fortified citadels in the Early Bronze Age? New evidence from Tall Bazi

(Syria) .................................................................................................................... 741M. Erdalkiran, The Halaf Ceramics in Hirnak area, Turkey..................................... 755F. Escribano Martín, Babilonia y los españoles en el siglo XIX ................................. 767M. Feizkhah, Pottery of Garrangu style in Azarbaijan (Iran).................................... 775E. Felluca, Ceramic evidences from Bampur: A key site to reconstruct the cultural development

in the Bampur Valley (Iran) during the third millennium BC................................. 797E. Felluca, S. Mogliazza Under-floor burials in a Middle Bronze Age domestic quarter at Tell

Mardikh – Ebla, Syria ........................................................................................... 809

Index - Índice 11

VOL. II

S. Festuccia, M. Rossi, Recent excavations on the Ebla Acropolis (Syria).................. 17S. Festuccia, M. Rossi Latest phases of Tell Mardikh - Ebla: Area PSouth Lower

Town ...................................................................................................................... 31J.-D. Forest and R. Vallet, Uruk architecture from abroad: Some thoughts about

Hassek Höyük....................................................................................................... 39M. Fortin, L.-M. Loisier, J. Pouliot, La géomatique au service des fouilles archéologiques:

l’exemple de Tell ‘Acharneh, en Syrie ...................................................................... 55G. Gernez, A new study of metal weapons from Byblos: Preliminary work ..................... 73K. T. Gibbs, Pierced clay disks and Late Neolithic textile production.......................... 89J. Gil Fuensanta, P. Charvàt, E A. Crivelli, The dawn of a city. Surtepe Höyük excava-

tions Birecik Dam area, Eastern Turkey ............................................................... 97A. Gómez Bach, Las producciones cerámicas del Halaf Final en Siria: Tell Halula (valle

del Éufrates) y Tell Chagar Bazar (valle del Khabur) ............................................. 113E. Grootveld, What weeds can tell us Archaeobotanical research in the Jordan Valley ... 123E. Guralnick, Khorsabad sculptured fragments............................................................ 127H. Hameeuw, K. Vansteenhuyse, G. Jans, J. Bretschneider, K. Van Lerberghe,

Living with the dead. Tell Tweini: Middle Bronze Age tombs in an urban context... 143R. Hempelmann, Kharab Sayyar : The foundation of the Early Bronze Age settle-

ment ....................................................................................................................... 153F. Hole, Ritual and the collapse of Susa, ca 4000 BC ................................................ 165D. Homès-Fredericq The Belgian excavations at al-Lahun (biblical Moab region), Jordan.

Past and future ....................................................................................................... 179J. J. Ibáñez et al., Archaeological survey in the Homs Gap (Syria): Campaigns of 2004 and

2005....................................................................................................................... 187A. Invernizzi, El testimonio de Ambrogio Bembo y Joseph Guillaume Grelot sobre

los restos arqueológicos iranios ................................................................................. 205K. Jakubiak, Pelusium, still Egyptian or maybe Oriental town in the Western Synai.

Results of the last excavations on the Roman city ................................................... 221S. A. Jasim, E. Abbas, The excavations of a Post-Hellenistic tomb at Dibba, UAE ..... 237Z. A. Kafafi, A Late Bronze Age jewelry mound from Tell Dayr ‘Alla, Jordan ......... 255E. Kaptijn, Settling the steppe. Iron Age irrigation around Tell Deir ‘Alla, Jordan Valley .... 265C. Kepinski, New data from Grai Resh and Tell Khoshi (South-Sinjar, Iraq) collected

in 2001 and 2002 ................................................................................................. 285A. Klein-Franke, The site in Jabal Qarn Wu’l near %iziaz in the region of San5an

(Yemen) .................................................................................................................. 297G. Kozbe, A new archaeological survey project in the South Eastern Anatolia: Report of

the Cizre and Silopi region ..................................................................................... 323P. Kurzawski, Assyrian outpost at Tell Sabi Abyad: Architecture, organisation of

space and social structure of the Late Bronze settlement ......................................... 341


R. Laurito, C. Lemorini, E. Cristiani, Seal impressions on cretulae at Arslantepe:Improving the methodological and interpretative references........................................ 351

A. R. Lisella, Clay figurines from Tell Ta’anek ........................................................... 361M. Lönnqvist, Kathleen M. Kenyon 1906-1978. A hundred years after her birth.

