Qal’at Surmagh: A Pre-Pottery Neolithic Site from Neyriz Plain, Eastern Fars, Iran (original) (raw)

The Neolithic Of Arabia: New Paradigms And Future Perspectives

Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy - Special Issue, 2013

The origins, developments, and characteristics of the Neolithic of the Arabian Peninsula have long been debated in academia. However, Arabia remains one of the only geographical areas in the world that still awaits the establishment of a coherent view on human societies that became “Neolithic” around 8,000-4,000BC. This is not only due to the vast size of the peninsula, but also to a lack of communication between archaeologists as a result of the broad variety of participating institutions, different research traditions, and so central forum for discussions. The workshop will serve as a significant milestone to establish future comprehensive research.

Towards new paradigms: multiple pathways for the Arabian Neolithic

2013

"The origin and course of the Neolithic on the Arabian Peninsula is the subject of an ongoing academic debate. Faunal data suggest an origin for domestication of animals in the Levant and these can be found in Arabia from the sixth millennium onwards. In contrast, lithic evidence does not support the hypothesis that Neolithic herders, accompanying their herds, spread over the entire Peninsula, as they did not leave significant traces of their material culture. Although Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA)/ PPNB influences can be traced across the northern part of Arabia, it is barely possible to observe them further south. By contrast, lithic technology in this region is characterised by major indigenous developments that might originate from a Pleistocene cultural heritage. By discussing the process of Neolithisation in Arabia from different points of view we can avoid the pitfalls of simplistic or monocausal models as well as preconceptions. Furthermore, we will be able to demonstrate that the Neolithic developed differently in different regions of the Arabian Peninsula."

Neolithic Period, North-Western Saudi Arabia

University of York, 2019

During the past four decades, the Neolithic period in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) had received little academic study, until recently. This was due to the previous widely held belief that the Arabian Peninsula had no sites dating back to this time period, as well as few local researchers and the scarcity of foreign research teams. The decline in this belief over the past years, however, has led to the realisation of the importance of the Neolithic in this geographical part of the world for understanding the development and spread of early farming. As well as gaining a better understanding of the cultural attribution of the Neolithic in KSA, filling the chronological gaps in this historical era in KSA is vital, as it is not well understood compared to many neighbouring areas. To address this gap in knowledge, this thesis aims to consider whether the Northwest region of KSA was an extension of the Neolithic developments in the Levant or an independent culture, through presenting the excavation of the Neolithic site of AlUyaynah. Despite surveys and studies that have been conducted in the KSA, this study is the first of its kind, because the site "AlUyaynah", which is the focus of this dissertation, is the first excavation of a site dating back to the pre-pottery Neolithic (PPN). Therefore, the importance of this study lies in developing an understanding of Neolithic characteristics in the NorthWestern part of the KSA. Initially, the site was surveyed and then three trenches were excavated to study the remaining levels of occupation. The excavations' materials recovered included 967 stone tools (e.g. Core, Flake, Blade, Debitage, etc); the remains of 1659 animal bones; buildings; and 216 unique clay objects, which are the first discovery of their kind from a site that dates back to the Neolithic era in the Arabian Peninsula. The current study includes a discussion of the findings from AlUyaynah and places them in their regional context. Particular attention is given to the buildings and structures, lithic assemblage and clay objects. To assist in this analysis a series of 21 new radiocarbon dates were produced from the site, with the aim to understand the beginning and end of the occupation in this settlement. This study discusses Neolithic culture and whether or not to support or reject the arguments for the Neolithic spread from other regions or local developments.

The Neolithic Archaeology of the South west of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

