Tell Abu Hureyra
Encyclopedia
Tell Abu Hureyra is an archaeological site located in the Euphrates
valley in modern Syria
. The remains of the villages within the tell
come from over 4,000 years of habitation, spanning the Epipaleolithic
and Neolithic
periods. Ancient Abu Hureyra was occupied between 11,000 and 7,500 years ago in radio carbon
years. The site is significant because the inhabitants of Abu Hureyra started out as hunter-gatherer
s but gradually transitioned to farming, making them the earliest known farmers in the world.
, or ancient settlement mound, located in modern-day Ar-Raqqah Governorate in northern Syria
. It is located on a plateau near the south bank of the Euphrates
, 120 kilometres (74.6 mi) east of Aleppo
. The tell is actually a massive accumulation of collapsed houses, debris, and lost objects accumulated over the course of the habitation of the ancient village. The mound is nearly 500 metres (1,640.4 ft) across, 8 metres (26.2 ft) deep, and contains over 1000000 cubic metres (35,314,666.2 cu ft) of archaeological deposits. Today the tell is inaccessible, drowned beneath the waters of Lake Assad.
settlement. The Epipaleolithic, or Natufian
, settlement was established around 11,500 years ago
,. During the first settlement, c. 13,000 BC, the village consisted of small round huts, cut into the soft sandstone of the terrace. The roofs were supported with wooden posts, and roofed with brushwood and reeds. Huts contained underground storage areas for food. The population was small, housing a few hundred people at most.
The hunter-gatherers of Abu Hureyra obtained food by hunting, fishing, and gathering of wild plants. Gazelle
was hunted primarily during the summer, when vast herds passed by the village during their annual migration. Other prey included large wild animals such as onager
, sheep, and cattle
, and smaller animals such as hare
, fox
and bird
s, which were hunted throughout the year. Plant foods were harvested from "wild gardens," with species gathered including wild cereal grasses such as einkorn wheat
, emmer wheat, and two varieties of rye
.
, an intense and abrupt return to glacial climate conditions which lasted nearly 1000 years. The drought disrupted the migration of the gazelle, and decimated the forageable plant food sources. It is likely that the inhabitants had to give up sedentism and returned to life on the move.
settlement was established, perhaps ten times as large as the earlier settlement and one of the largest at that time in the Middle East
. Mud-brick houses were constructed and a large mound was built up under the settlement mainly from the remains of old houses. An increasingly wide variety of plants was cultivated and examination of human skeletons has shown various deformities that have been associated with laborious agricultural work, particularly the grinding of grain. Animals were also herded. Pottery
was used from around 7,300 BP and weaving
some time before that. The village was abandoned around 7,000 BP.
from 11,050 BP. Peter Akkermans and Glenn Schwartz found this claim about epipaleolithic
rye "difficult to reconcile with the absence of cultivated cereals at Abu Hureyra and elsewhere for thousands of years afterwards". It has been suggested that drier climate conditions resulting from the beginning of the Younger Dryas caused wild cereals to become scarce, leading people to begin cultivation as a means of securing a food supply. Results of recent analysis of the rye grains from this level suggest that they may actually have been domesticated during the EpiPalaeolithic. It is speculated that the permanent population was fewer than 200 individuals. These individuals occupied several tens of square kilometers. From this land, they harvested wood, made charcoal, and may have cultivated cereals and grains for food and fuel.
Euphrates
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
valley in modern Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. The remains of the villages within the tell
Tell
A tell or tel, is a type of archaeological mound created by human occupation and abandonment of a geographical site over many centuries. A classic tell looks like a low, truncated cone with a flat top and sloping sides.-Archaeology:A tell is a hill created by different civilizations living and...
come from over 4,000 years of habitation, spanning the Epipaleolithic
Epipaleolithic
The Epipaleolithic Age was a period in the development of human technology marked by more advanced stone blades and other tools than the earlier Paleolithic age, although still before the development of agriculture in the Neolithic age...
and Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
periods. Ancient Abu Hureyra was occupied between 11,000 and 7,500 years ago in radio carbon
Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present" ,...
years. The site is significant because the inhabitants of Abu Hureyra started out as hunter-gatherer
Hunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...
s but gradually transitioned to farming, making them the earliest known farmers in the world.
History of research
The site was excavated as a rescue operation before it would be flooded by Lake Assad, the reservoir of the Tabqa Dam which was being built at that time. The site was excavated by Andrew Moore in 1972 and 1973. It was limited to only two seasons of fieldwork, because the site was due to be flooded by Lake Assad. However, despite the limited time frame, a large amount of material was recovered and studied over the following decades. It was one of the first archaeological sites to use modern methods of excavation such as 'flotation,' which preserved even the tiniest and most fragile plant remains. A preliminary report was published in 1983 and a final report in 2000.Location and description
Abu Hureyra is a tellTell
A tell or tel, is a type of archaeological mound created by human occupation and abandonment of a geographical site over many centuries. A classic tell looks like a low, truncated cone with a flat top and sloping sides.-Archaeology:A tell is a hill created by different civilizations living and...