The formative years of a female archaeologist: From socio-politics to the stratigraphi-cal method and the radiocarbon revolution in archaeology......................................... 379

K. O. Lorentz, Crafting the Head: The human body as art? ...................................... 415C. Lorre, Jacques de Morgan et la question de l’origine de la métalurgie dans le Caucase .... 433S. Lundström, From six to seven Royal Tombs. The documentation of the Deutsche

Orient-Gesellschaft excavation at Assur (1903-1914) – Possibilities and limits ofits reexamination .................................................................................................... 445

N. Marchetti, A preliminary report on the 2005 and 2006 excavations at TilmenHöyük.................................................................................................................... 465

O. Marder, I. Milevski, R. Rabinovich, O. Ackermann, R. Shahack-Gross, P. Fine,The Lower Paleolithic site of Revadin Quarry, Israel ............................................. 481

R. Martín Galán, An example of the survival of ancient Mesopotamian architectonicaltraditions in Northern Jazireh during the Hellenistic period .................................... 491

A. C. Martins, Oriental antiquities and international conflicts. A Portuguese epi-sode during the 1st World War ............................................................................... 515

K. Matsumura, Hellenistic human and animal sacrifices in Central Anatolia: Examplesfrom Kaman-Kalehöyük .......................................................................................... 523

P. Matthiae, The Temple of the Rock of Early Bronze IV A-B at Ebla: Structure,chronology, continuity .............................................................................................. 547

M. G. Micale, The course of the images. Remarks on the architectural reconstructionsin the 19th and 20th centuries: The case of the Ziqqurrat ........................................ 571

L. Milano, Elena Rova, New discoveries of the Ca’Foscari University – Venice Teamat Tell Beydar (Syria) ............................................................................................. 587

I. Milevski, Y. Baumgarten, Between Lachish and Tel Erani: Horvat Ptora, a newLate Prehistoric site in the Southern Levant ........................................................... 609

O. Muñoz, S. Cleuziou, La tombe 1 de Ra’s al-Jinz RJ-1: une approche de lacomplexité des pratiques funéraires dans la peninsule d’Oman à l’Âge du Bronze ancien 627

L. Nigro, Tell es-Sultan/Jericho from village to town: A reassessment of the EarlyBronze Age I settlement and necropolis ................................................................... 645

L. Nigro, Prelimiray report of the first season of excavation of Rome «La Sapien-za» University at Khirbet al-Batrawy (Upper Wadi az-Zarqa, Jordan) .................. 663

A. T. Ökse, Preliminary results of the salvage excavations at Salat Tepe in the UpperTigris region............................................................................................................ 683

V. Orsi, Between continuity and tranformation: The late 3rd Millennium BC ceramicsequence from Tell Barri (Syria) ............................................................................. 699

A. Otto, Organization of Late Bronze Age cities in the Upper Syrian EuphratesValley..................................................................................................................... 715

M. Özbaharan, Musular: The special activity site in Central Anatolia, Turkey................. 733F. Pedde, The Assur-Project. An old excavation newly analysed .................................. 743

Index - Índice 13

C. Persiani, Chemical analysis and time/space distribution of EB2-3 pottery at Ars-lantepe (Malatya, Turkey) ...................................................................................... 753

L. P. Petit, Late Iron Age levels at Tell Damieh: New excavations results from the JordanValley..................................................................................................................... 777

L. Peyronel, Making images of humans and animals. The clay figurines from the RoyalPalace G at Tell Mardikh-Ebla, Syria (EB IVA, c. 2400-2300 BC) ................. 787

P. Piccione, Walking in the Malatya Plain (Turkey): The first Half of the III millenniumBC (EBA I and II). Some preliminary remarks on the results of the 2003-2005Archaeological Survey Project.................................................................................. 807

VOL. III

F. Pinnock, Artistic genres in Early Syrian Syria. Image and ideology of power in agreat pre-classical urban civilisation in its formative phases...................................... 17

A. Polcaro, EB I settlements and environment in the Wadi az-zarqa Dolmens and ideo-logy of death........................................................................................................... 31