2011

Having defined the geography of the Near East and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Chapter 2, the aim of this chapter is to define a number of the core Neolithic sequences of the Near East and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to critically evaluate the development of the discipline of archaeology within the Kingdom. Before commencing, however, it is first necessary to discuss some of the key models advanced to define the term Neolithic, and explain its development, within the Near East. The models range from Childe's oasis theory of 1936 and Binford's (1968) population expansion model based on post-Pleistocene adaptations, to Hodder's (2000) focus on the way in which individual communities categorised plants and animals. As a Marxist, the first of these scholars was to attempt to roughly align the concept of archaeological 'ages' with that of the economic 'stages'. He was also the first scholar to publically advocate the concept of a Neolithic 'Revolution' (Childe 1936:325), but this term has been criticised by several scholars (Helbaek, 1969), who believed that the change from food gathering to food production was largely evolutionary. Despite these criticisms, Childe was rather more flexible and held that the earliest domesticated animals and plants did not appear in one particular area, or at one point in time, but rather in different areas at different times and he warned that "The word 'revolution' must not be taken as denoting a sudden violent catastrophe, it is here used for the culmination of a progressive change in the economic structure and social organisation of communities that caused, or was accompanied by, a dramatic increase in the population affected-an increase that would appear as an obvious bend in the population graph were vital statistics available" (Childe 1950: 345). Accordingly, Childe suggested that a progressive desiccation in the Near East during the early Holocene led to the concentration of grasses, grass-eating animals, and humans around springs and oases and that this led to closer and closer relationship-resulting in domestication (Childe 1936: 77-78). Chapter 3 35 This model, also known as the Propinquity theory, was subsequently criticised by a Chapter 3 38 of Baghdad suggest that although farming was important, hunting still played a leading role (Matthews 2000). In addition, excavations at Tulul Al-Thalathat and Kashkashok have traced 'Proto-Hassuna' settlement back to 6000 BC, defined as it is by small villages with houses built from clay (in so-called tauf) with straight walls. It was noted that there were some indicators of houses built under the earth's surface. At Umm Dabaghiyyah houses were built from clay and used rudimentary arches to help roof buildings of a new style which included small areas in parallel rows split by a corridor. These small rooms might have been used as stores, and had an upper floor that was used for living and is similar to the Corridor Buildings of Al-Baida and Ain Ghazal in Jordan (Kirkbride 1975). Between 5750 and 5250 BC, three major cultural groupings are apparent, Halaf in the north, Hassuna in the centre, and Samarra in the south and although these cultures coexisted, Hassuna is the oldest (Merpert 1987). Although the above sequence illustrates the cultural development of northern Iraq, the absence of a similar sequence to the south of Baghdad should be noted. Only inhabited from the very earliest phases of the Ubaid, some archaeologists attribute this absence before 6,000 BC to the fact that this area was flooded by the waters of the Persian Gulf. One of the earliest known sites in southern Iraq is Tell el-Oueli and includes evidence of permanent settlement between the sixth to the fourth millennium BC (Huot 1991). The earliest house dates back to 5000 BC and was a tripartite structure with mud brick foundations and a roof supported by two rows of posts and outer walls decorated with plasters. The inhabitants lived in permanent settlements and raised cattle, sheep, and goats, and planted cereals and made ceramic including beads, sickles and amulets (Huot 1992). As noted above, the discovery of the Ubaid ceramic tradition, which has been commonly found in the southern part of Iraq from 5000 B.C. is a key archaeological indicator and has now been identified as well in the eastern province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and in the western coast of the Gulf and may be divided into four stages: Ubaid 1 5500-5000 B.C, Ubaid 2 and 3 5000-4500 B.C and Ubaid 4 4500-4000 BC (Redman 1978). This has raised a number of questions about trade or colonisation, which will be returned to later with reference to the Neolithic of eastern Arabia. Chapter 3 39 3.2.2 THE LEVANT Palestine was one of the first regions in the Near East where early food-producing cultures were discovered and the first settlers at Jericho were hunter-gatherers, followed by people who had a settled, rather than a nomadic, way of life. There is evidence of the manufacture of arrowheads and other tools, and of trade with other communities in Anatolia and the next stage, the Pre-Ceramic Neolithic, yielded evidence of two-roomed mud-brick houses and well-developed obsidian, flint and bone industries. The expanded settlement was also augmented with a defensive system, suggesting a town of about 32 acres by c. 8000 BC (Mellaart 1975). In general, archaeological investigations in the Levant indicate that the region was extensively inhabited during the period between 6000 and 3500 BC. Taking into consideration the various differences between one area and another, most of the larger settlements found in the southern Levant were abandoned around c. 5900 BC, while others, like Ain Ghazal and Wadi Shoaib in Jordan, remained inhabited. This situation remained until between 5600-5500 BC when additional towns appeared, however, the situation in the northern Levant, Anatolia and northern Iraq differed, as none of the sites were abandoned and new towns and villages appeared, such as Catal Huyuk. These towns and villages are distinguished by their wide dispersal and social systems, and the development of new industries such as ceramics during the seventh millennium BC (Kafafi 2005). The first farming towns in the northern Levant continued to be inhabited without any interruption between 6000 and 5660 BC during the period known as Pre-Pottery Neolithic (Moore 1987). Archaeological excavations of sites from this period in the south are rare, and are concentrated at two main sites, Ain Ghazal and Wadi Shoaib in Jordan (Rollefson 1997). This discussion of the Levant will now be strictly limited to two areas: the northern part (Syria and Lebanon), and the southern part (Jordan and Palestine). Ras Shamra on the Mediterranean in the north, and Ain Ghazal in the south are the most important sites during this stage and hosted continuous habitation from the seventh to the sixth millennium BC and Shaar (Al-Qahwanah), where the Yarmuk meets the Jordan River, is considered the best example in the south Levant. In addition to the latter, the sites of Jbail, Al-Munhatta, Wadi Shoaib, and Al-Tharra are also key sites for Chapter 3 40 understanding the transformation from the Pre-Ceramic to Ceramic Era and the most ancient ceramic discovered in south Anatolia may be dated to 6700 BC (Rollefson 1997). 3.2.2.1 THE EPIPALAEOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC OF JORDAN Of the numerous Neolithic sites excavated in Jordan, the following five have been chosen for discussion: Ain Ghazal, Wadi Shueib, Basta, es-Sifaya, Wadi Feynan and 'Ain Jammam. These sites were heavily occupied at the end of the seventh millennium B.C. Results of excavations show continuous occupation from LPPNB to PPNC for the above sites. There were many Neolithic sites established close to perennial water sources and these sites, Ain Ghazal and Wadi Shueib, continued to be occupied through the LPPNB to the PPNC. Others, such as Baista, Es-Sifiya. Ain Jammam and Ghwair, were continuously occupied from the LPPNB to the PPNC. In the Jordan Badia, several sites of the seventh and sixth millennium B.C, such as Jilat, Dhuweila, Jebel Naja and Burqu, have been excavated or surveyed. The site of Ain Ghazal has been continuously occupied from ca. 7,250 to 4,500 B.C. and reached its peak by the end of the seventh century B.C. A study of archaeological data belonging to the end of the 7 th millennium and the beginning of the 6 th is now presented in order to provide a comparison with the lesser known classes of site in Saudi Arabia. During the past ten years intensive study has produced more understanding of the PPNB and PPNC periods. This information was mostly obtained from sites in the highland area of Jordan. The excavators of the site 'Ain Ghazal recognized the early 6 th PPNC of Central and Southern Levant. They saw it as a continuation from the 7 th to the 6 th century (Kafafi 1989). At 15 hectares, Ain Ghazal's position is one of the largest known prehistoric settlements in the Near East. More than 150 clay animal figurines have been recovered from middle PPNB deposits, the majority cattle, but cattle bones from the same period show no evidence of domestication except in the case of some calves. A ceremonial burial of at least twenty-five human statues and busts made of lime plaster was excavated in 1983, and another cache of seven damaged pieces of statuary in 1985. Excavations in 1995 and 1996 revealed a structure which appears to have been a temple or walled sanctuary containing a raised altar and screen (Kafafi 1989). Chapter 3 41 The Azraq Basin is a depression extending for 12,000 sq km , stretching from the Jebel Druze area of southern Syria to the Saudi Arabia frontier and west to within 20 km of Amman. It is part of a longer depression, the Wadi es-Sirhan, which extends to El Jawf in Saudi Arabia. Both depressions were formed by block faulting in the late Cretaceous but the faulting has occurred at different rates (Garrard 1985). Wadi el Jilat: the site...