, or ancient settlement mound, located in modern-day Ar-Raqqah Governorate in northern Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. It is located on a plateau near the south bank of the Euphrates
Euphrates
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
, 120 kilometres (74.6 mi) east of Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
. The tell is actually a massive accumulation of collapsed houses, debris, and lost objects accumulated over the course of the habitation of the ancient village. The mound is nearly 500 metres (1,640.4 ft) across, 8 metres (26.2 ft) deep, and contains over 1000000 cubic metres (35,314,666.2 cu ft) of archaeological deposits. Today the tell is inaccessible, drowned beneath the waters of Lake Assad.
First occupation
The village of Abu Hureyra had two separate periods of occupation: An Epipalaeolithic settlement, and a NeolithicNeolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
settlement. The Epipaleolithic, or Natufian
Natufian culture
The Natufian culture was a Mesolithic culture that existed from 12,500 to 9,500 BC in the Levant, a region in the Eastern Mediterranean. It was unusual in that it was sedentary, or semi-sedentary, before the introduction of agriculture...
, settlement was established around 11,500 years ago
Before Present
Before Present years is a time scale used in archaeology, geology, and other scientific disciplines to specify when events in the past occurred. Because the "present" time changes, standard practice is to use AD 1950 as the origin of the age scale, reflecting the fact that radiocarbon...
,. During the first settlement, c. 13,000 BC, the village consisted of small round huts, cut into the soft sandstone of the terrace. The roofs were supported with wooden posts, and roofed with brushwood and reeds. Huts contained underground storage areas for food. The population was small, housing a few hundred people at most.
The hunter-gatherers of Abu Hureyra obtained food by hunting, fishing, and gathering of wild plants. Gazelle
Gazelle
A gazelle is any of many antelope species in the genus Gazella, or formerly considered to belong to it. Six species are included in two genera, Eudorcas and Nanger, which were formerly considered subgenera...
was hunted primarily during the summer, when vast herds passed by the village during their annual migration. Other prey included large wild animals such as onager
Onager
The Onager is a large member of the genus Equus of the family Equidae native to the deserts of Syria, Iran, Pakistan, India, Israel and Tibet...
, sheep, and cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
, and smaller animals such as hare
Hare
Hares and jackrabbits are leporids belonging to the genus Lepus. Hares less than one year old are called leverets. Four species commonly known as types of hare are classified outside of Lepus: the hispid hare , and three species known as red rock hares .Hares are very fast-moving...
, fox
Fox
Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...
and bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s, which were hunted throughout the year. Plant foods were harvested from "wild gardens," with species gathered including wild cereal grasses such as einkorn wheat
Einkorn wheat
thumbnail|150px|left|Wild einkorn, Karadag, central TurkeyEinkorn wheat can refer either to the wild species of wheat, Triticum boeoticum , or to the domesticated form, Triticum monococcum...
, emmer wheat, and two varieties of rye
Rye
Rye is a grass grown extensively as a grain and as a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe and is closely related to barley and wheat. Rye grain is used for flour, rye bread, rye beer, some whiskeys, some vodkas, and animal fodder...
.
Abandonment
The hunter-gatherers of the first occupation eventually abandoned Abu Hureyra, probably at the advent of the Younger DryasYounger Dryas
The Younger Dryas stadial, also referred to as the Big Freeze, was a geologically brief period of cold climatic conditions and drought between approximately 12.8 and 11.5 ka BP, or 12,800 and 11,500 years before present...
, an intense and abrupt return to glacial climate conditions which lasted nearly 1000 years. The drought disrupted the migration of the gazelle, and decimated the forageable plant food sources. It is likely that the inhabitants had to give up sedentism and returned to life on the move.
Second occupation
Around 9,000 BC the people return, and a NeolithicNeolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
settlement was established, perhaps ten times as large as the earlier settlement and one of the largest at that time in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. Mud-brick houses were constructed and a large mound was built up under the settlement mainly from the remains of old houses. An increasingly wide variety of plants was cultivated and examination of human skeletons has shown various deformities that have been associated with laborious agricultural work, particularly the grinding of grain. Animals were also herded. Pottery
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
was used from around 7,300 BP and weaving
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
some time before that. The village was abandoned around 7,000 BP.
Transition from foraging to farming
Some evidence has been found for cultivation of ryeRye
Rye is a grass grown extensively as a grain and as a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe and is closely related to barley and wheat. Rye grain is used for flour, rye bread, rye beer, some whiskeys, some vodkas, and animal fodder...
from 11,050 BP. Peter Akkermans and Glenn Schwartz found this claim about epipaleolithic
Epipaleolithic
The Epipaleolithic Age was a period in the development of human technology marked by more advanced stone blades and other tools than the earlier Paleolithic age, although still before the development of agriculture in the Neolithic age...
rye "difficult to reconcile with the absence of cultivated cereals at Abu Hureyra and elsewhere for thousands of years afterwards". It has been suggested that drier climate conditions resulting from the beginning of the Younger Dryas caused wild cereals to become scarce, leading people to begin cultivation as a means of securing a food supply. Results of recent analysis of the rye grains from this level suggest that they may actually have been domesticated during the EpiPalaeolithic. It is speculated that the permanent population was fewer than 200 individuals. These individuals occupied several tens of square kilometers. From this land, they harvested wood, made charcoal, and may have cultivated cereals and grains for food and fuel.