M. Pucci, The Neoassyrian residences of Tell Shekh Hamad, Syria............................ 49P. Puppo, La Tabula «Chigi»: un riflesso delle conquiste romane in Oriente ................ 65S. Riehl, Agricultural decision-making in the Bronze Age Near East: The development of

archaeobotanical crop plant assemblages in relation to climate change ....................... 71A. Rochman-Halperin, Technical aspects of carving Iron Age decorative cosme-

tic palettes in the Southern Levant .......................................................................... 93M. Rossi, Tell Deinit-Syria MEDA Project n. 15 (2002-2004). Restoration training

programs ................................................................................................................. 103M. Sala, Khirbet Kerak Ware from Tell es-Sultan/ancient Jericho: A reassessment in

the light of the finds of the Italian-Palestinian Expedition (1997-2000) ............... 111S. G. Schmid, A. Amour, A. Barmasse, S. Duchesne, C. Huguenot, L. Wadeson,

New insights into Nabataean funerary practices...................................................... 135S. Silvonen, P. Kouki, M. Lavento, A. Mukkala, H. Ynnilä, Distribution of

Nabataean-Roman sites around Jabal Harûn: Analysis of factors causing sitepatterning ............................................................................................................... 161

G. Spreafico, The Southern Temple of Tell el-Husn/Beth-Shean: The sacred ar-chitecture of Iron Age Palestine reconsidered ........................................................... 181

M. T. Starzmann, Use of space in Shuruppak: Households on dispaly ....................... 203T. Steimer-Herbet, H. Criaud, Funerary monuments of agro-pastoral populations

on the Leja (Southern Syria) ................................................................................... 221G. Stiehler-Alegría, Kassitische Siegel aus stratifizierten Grabungen........................... 235I. M. Swinnen, The Early Bronze I pottery from al-Lahun in Central Jordan: Seal

impressions and potter’s marks ................................................................................ 245H. Tekin, The Late Neolithic pottery tradition of Southeastern Anatolia and its vicinity ....... 257H. Tekin, Hakemi Use: A newly established site dating to the Hassuna / Samarra pe-

riod in Southeastern Anatolia................................................................................. 271


D. Thomas, The ebb and flow of empires – Afghanistan and neighbouring lands in thetwelfth-thirteenth centuries ....................................................................................... 285

Y. Tonoike, Beyond style: Petrographic analysis of Dalma ceramics in two regionsof Iran ................................................................................................................... 301

B. Uysal, The technical features of the Ninevite 5 Ware in Southeastern Anatolia ...... 313C. Valdés Pererio, Qara Qûzâq and Tell Hamîs (Syrian Euphrates valley): Up-

dating and comparing Bronze Age ceramic and archaeological data ......................... 323S. Valentini, Ritual activities in the «rural shirines» at Tell Barri, in the Khabur

region, during the Ninevite 5 period ........................................................................ 345K. Vansteenhuyse, M. al-Maqdissi, P. Degryse, K. Van Lerberghe, Late Helladic

ceramics at Tell Tweini and in the kingdom of Ugarit ............................................ 359F. Venturi, The Sea People in the Levant: A North Syrian perspective ........................ 365V. Verardi, The different stages of the Acropolis from the Amorite period at Tell

Mohammed Diyab .................................................................................................. 383V. Vezzoli, Islamic Period settlement in Tell Leilan Region (Northern Jazíra): The

material evidence from the 1995 Survey .................................................................. 393O. Vicente i Campos, La aplicación de las nuevas tecnologías de la información y la

comunicación en el yacimiento arqueológico de Tell Halula ....................................... 405N. Vismara, Lo sviluppo delle metodologie della scienza numismatica e la scoperta di

una nuova area di produzione monetale: il caso dell’identificazione della emissioni dellaLycia in epoca arcaica ............................................................................................. 417

T. Watkins, Natural environment versus cultural environment: The implications of creatinga built environment ................................................................................................. 427

N. Yalman, An alternative interpretation on the relationship between the settlementlayout and social organization in Çatalhöyük Neolithic site: A ethnological researchin Central Anatolia................................................................................................ 439

E. Yanai, Ein Assawir, Tel Magal and the peripheral settlement in the Northern Sharonfrom the Neolithic period until the end of the Early Bronze Age III ...................... 449

E. Yanai, Cemetery of the Intermediate Bronze Age at Bet Dagan .............................. 459E. Yanai, The trade with Cypriot Grey Lustrous Wheel Made Ware between Cyprus,