The Problem of the Neolithic in Khorramabad Valley, Luristan, Iran: Questions and Presuppositions

Two important points have been the motivations of the writers of this article. The first motivating factor is the importance of the Neolithic Period especially the phase of shifting from Epi-Paleolithic to Neolithic in nowadays archaeological argumentation. The second factor is the importance of Khorramabad valley at the Paleolithic period and the abundance of early Chalcolithic sites and having no knowledge about the valley's archaeology in Neolithic Period. Exploring two important sites namely Roāhol and Merijelo and finding three sites namely Sarab Kotela, Kohele and Kharmanjā Haft Cheshmeh in this valley, have opened promising horizons for archaeologists to understand the cultural changes of the Neolithic period. Surveying the surface findings and studying on the settlement layers of these sites have provided an opportunity for initial recognition of the existence of social life in Neolithic period in the valley. The general archaeological researches on central Zagros and specific researches on Khorramabad valley and also identifying and preliminary surveying of two under-discussion sites have created a proper opportunity for proposing a new mission to excavate the sites and to conduct systematic compact survey on Khorramabad valley. This article reviews the literature of archaeological studies on central Zagros and Khorramabad valley briefly and propounds the theories of beginning of food production and Neolithisation, proposes key questions and presupposition corresponding to the writers' suggestive plan.