Tell Sabi Abyad ('mound of the white boy') is located in the upper Balikh region of northern Syria (Akkermans 1989a:16). It was identified during the wider Balikh River Regional Survey and has been under extensive excavation led by Professor Peter Akkermans of the University of Leiden and the National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden, the Netherlands from 1985 until recently when the political situation made work impossible (Akkermans 1987, 1989a, 1989b, 2013; Akkermans et al. 2006; Akkermans & Duistermaat 2004; Akkermans et al. 1996; Akkermans & le Mière 1992; Akkermans, Limpens & Spoor 1993; Akkermans & Verhoeven 1995; Cavallo 1997, 2000; Connan et al. 2004; Duistermaat & Akkermans 1996; Duistermaat & Schneider 1998; Russell 2010; Van der Plicht et al. 2012; Van Der Plicht et al. 2011; Van Wijngaarden-Bakker 1989; Van Zeist 1989; Verhoeven 1997b, 1999, 2004a). The site of Sabi Abyad actually consists of a group of four mounds, the largest of which, Sabi Abyad I (Figure 5.6) measures ca. 5 ha at its base and rises about 5 to 10 m above the level of the surrounding undulating plain (Cavallo 2000:3).
Figure 5.6 Tell Sabi Abyad I showing the locations of the various operations (Nieuwenhuyse, Akkermans &
Van der Plicht 2010:77)
Sustained excavation has revealed a long and virtually unbroken sequence of at least seven Neolithic habitations, dated to ca. 6200-5950 BC (Akkermans 2013:34). The archaeological strata provide now one of the best-dated continuous occupation sequences for the Late Neolithic in the region. A large- scale 14C dating programme showed that the observed cultural change is contemporaneous with the 8.2 ka climate event (Van der Plicht et al. 2012:281). Whilst synchronicity does not imply causality, there is compelling evidence for substantial cultural change and diversification during the time of climate change around 6200 BC (Akkermans et al. 2010).
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EXCAVATION AND ARCHITECTURE
Context Type present Further details
Specified Domestic structure, open area (public), oven (private), storage (public)
Unspecified Fill, Unspecified
Operation I, in the southeastern part of Sabi Abyad I reveals many levels of well-preserved village settlement. Most of the artefacts within my database were found in level 6, the so-called Burnt Village, destroyed by a blaze in about 6000 BC (Figure 5.7). Built in terraces, the Burnt Village is roughly 1 ha in extent. The architecture is a mixture of rectilinear, subdivided structures and more open, round structures, often closely spaced. Part of the mound had been dug away along the slope, creating terraces, upon which buildings were placed, at different levels. Consequently, it appears that the floors of the upper houses must have been more or less at the same level as the roofs of the lower houses and one could easily walk onto these roofs.
Figure 5.7 Tell Sabi Abyad I plan of the Burnt Village in level 6 of Operation I (Akkermans & Verhoeven 1995:9)
The Burnt Village is represented by five rectangular, multi-roomed structures (buildings I-V) and four circular ones called tholoi (Akkermans & Verhoeven 1995:9). These tholoi may have served a variety of purposes, from living and reception in the case of the larger tholoi, to the preparation and storage of food and the stabling of domestic animals in the case of the smaller tholoi (Akkermans 2013:34). Whilst only a few activity areas were present within the rectangular buildings, we see a great deal of activity areas within the surrounding open spaces, and within the tholoi. These areas are marked by architectural features such as ovens and hearths (Verhoeven 1997b:19). Some buildings contained considerable quantities of burnt cereals, which suggest their storage in bulk. These finds, together with the architectural detail, has led to the interpretation of the rectilinear buildings as granaries and storehouses (Akkermans 2013:34). A Recent analysis of the clay sealing’s indicates that besides
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permanent residents, the population related to the Burnt Village most likely also included nomads. This mobile or transhumant component made use of the site, in particular, the stored goods in the rectangular storehouses at specific times. Study of the animal bones seems to confirm the presence of sheep-goat pastoralism (Verhoeven 1997b:19).I am doubtful about this interpretation without any clear direct evidence though it is an interesting possibility to consider.