North Syrian Lebanese coast and Israel.................................................................. 483

Workshops - Talleres de debate

Workshop I

Houses for the Living and a Place for the Dead

N. Balkan, M. Molist and D. Stordeur (eds.)

Introduction: House for the living and place for the dead. In memory of JacquesCauvin ................................................................................................................... 505

P. C. Edwards, The symbolic dimensions of material culture at Wadi Hammeh 27.......... 507

Index - Índice 15

F. R. Valla, F. Bocquentin, Les maisons, les vivants, les morts: le cas de Mallaha (Eynan),Israël ...................................................................................................................... 521

E. Guerrero, M. Molist, J. Anfruns, Houses for the living and for the dead? The caseof Tell Halula (Syria)............................................................................................ 547

D. Stordeur, R. Khawam, Une place pour les morts dans les maisons de Tell Aswad(Syrie). (Horizon PPNB ancien et PPNB moyen).................................................. 561

I. Kuijt, What mean these bones? Considering scale and Neolithic mortuary variability...... 591B. S. Düring, Sub-floor burials at Çatalhöyük: Exploring relations between the

dead, houses, and the living ..................................................................................... 603P. M. M. G. Akkermans, Burying the dead in Late Neolithic Syria .......................... 621T. Watkins, Ordering time and space: Creating a cultural world ................................... 647

Workshop III

The Origins of the Halaf and the Rise of Styles

O Niewenhuyse, P. Akkermans, W. Cruells and M. Molist(eds.)

Introduction: A workshop on the origins of the Halaf and the rise of styles .................. 663W. Cruells, The Proto-Halaf: Origins, definition, regional framework and chronology.............. 671O. Nieuwenhuyse, Feasting in the Steppe � Late Neolithic ceramic change and the rise

of the Halaf ........................................................................................................... 691R. Bernbeck, Taming time and timing the tamed......................................................... 709M. Le Mière, M. Picon, A contribution to the discussion on the origins of the Halaf

culture from chemical analyses of pottery................................................................. 729B. Robert, A. Lasalle, R. Chapoulie, New insights into the ceramic technology

of the Proto-Halaf («Transitional») period by using physico-chemical methods........ 735H. Tekin, Late Neolithic ceramic traditions in Southeastern Anatolia: New insights from

Hakemi Use........................................................................................................... 753M. Verhoeven, Neolithic ritual in transition ............................................................... 769

Programme - Programa


The Late Neolithic pottery tradition of SoutheasternAnatolia and its vicinity

Halil Tekin, Hacettepe

AbstractOur limited knowledge of the Late Neolithic societies of Southeastern Anatolia and itsenvironments has began to flourish over the last few decades. Recent excavations carriedout on the Turkish Middle Euhrates and on the Upper Tigris are yielding exciting newdata concerning the Late Neolithic cultures of the region. The most important resultsof this recent work show that the Hassuna/Samarra culture of Northern Mesopotamiaexisted in the region bordered by the Taurus Range since the end of the 7th millenni-um BC. Southeastern Anatolia seems to have been a major part of this culture since itsbeginnings.

Keywords: southeastern Anatolia, pottery, Late Neolithic, Upper Tigris, ceramic.

IntroductionBefore about 50 years, it was believed that there was no Neolithic and the ear-

liest settlement had begun in the Chalcolithic in Anatolia.1 Our informationregarding the process of neolithicism in Anatolia have increased in recent years.Very significant data is obtained by the excavations carried out especially at sitescomprising Pottery Neolithic. Although it cannot be exactly established when andin which region the use of pottery has begun in Anatolia under the light of thecurrent information, it can be said that the use of pottery has been widespread inthe mids of the 7th Milleinum BC by the archaeological research carried out inCentral and Southeastern Anatolia.

