Bones and Identity by Nimrod Marom Reuven Yeshuran Lior Weissbrod Guy Bar-Oz

Author:Nimrod Marom,Reuven Yeshuran,Lior Weissbrod,Guy Bar-Oz
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781785701733
Publisher: Casemate Publishers & Book Distributors, LLC
Published: 2016-05-14T16:00:00+00:00

This paper presents an analysis of a hitherto unexamined assemblage of molluscs (NISP=185, total weight=434.7 g) recovered from Tell Aqab, northeast Syria. Despite the relatively modest size of the assemblage and the limited range of taxa represented, the shells are significant, attesting to long distance exchange networks.

Archaeological background

The Late Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic periods in northern Syria are characterised by the Halaf and Ubaid cultures. Tell Aqab is situated on the northern edge of the Khabur Plain near the headwaters of the Khabur River, 6 km north of Amuda in Jezirah Province, Syria (Fig. 8.1). Occupation at the site began in the Early Halaf period and continued through into the Ubaid period to ca. 3,800 BC (Davidson 1981); the site was abandoned before the end of the Ubaid period in this region. This well-stratified mound site, with approximately 12 m of occupation deposits, was excavated over two field seasons from 1975 to 1976 (Davidson and Watkins 1981). Three trenches (1–3) were excavated on the north side of the site from the mound base to the point of highest elevation (i.e. a stepped section) to determine the site stratigraphy. A further trench (4) was placed on the south face of the mound, an area with the greatest surface evidence for Ubaid occupation, to examine stratigraphy and the Halaf-Ubaid transition in this zone of the site (Davidson and Watkins 1981; Fig. 8.2). Radiocarbon dates obtained from cereal grains from two contexts at Tell Aqab place the Late Halaf context, Aqab 212, to 5,579–5,350 cal BC (AA-30498, 6,575±55 BP) and the earliest Ubaid context, Aqab 4.19, to 5,266–4,995 cal BC (AA-30506, 6,215±55 BP).

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