Tell al-Raqā'i 1989 and 1990

Further Investigations at a Small Rural Site of Early Urban Northern Mesopotamia

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4537296
AutoresGlenn M Schwartz (0000-0001-9103-8853), Hans H Curvers
Año1992
Volumen96
Número3
Páginas397-419
Fecha de publicación1992-07-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAmerican Journal of Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0002-9114 • E-ISSN: 1939-828X
EditorialUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2307/506065
OpenAlexW2319052695
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas14
Referencias citadas1

Two final seasons of excavation at Tell al-Raqā'i in northeastern Syria have provided new information on the nature of a rural community in the early to middle third millennium B. C. and its involvement in the development of urbanization and sociopolitical complexity in the region. The large Rounded Building, which dominated the site, was found to contain well-preserved vaulted storage facilities and can be interpreted, along with other structures outside it, as a locus for large-scale grain storage and processing. Similar activities were also associated with the earliest levels at the site, prior to the construction of the Rounded Building. These results corroborate and expand our understanding of Raqā'i as an economically specialized rural community concerned with bulk storage and processing of grain, part of a system of specialized sites established along the Khabur River in probable association with developing complex polities elsewhere

Ancient history · Archaeology · Economic growth · Excavation · Geography · Mesopotamia · Urbanization · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology · Ancient Near East History · Archaeology and Historical Studies · History