The Pottery Neolithic sites in Southeastern AnatoliaThe region called as Southeastern Anatolia grossly comprises the geography

from the east of Cilicia to the south of the Taurus Mountains. As a result of theexcavations to salvage the archaeological heritage to be submerged by the reser-voirs of dams started to be constructed on the Euphrates River by the end of1960s, the existence of some neolithic settlements have been established. By theseexcavations, significant information is obtained regarding the position of South-eastern Anatolia in Near East during the process of neolithicism. Within theAtatürk Dam excavations carried out on the Euphrates, only several sherds datingto the Neolithic are collected at Gritille2 and Kumartepe.3 Paralles to these are also

1 Lloyd 1956, 53.2 Voigt 1985.3 Roodenberg et al. 1984.

exposed in the survey at the Sürük Mevkii4 carried out in the same region (Fig. 1).Remarkable data regarding not only the regional but also the process of neolithicisimin Near East is obtained at the Akarçay Tepe5 and Teleilat Mezraa6 excavationswhich have been excavated dating from the late 1990s because of the constructionof the Carchemish Dam on the Euphrates River. Apart from the Pre-pottery andPottery Neolithic, the establishment of a transition level interlocking these twoperiods is one of the most significant results on this issue.

By the excavations carried out by the German archaeologists dating from thesecond half of the 1980s at Hanlιurfa, significant sites of Pre-Pottery Neolithichave been unearthed. Within these sites, some pottery related to the earliest wareexamples of the region are collected at Gürcütepe7 which is formed of eightmounds side by side and is located within the border of the Hanlιurfa Provincialcenter. Parallels to these ware as of quality are found at Kumartepe, Gritille andSürük. Late Neolithic Painted sherds are collected at Kazene Höyük8 which isanother significant Halaf settlement. Many Pottery Neolithic sites are establishedin a survey carried out by a Turkish excavation team in the Harran Plain.9 Withinthese sites, apart from the representatives of early period of the Pottery Neolithicthere are also the sites with the Hassuna/Samarra painted ware. Another impor-tant result of the Harran survey is that the Halaf culture is quite dominating in theregion. It is remarkable that both the Hassuna/Samarra painted ware and the Halafpainted ware are unearthed within the sherds collected from several sites.

While there is quite adequate information regarding the Late Neolithic com-pared to the number of excavations in the Euphrates Basin, the data in the TigrisValley has been almost none until 5 years ago. The only Neolithic excavation otherthan the excavation of one season at Yayvantepe10 is Çayönü Tepesi until the early2000 when the excavations have started because of the Ilιsu Dam. Moreover, thereis a slight Pottery Neolithic level at Çayönü which is one of the well-known Ace-ramic Neolithic sites of Near East. The production of portable goods made ofclay is observed long before the existence of pottery in the Pre-Pottery NeolithicA (PPN A) which is the earliest oocupation level. However, there is still no ade-quate information regarding the Pottery Neolithic at Çayönü.11 Unfortunately, theexcavation has been carried out for just a season at Yayvantepe located to ca. 3kmeast of Çayönü. Small number of sherds are observed in these excavations. Thegap of information regarding the Late Neolithic in the region has been filled bythe Ilιsu Dam excavations carried out at Hakemi Use and in the Salat Camii Yanι(near Salat Mosque) to ca. 20km east of Hakemi Use. The earliest pottery in theUpper Tigris Valley is exposed by the self-denying studies of our Japanese friendsat the settlement where there are no large areas to be excavated because of the


4 Stein 1992.5 Karul et al.20046 Balkan-Atlι et al. 20047 Beile-Bohn et al. 1998.8 Bernbeck et al.1999.9 Yardιmcι 2005.10 Caneva 1992.11 Erim-Özdogan and Yalman 2004.

modern houses. In the 2005 excavations, painted sherds are collected for the firsttime in the settlement.12 Moreover, it should be mentioned about some potterycollected by the German excavation team somewhere near to the fountain of theTigris and the pottery established in the Birkleyn Cave on the skirts of the TaurusMountain. As per the information of the chief of excavation team, Dr. AndreasSchachner;13 some sherds parallel to the Hassuna/Samarra painted ware areunearthed.

Hakemi Use, which has been started to be excavated in 2001 for the first time,is the most significant Pottery Neolithic excavation of the region with its abouttwenty-five thousand sherds. In the settlement, which is located on the right bankof the Tigris with a diameter of 120cm and 4 m of height, five levels of thepottery Neolithic are established. About 700m² of area has been excavated at thesite and it is reached to the virgin soil in two trenches.

