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.
Les mer
Presents a multi-disciplinary analysis of a crucially important, assemblage of Neolithic pottery , radiocarbon dated to the 7th millennium BC, from the Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria, which demonstrates development from the earliest adoption of ceramics to local production.
Les mer
List of Contributors Acknowledgments   Chapter 1 The emergence of pottery in Upper Mesopotamia Olivier Nieuwenhuyse   Chapter 2 The excavations at Tell Sabi Abyad Olivier Nieuwenhuyse   Chapter 3 Analytical procedures Olivier Nieuwenhuyse   Chapter 4 Analysing the prehistoric ceramic wares Olivier Nieuwenhuyse   Catalogue   Chapter 5 Raw materials for early ceramic production at Tell Sabi Abyad Bonnie Nilhamn, Loe Jacobs and Bram van As   Chapter 6 Plastered ceramics at Tell Sabi Abyad Olivier Nieuwenhuyse and Ewout Koek   Chapter 7 The decoration techniques of ‘white-slipped-and-painted’ Standard Ware Luc Megens   Chapter 8 Early pottery repairs at Tell Sabi Abyad Olivier Nieuwenhuyse and Renske Dooijes   Chapter 9 Investigating the provenance of the early pottery from Tell Sabi Abyad Marie Le Mière, Valérie Thirion-Merle and Maurice Picon (†)   Chapter 10 Basketry-impressed pottery from Late Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad Koen Berghuijs   Chapter 11 Neolithic assemblages, periodisation and sequences Olivier Nieuwenhuyse   Chapter 12 The pottery from Operations IV and V Olivier Nieuwenhuyse   Catalogue 307   Chapter 13 The depositional context of the pottery Olivier Nieuwenhuyse   Chapter 14 Ceramics from the cemeteries Jo-Hannah Plug and Olivier Nieuwenhuyse   Chapter 15 Tracing pottery use through lipid residue analysis Mélanie Roffet-Salque, Richard P. Evershed and Anna Russell   Chapter 16 Into the Pottery Neolithic at Tell Sabi Abyad Olivier Nieuwenhuyse   Bibliography
Les mer
...well-written and well-produced... The case is made steadily and by the end the reader should be convinced that a lot of our old assumptions about the introduction of pottery in the Near East are simplistic or just wrong
Les mer
Presents the first detailed analysis of the development of Neolithic pottery production and use in Syria

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9781789250848
Publisert
2018-08-30
Utgiver
Vendor
Oxbow Books
Høyde
297 mm
Bredde
210 mm
Aldersnivå
P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
442

Biographical note

Olivier Nieuwenhuyse (1966-2020) was an archaeologist and expert in the field of Western Asian prehistoric ceramics. At the time of his untimely death, he was a Humboldt Fellow at the Institut für Vorderasiatische Archäologie (Freie Universität Berlin). He was the author of numerous articles on Late Neolithic ceramics and (co-)editor of Climate and Cultural Change in Prehistoric Europe and the Near East (2016), Painting Pots, Painting People (2017) and Relentlessly Plain (2018). Olivier conducted fieldwork in Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and, most recently, Iraqi Kurdistan.