SUBSISTENCE STRATEGIES
ANIMAL EXPLOITATION
Domestic animals have been found in all main phases of occupation at Operation I. Caprines are the most frequently occurring species and their importance is constant through time. They account for about 69% of the overall identified faunal sample and for over 70% of the domestic animal remains (Van Wijngaarden-Bakker 1989:481). Cattle bones make up about 15% of the overall identified faunal assemblage whilst pig only constituted 9% (Van Wijngaarden-Bakker 1989:489). Osteological evidence for selective culling of caprines could be a possible indication of seasonal pastoral movements or mobile pastoralism (Cavallo 2000:65; Verhoeven 2004a:373). By contrast, hunting was less important (Cavallo, 2000) with birds constituting only a small part of the (Van Wijngaarden- Bakker 1989:500).
PLANT EXPLOITATION
Various pulse crops are attested including lentil, field pea, grass pea, and bitter vetch. Virtually all barley is of the hulled type (Van Zeist & Waterbolk-Van Rooijen 1996:532). Of the non-cereal crop plants, linseed or flax is best represented, be it only occasionally by more than a few seeds (Van Zeist & Waterbolk-Van Rooijen 1996:536). The lustre sickle elements were probably used for harvesting grain. Obviously, grain, pulses and various wild species were important sources of food, but plants were also used for a variety of other purposes. Of the marsh plant taxa sea club rush, sedge and spike-rush are recorded at Sabi I and II, and van Zeist and de Roller (20002 142) have remarked that sedge and sea club rush could have been used as litter for bedding, and also formatting and basket- making. Furthermore, wood must have been used for construction purposes (architecture, doors, furniture, vessels, etc.) and for fuel (Verhoeven 2004a:373).
ARTEFACTS
Vast quantities of finds were recovered from the burnt buildings of level 6, including ceramic and stone vessels, flint and obsidian implements, ground-stone tools, human and animal figurines, labrets, axes, and personal ornaments (Akkermans et al. 1996:17). Stone objects mainly comprise grinding tools like pestles, mortars or grinding slabs, all made of basalt. Traces of use are indicated
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by smoothed and polished worn-out surfaces (Akkermans 1989a:285). Most excitingly, hundreds of clay sealings were also found, consisting of lumps of clay either pressed on the fastening of a container or closing this container entirely, and most of them carry stamp-seal impressions (Akkermans et al. 1996:17). Together with a concentration of miniature vessels, tokens, discs, figurines and so on, these sealings seem to have been deposited in a few rooms in a few storehouses only, as if in some kind of ‘archive’ (Akkermans & Duistermaat 2004:1). Crucial to their interpretation is the question whether they are of local or non-local origin, thus indicating use in storage or exchange practices respectively. Analysis of the chemical composition of the sealing clays with X-ray fluorescence analysis indicates that probably all sealing’s came from Sabi Abyad itself (Duistermaat & Schneider 1998:89). A significant set of finds are the figurines. Dozens of very schematically rendered human figurines were uncovered together with some animal representations. But until now, the figurines have been found only in the houses of the level 6 Burnt Village, and, to a much lesser extent, in the level 3 main building. Virtually all figurines were made of sun-dried clay; the sole exception is a small human head made of soft limestone (Collet 1996:403).
SUMMARY
The settlement in Operation I, Tell Sabi Abyad I presents us with a potentially interesting social setting of permanent residents living in tandem with mobile or transhumant component of pastoral nomads (though as mentioned this is easily argued against based on the evidence). The very richness of material recovered from the Burnt Village at Sabi Abyad suggests that socio-economic diversity and complexity in the late sixth millennium B.C. considerably surpassed that of earlier Neolithic communities in the region (Akkermans & Verhoeven 1995:29). The development of systems of control, transcending the keeping of records by memory, may well have been associated with a growing sense of family identity and private property (Akkermans & Duistermaat 2004:5). The seals and sealings facilitated that relationship between the pastoralists and the sedentary communities (Akkermans et al. 1996:30). The excellent preservation of the Burnt Village of level 6, complemented by extensive and thorough excavation, affords us the opportunity to examine the fundamental social and economic changes at the end of the Neolithic.
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