The Hakemi Use PotteryThe studies on the pottery collected from the Neolithic levels at Hakemi

Use are still carried on. However, the pottery in the settlement can be dividedinto several groups which are: Standard Monochrome, Standard Painted Ware, DarkFaced Burnished Ware, Grey-Black Ware, Fine Ware and Orange Fine Ware. 50 % ofHakemi Use Late Neolithic pottery consist of the Standard Monochrome ware(Fig. 2). The Standard Monochrome ware increases in number to the lower levels.However, the Standard Painted ware is collected in every level of the LateNeolithic. Although the pottery of which the surface is in the colour of its fabriccomprise the majority, there are also the slipped ware. The ratio of ware slippedin the tones of red and grey are nearly the same. While both the inner and outersurfaces are slipped in the open wares, only the outer surface of the vessel isslipped in especially the necked pots. Most of the slipped ware are polished.Majority of the vessel repertoire consist of deep bowls and bowls. In addition,pots with long and short neck, goblets, vessels in forms of tray and trough areobserved. It is remarkable that the vessels; which have been brought out tolight until now, have no handles. Likewise, no aplique examples have beenexposed, yet.

The Standard Monochrome ware form the largest group in number. In addi-tion to dense plant-temper, there are grit and limestone temper in the fabric ofthese ware. Their walls have dark core since they are underfired and their coarsefabric is sometimes hand-smeared. The subject ware has the same characteristicsas the vessels named as the Coarse ware which are established at the Neolithic sitesin Souteastern Anatolia and its vicinity. The Standard Painted Ware depicts no dif-ference from the previous group in the quality of their fabric. There are usuallyincised decorations in red tones as large bands on the outer surface. There isalmost no plant-temper in the fabric of the Fine Ware . Mineral temper is usuallyobserved in the hard-fired vessels. This group comprises the examples with incised

The Late Neolithic pottery tradition of Southeastern Anatolia and its vicinity 259

12 I’d like to thank Dr. Yutaka Miyake for showing me the figures of these vessels.13 I am grateful to Dr. Andreas Schachner for letting me see the figures of the Birkleyn ware.

or impressed decoration on the outer face which are the representatives ofNorthern Mesopotamia’s widespread Standard Hassuna Incised Ware at HakemiUse. Their greenish beige fabric is of rather good quality. The Dark Faced Bur-nished Ware which is significant within the Near Eastern Late Neolithic Ware isabundantly collected in five levels of Hakemi Use (Fig. 3). Apart from the examplesslipped in tones of dark grey or red in general, there are also purplish brownslipped ware. There is mineral and limestone temper instead of plant-temper in thefabric of these ware and they have hard texture. The vessels which can be classi-fied within the Dark Faced Burnished Ware is collected in small numbers atÇayönü Tepesi14 in the region. The existence of these ware in the UpperEuphrates Basin is established at the Keban excavations and at Malatya ¤kizHöyük.15 Another ware grouped under the Dark Faced Burnished ware is calledthe Pattern Burnished ware since they have decorative burnishing (Fig. 4). Theexposition of this ware which is especially widespread in the Late Neolithic ofNorthern Mesopotamia at Hakemi Use is significant as it depicts that the distri-bution of these vessels extend to the Upper Tigris Valley. Another example show-ing the relation between Cilicia and the Upper Tigris Valley is the two fragmentsof a pot with a thunder motif (Fig. 5) on collected in the 2005 excavations. Parallelsto the subject motif is also seen on a whole pot from Mersin Yumuktepe.16

In Hakemi Use, there are vessels in abundant numbers which are significantwithin the Late Neolithic pottery of Northern Mesopotamia and are formerlycalled as the Standard Hassuna Painted Ware, then the Orange Fine Ware.17 Theseware with orangish fabric depict fine craftsmanship. The outer surfaces of theseware are usually decorated as diagonal triangles in tones of red up to the middleof the body (Fig. 6). In Hakemi Use, there is another group; which is classified asthe Fine Ware and called as the Standard Hassuna Painted Ware in the archaeo-logical literature, show difference in the colour of their fabric. The outer surfaceof these ware with greenish beige fabric is decorated in tones of brown. Althoughthey are not large in number, the vessels called as the Samarran Ware within theOrange Fine Ware are collected at Hakemi Use (Fig. 7). Within these ware, thereare the «Classical» style of the Samarra Ware which are also seen in settlements likeTell es-Sawwan,18 Cogha Mami,19 Baghuz20 in Central Mesopotamia, and theNorthern style which is rather widespread in settlements in the Northern Iraq,Khabur21 and Balikh22. The existence of Samarran Ware in Anatolia has beenknown since the early 20th Century. The existence of these ware which are firstunearthed in the Sakçagözü23 excavations in the vicinity of Kahramanmarah


