TELL SABI ABYAD

Pottery vessels from the tell site typical of the period between 6700 and 6300 B.C. These are relatively coarse and usually plant-tempered ceramics, with simple shapes and a notable lack of decoration.

• The best know characteristic pottery of Halaf culture is Halaf ware.
• This type of pottery can be painted and decorated with animal or geometric motifs.

An early Halaf painted jar from one of the prehistoric houses in the southeastern part of Tell Sabi Abyad.

An 8500 years old Neolithic pot.

• The excavations conducted on tell Sabi Abyad extended from 1986 till 2010.
• The excavations were guided by Dr. Peter M.M.G Akkermans
• Fundings were secured by the national museum of antiquities in Leiden.
• Excavations revealed a highly complex history of settelement consisting of four successive phases:

- Sequence A ( 7100-6200 B.C.)

- Sequence B ( 6200-5900 B.C.)

- Sequence C ( 5900- 5800 B.C.)

- Sequence D ( 5700-5500 B.C.)

Choice of the excavation area:

• The area chosen for prehistoric investigations is the moderately sloping southeastern portion of the tell site.

Methodology used during the excavations:

• Horizontal excavations were primarly conducted in 9x9 m squares, designated from west to east with capital letters and from north to south with numbers.
• In multiple cases, the squares were divided into smaller units during excavations for better stratigraphical control.
• The baulks between the excavation units were removed many times in order to solve particular stratigraphic problems.

Sickle blade segments of flint, found at Tell Sabi abyad III ( 7000-6700 B.C.)

These bladelets were inserted into a crescent shaped wooden handle and fastened with a layer of bitumen.

Use: Sickles were used for cutting reeds, cereals and other fibrous grasses.

Picture of the work done in the Neolithic- period trenches in the operation III at tell Sabi Abyad.

This is a a late bronze age child burial at Tell Sabi Abyad. The grave was made around 1200 B.C. Right next to his feet are a number of bronze rings. Next to the child's head is a pottery bowl, for the journey to the afterlife.

painting on the wall of a dig at tell sabi Abyad was copied from a cylinder seal.

A series of prehistoric cemetries dating between 6400 and 5800 BC.

• Akkermans, Peter M.M.G, ed. Tell Sabi Abyad the Late Neolithic Settlement. Amsterdam: Nederrlands Historich-Archaeologisch Instituut Te Instanbul, 1996. Print.Volume 1
• Akkermans, Peter M. M. G. "The 1988 Excavations at Tell Sabi Abyad, a Later Neolithic Village in Northern Syria." American Journal of Archaeology 96.1 (1992): 1-22. JSTOR. Web. 30 Nov. 2014. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/505755?ref=no-x-route:0723a38d38cc58a0766b652a7bc8f87d>.
• "Tell Sabi Abyad, or the Ruins of the White Boy. A Short History of Research into the Late Neolithic of Northern Syria." Academia.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2014.
• "Talk:Tell Sabi Abyad." . Wikimedia.org Foundation, 25 Nov. 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
• Akkermans Peter MMG, ed. Tell Sabi Abyad the Late Neolithic Settelement Amsterdam: Nedderlands Historich - Archaeologisch Institut Te istanbul, 1996. Print. Volume 2
• "Talk:Tell Sabi Abyad." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Nov. 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.(Images)

Halaf pottery

Halaf pottery

Halaf pottery

Halaf culture

LOCATION OF THE TELL SITE

OUTLINE

Ground view of the site

Historical background

Halaf culture (II)

• Tell Sabi Abyad is located in the Balikh valley in northern Syria, around 30 km from the Syrio- turkish border.

Halaf pottery

• Location of the tell site
• Historical background
• Halaf culture
• Site characteristics
• Excavations
• Purpose of the excavation
• Stratigraphy
• Dating techniques
• Reconstruction of the site
• Images around the site
• References

In the period 6500-5500 B.C., a farming society emerged in northern Mesopotamia and Syria which shared a common culture and produced pottery that is among the finest ever made in the Near East. This culture was given the name Halaf after the discovery of tell Halaf in northeastern Syria where it was first identified.

• The tell site was founded in 7550 B.C. during the pre-pottery neolithic B period.
• Neolithic B is a division of the neolithic during wich people started depending heavily upon domesticated animals to supplement their early hunter gather diet.
• It remained an active site of human activity along the neolithic period, the transitional neolithic- halaf period, the early bronze age-halaf period and the middle assyrian period.
• It was finally abandoned after 6300 years around 1250 B.C.
• The importance of the site is empowered by the occupation of the site by the halaf civilization.

During the Halaf period, tell Sabi abyad had advanced animal domestication, specifically goat, sheep, cattle and pigs, allowing a fully developed farming economy.

Stratigraphy

Purpose of the excavation

Dating techniques

Excavations

Characteristic of the site

Excavations

• Radiocarbon dating was extensively used to date bones found in burials around the site.
• Specialists determined dates from the techniques used in ceramic assemblage.

• stratigraphical sequence strongly varied from trench to trench.
• This is explained by the different use of space for various activities.
• A number of strata was recognized, each characterized by consistent architectural features.
• Strata are subdivided on the basis of differences in the nature and sequence of the depositions and constructions.
• Strata are regrouped into 11 main levels of occupation.

• Tell sabi abyad is mainly formed of limestone and clay, the type of rocks present in the Balikh region.
• Area of sub-settlements:

-11 hectares (I)

-15 hectares (II)

-9 hectares (III)

• Height: 2 meters

• A research project of survey and excavation in the Balikh region aiming to explore the socio-economic structure of late neolithic societies: the emphasis was based on the exposure of the Halaf occupation levels and their predecessors to obtain an insight into late neolithic settlement organization and developments in the use of space.
• The search for a potential site that will allow archeologists to assess and reveal information on the two revolutions of the prehistoric period:

-the introduction of agriculture

-the emergence of cities and early states

Radiocarbon dating table

Excavations

Section of square Q13 showing stratigraphical layers

Reconstruction of the site

Contour map with the area of excavation

Radiocarbon table

Images around the site

References

Images around the site