Relentlessly Plain: Seventh Millennium Ceramics at Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria

Description

The prehistoric site of Tell Sabi Abyad lies in the valley of the Balikh River, a tributary of the Euphrates in northern Syria. Between 2001 and 2008 excavations focused on the north-western, western and southwestern slopes of the main mound (Operations III, IV and V). Relentlessly Plain presents the results of detailed investigations into the 7th millennium BC ceramic assemblages recovered from those excavations by an interdisciplinary group of scholars. The 7th millennium BC was an era of profound cultural transformations in the ancient Near East. This began with the sustained adoption of pottery c. 7000 cal BC, followed by the slow advance of the new craft as pottery containers became increasingly common. Important social, economic and ritual activities became increasingly dependent on pottery containers. Over the course of the millennium, prehistoric communities began to cook food and drink, store surpluses, and send symbolic messages via the medium of pottery vessels. Tell Sabi Abyad offers a unique vantage point from which to study these innovations. Supported by a strong program of radiocarbon dating, extensive excavations have revealed a lengthy, continuous sequence of prehistoric occupation from the start of the Late Neolithic into the Early Halaf period. Pottery changed dramatically in the course of this long trajectory. Whereas in the initial stages pottery containers were rare, at the end of the sequence they represented a mass-produced craft. Initially ceramic containers were visually conspicuous, occasionally decorated, but masses of relentlessly plain pottery characterize subsequent stages. The book combines detailed discussion of themes relevant to the study of early ceramics in the ancient Near East with extensive analyses of each of the individual wares currently distinguished at the site. Separate chapters offer perspectives on the archaeometry, the depositional context, early repairs, food residues, provenance, and associated human burials. Cover Book Title Copyright Dedication Contents List of Contributors Acknowledgments Chapter 1: The emergence of pottery in Upper Mesopotamia: Olivier Nieuwenhuyse 1.1. Introduction 1.2. The adoption of pottery 1.3. The development of a mass product 1.4. Pottery for storage 1.5. Pots for cooking 1.6. The role of style 1.7. About this book Chapter 2: The excavations at Tell Sabi Abyad: Olivier Nieuwenhuyse 2.1. Introduction 2.2. The stratigraphy of Operation III 2.3. The Operation III prehistoric building sequence 2.4. The contextual composition of Operation III 2.5. The excavations at Operations IV and V Chapter 3: Analytical procedures: Olivier Nieuwenhuyse 3.1. Introduction 3.2. The way of the sherds 3.3. How much pottery? 3.4. Measuring fragmentation 3.5. Defining pottery wares 3.6. Reconstructing vessel shape 3.7. Estimating vessel volume 3.8. Deconstructing decoration Chapter 4: Analysing the prehistoric ceramic wares: Olivier Nieuwenhuyse 4.1. Introduction 4.2. Standard Ware 4.3. Early Mineral Ware 4.4. Fine Mineral Tempered Ware 4.5. Grey-Black Ware 4.6. Mineral Coarse Ware 4.7. Dark-Faced Burnished Ware 4.8. Fine Painted Ware 4.9. Orange Fine Ware 4.10. Standard Fine Ware 4.11. Halaf Fine Ware 4.12. Late Bronze Age pottery Catalogue Chapter 5: Raw materials for early ceramic production at Tell Sabi Abyad: Bonnie Nilhamn, Loe Jacobs and Bram van As 5.1. Introduction 5.2. The microscopic fabric analysis 5.3. The thin-section analysis 5.4. Discussion and conclusions Chapter 6: Plastered ceramics at Tell Sabi Abyad: Olivier Nieuwenhuyse and Ewout Koek 6.1. Introduction 6.2. Plastered Late Neolithic ceramics 6.3. The typology of plastered Standard Ware 6.4. Analysing the raw materials 6.5. Discussion and conclusions Chapter 7: The decoration techniques of ‘white-slipped-and-painted’ Standard Ware: Luc Megens 7.1. Introduction 7.2. Sampling and analytical procedures 7.3. Results 7.4. Discussion and conclusions Chapter 8: Early pottery repairs at Tell Sabi Abyad: Olivier Nieuwenhuyse and Renske Dooijes 8.1. Introduction 8.2. Plaster repairs 8.3. Perforations and bitumen 8.4. The introduction of pottery repairs 8.5. Repairs in context 8.6. Concluding remarks Plate section Chapter 9: Investigating the provenance of the early pottery from Tell Sabi Abyad: Marie Le Mière, Valérie Thirion-Merle and Maurice Picon (†) 9.1. Introduction 9.2. Analytical procedures and sampling 9.3. Classifying the Tell Sabi Abyad ceramics by chemical composition 9.4. Discussing the Tell Sabi Abyad results 9.5. Comparing Tell Sabi Abyad and Seker al-Aheimar 9.6. Concluding remarks Chapter 10: Basketry-impressed pottery from Late Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad: Koen Berghuijs 10.1. Introduction 10.2. Of basketry and pottery 10.3. The dataset 10.4. Discussion 10.5. Concluding remarks Chapter 11: Neolithic assemblages, periodisation and sequences: Olivier Nieuwenhuyse 11.1. Introduction 11.2. Operation III: quantities and densities 11.3. The assemblages of the A–B sequences 11.4. The assemblages of the C–D sequences 11.5. Periodisation 11.6. The regional framework Chapter 12: The pottery from Operations IV and V: Olivier Nieuwenhuyse 12.1. Introduction 12.2. The prehistoric pottery from Operation IV 12.3. The prehistoric pottery from Operation V Catalogue Chapter 13: The depositional context of the pottery: Olivier Nieuwenhuyse 13.1. Introduction 13.2. Top soil, Islamic and Late Bronze Age contexts 13.3. Late Neolithic fragmentation and deposition in Operation III 13.4. Fragmentation and deposition in Operations IV–V Chapter 14: Ceramics from the cemeteries: Jo-Hannah Plug and Olivier Nieuwenhuyse 14.1. Introduction 14.2. Cemeteries at Tell Sabi Abyad 14.3. Depositions of pottery 14.4. Selecting pots for burial 14.5. Containers for burial 14.6. Sherds as ritual artefacts 14.7. Pottery and identity after death 14.8. Concluding remarks Chapter 15: Tracing pottery use through lipid residue analysis: Mélanie Roffet-Salque, Richard P. Evershed and Anna Russell 15.1. Introduction 15.2. Pottery selection and methods 15.3. Gener al assessment of the organic residues 15.4. Distribution of lipid concentrations 15.5. Lipid residues versus archaeozoological record 15.6. Concluding remarks Chapter 16: Into the Pottery Neolithic at Tell Sabi Abyad: Olivier Nieuwenhuyse 16.1. Introduction 16.2. The coming of pottery 16.3. The slow development of a mass product 16.4. A concern with storage 16.5. Cooking with pots 16.6. A ‘painted pottery revolution’ delayed 16.7. Prospects for further research Bibliography