14 Erim-Özdogan and Yalman 200415 Esin and Harmankaya 1991.16 Caneva 1999, fig.14.17 Le Mière and Nieuwenhuyse 1996.18 El-Wailly and Al-Soof 1965.19 Oates 1969.20 Nieuwenhuyse 1999.21 Suleiman and Nieuwenhuyse 2002.22 Akkermans et al. 2006.23 Garstang 1908.

located to the north of Cilicia is established in the Domuztepe24 excavations. TheBitumen Painted Ware is small in number within the Hakemi Use ware. The bitu-men decorations are usually observed as a band on the rims, sometimes as dotpattern and fine-smeared as lines here and there. Parallels to the examples ofHakemi Use are collected in Tell Sabi Abyad.25

The vessels; which are first defined in the Tell Hassuna26 excavations, are inform of trough and are called as «Husking Tray» in English deriving from the ideathat they are used in the splitting of the cereal grains from their glumes, in otherwords, they are used as graders in a way. The husking trays are collected in abun-dant numbers as sherds in every level at Hakemi Use (Fig. 8). It has been possibleto restorate one example of which significant part has survived. In the 2004 exca-vations, fragment of a husking tray of which the outer surface is red slipped iscollected for the first time. The slipping of the husking trays’outer surfaces is notvery common in Near East.

Abundant survived vessels are collected in the Late Neolithic Earth graves atHakemi Use. Within these vessels, bell-shaped ware are significant. Apart from thelight buff-coloured and unburnished examples, there are also the red and blackslipped ware. The unslipped and unburnished necked-pots are of low quality. Insome examples, large grits can be distinguished even by naked eye. Apart from thevessels in form of pot and tray, small goblets without handle are also collected ina child grave. Some of the deep bowls depict fine craftsmanship. In the 2005 exca-vation season, the vessels collected in a grave, which the skeletons are almosttotally disturbed, are remarkable. There are four feet attached to the bottom ofthe vessels which are nearly in same size. The inner and outer surfaces of oneof the vessels are slipped in red and unburnished. The other vessel which isunslipped and unburnished is slightly smeared on the rim with bitumen. In thisperiod, although fruit-stands are known from Central Anatolia, they are not well-known in Near East. At present, these two vessels seem to be unique to HakemiUse. It is remarkable that no wash or incised-impressed ware are collected in the22 Late Neolithic graves which have been unearthed in Hakemi Use till 2005.

DiscussionBoth Akarçay and Teleilat which are the Euphrates excavations, and the Tigris

excavations of Hakemi Use and the finds of the Salat Camii Yanι (near SalatMosque) establish that there is domination of Pottery Neolithic in SoutheasternAnatolia. Especially, the archaeological finds exposed in the excavations of Hake-mi Use located on the bank of the Tigris River are rather significant as to reflectthe inner-regional relations. The Dark Faced Burnished Ware; which is once con-sidered to be only found in Cilicia, Amuq and certain regions of Northern Syria;is collected in abundant numbers in all the levels of Hakemi Use. On the otherhand, the existence of incised and impressed ware known to be unique to the west


24 Campbell et al. 1999.25 Connan et al. 2004.26 Lloyd and Safar 1945.

matters as to reflect the extention of this relation. The parallelism between thefinds especially the pottery of Hakemi Use and Tell Sabi Abyad in Balikh, likewise,the collection of Red-Slipped ware which would then comprise the traditional wareof Central Anatolia bring new quesitons into mind.

Moreover, the number of excavation and surveys regarding the PotteryNeolithic in the Upper Tigris is very few. It’s a fact that the future archaeologicalexcavations will enlight many questions and significant data regarding the PotteryNeolithic of Near East will be obtained.

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Fig. 1: Maps.


Fig. 2: Standard Monochrome.


Fig. 3: Dark-Faced Burnished Ware (Purplish-brown slipped).


Fig. 4: Pattern Burnished.

Fig. 5: «Thunderbolt motif».


Fig. 6: Orange Fine Ware (Standard Hassuna Painted Ware).


Fig. 7: Samarran Ware.

Fig. 8: Husking tray sherds.

The Late Neolithic Pottery Tradition of Southeastern Anatolia and Its Vicinity

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