Olivier Nieuwenhuyse

Antoine Suleiman

Tell Boueid II is one of many sites submerged by the completion of the Middle Khabur dam, northeastern Syria. Salvage excavations by Antoine Suleiman (DGAM) in 1997 and 1998 exposed a small (about 0.12 ha) settlement dated on the basis of the ceramics to the Late Neolithic period. More specifically, comparisons with Tell Sabi Abyad and Tell Chagar Bazar suggest a date at the end of the Pre-Halaf era and the beginning of the Transitional stage between pre-Halaf and Early Halaf. During this crucial period, which remains poorly understood in Syria and northern Mesopotamia, various regional communities in Syria and northern Mesopotamia exhibit an increasingly strong cultural unity. In the report, archaeologists and specialists present the analyses of some aspects of the excavations: the architecture, the small finds, the Late Neolithic ceramics, the faunal remains, the obsidian, two clay sealings and the contents of two Late Chalcolithic pits. The ceramics show strong relationships with the so-called Hassuna and Samarra traditions known from Iraq. The obsidian tools, too, show affinities with the Samarra tradition but also with local, Syrian traditions. Of particular significance are two sealings with stamp seal impressions, which are similar to sealings recently excavated at Tell Sabi Abyad. In a concluding chapter the authors bring together their viewpoints in a joint discussion of Tell Boueid II.

A Late Neolithic Village on the Middle Khabur (Syria)

Tell Boueid II

Reinhard Bernbeck

Peter Akkermans

Jana Rogasch

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.

Olivier Nieuwenhuyse

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