Investigating the Early Pottery Neolithic of Northern Syria
New Evidence from Tell Sabi Abyad
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4538142 |
|---|---|
| Authors | P M M G Akkermans (0000-0002-7666-2348, University of Washington), R T J Cappers, René Cappers, Chiara Cavallo (0000-0003-2150-514X, University of Washington), Olivier Nieuwenhuyse (University of Washington), Bonnie Nilhamn (0000-0003-4209-7480, Centre de Géosciences), Iris N Otte (University of Washington) |
| Year | 2006 |
| Volume | 110 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 123-156 |
| Publication date | 2006-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Archaeology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-9114 • E-ISSN: 1939-828X |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.3764/aja.110.1.123 |
| OpenAlex | W2074826911 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 51 |
| References cited | 3 |
The 2001–2003 excavations at Tell Sabi Abyad in northern Syria have provided important new information on the nature and development of the Pottery Neolithic settlement at the site in the seventh and sixth millennia B.C. The fieldwork has produced a long sequence of small and continually shifting occupations, in the order of 0.5–1.0 ha, each with rich assemblages of very early ceramics and other artifacts. There is proof for localized abandonment and the episodic contraction and expansion of occupation over the site. Living in small, dispersed groups, leaving extensive areas of the site uninhabited, was a basic practice of Neolithic settlers at Tell Sabi Abyad (and probably elsewhere as well). Of particular note was the discovery of well-preserved building levels belonging to the initial stage of the Pottery Neolithic, ca. 6600–6200 B.C., providing insight into the character of settlement and material culture of one of the poorest known periods in the history of Syria and the northern Levant. Single- and multiroomed houses came to light, often with white-plastered floors and walls. The ceramics from these buildings are among the earliest found in the Near East to date. Distinct changes in the organization of the communities and the material culture took place at ca. 6200 B.C. and were associated with, among other things, the appearance of circular buildings and clay sealings as indicators of controlled storage
Ancient history · Archaeology · Excavation · Geography · Human settlement · Iron Age · Pottery · Settlement (finance) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · History · Paleopathology and ancient diseases
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Clay objects as ‘tokens’? Evidence for early counting and administration at Late Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad, Mesopotamia
Silence of the birds
Up in Arms
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The transition to farming and the ceramic trajectories in Western Eurasia. From ceramic figurines to vessels
Imprints of the Neolithic mind - clay stamps from the Republic of Macedonia
Warfare in Late Neolithic\Early Chalcolithic Pisidia, southwestern Turkey. Climate induced social unrest in the late 7th millennium calBC
Rethinking Halaf Chronologies
An Archaeology of Categorization and Categories in Archaeology
A Late Neolithic “fishing net” from Kurdistan, Northern Iraq
Centralisation or Regional Identity in the Halaf Period? Examining Interactions within Fine Painted Ware Production
Reconsidering the Neolithic graveyard at Tell es-Sawwan, Iraq
The Southern tip of the Northern Levant ? The Early Pottery Neolithic assemblage of Tel Ro’im West, Israel
A cultural unity in Northwestern Syria during the Neolithic. Tell Ain Dara III, a PPNB site in the Afrin Valley
Gender, Labor, and Pottery Production in Prehistory
Climate Forcing Due to the 8200 Cal yr BP Event Observed at Early Neolithic Sites in the Eastern Mediterranean
Evidence of resilience to past climate change in Southwest Asia
Burying the Dead and Keeping the Living Close
Investigating the function of late-Neolithic ‘husking trays’ from Syrian Jazira through integrated use-alteration and phytolith analyses
Materiality of Plaster Vessels
Satellite-Based Monitoring of Looting and Damage to Archaeological Sites in Syria
Neolithisation of the Aegean and Southeast Europe during the 6600–6000 calBC period of Rapid Climate Change
The effects of the 8.2 ka event on the natural environment of Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria
A methodological approach to the study of archaeological cereal meals
Tracing pottery use and the emergence of secondary product exploitation through lipid residue analysis at Late Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad (Syria)
Space making and home making in the world’s first villages
The Timing and Behavioral Context of the Late-Pleistocene Adoption of Ceramics in Greater East and Northeast Asia and the First People (Without Pottery) in the Americas
The ‘Western Variety’ of Samarra Pottery in the Late-Neolithic Near East
A peek behind the curtain
Beyond Boundaries
Getting to the Bottom of It All
Pot burials in the Neolithic and EBA Greek mainland
“White” Pottery in the Neolithic of Mesopotamia
Gypsum plaster, its use and relationship with neolithic fertile crescent pottery technology
The emergence of ceramics in Southwest Asia
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Objects of Visual Representation and Local Cultural Idioms
New discoveries concerning the relationship between the upper Tigris region and Syro-Cilicia in the Late Neolithic
Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria
Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria
Comparing Near Eastern Neolithic Megasites and Southwestern Pueblos
Reconsidering ‘Tokens
The Beaded Rim
Reading between the lines
Not so coarse, nor always plain - the earliest pottery of Syria
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Why the Neolithic is (r)evolutionary
How many people lived in the world's earliest villages? Reconsidering community size and population pressure at Neolithic Çatalhöyük
| Unique citing works | 51 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,32 |
| Citation span | 2004 - 2026 (23) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 35 |