Yarim Tepe is an archaeological site of an early farming settlement that goes back to about 6000 BC. It is located in the Sinjar valley some 7km southwest from the town of Tal Afar in northern Iraq. The site consists of several hills reflecting the development of the Hassuna culture , and then of the Halaf and Ubaid cultures .
17-527: The settlement was investigated between 1969 and 1976, and later by the Soviet archaeological expedition under the leadership of Rauf Munchaev and Nikolai Merpert. The hill known as Yarim-Tepe I belongs to Hassuna culture . The high central, oval-shaped core is 80 meters long and 30 meters wide. Some objects found here are reminiscent of those of Tureng Tepe in Iran. 13 building layers are found here, reflecting
34-527: A lead bracelet, copper beads, as well as copper ore, which represents some of the oldest metallurgy in Mesopotamia. Bovine bones were also found. Yarim Tepe II is a settlement of the Halafian culture, belonging to the fifth millennium BC. It is located 250 m west of Yarim Tepe I, and is partly eroded by the nearby brook Joubara Diariasi. Almost all of the dwellings are small one-room mud brick houses of
51-460: A very old copper seal. The burial customs included cremations, and the burials of skulls Yarim Tepe III is located right next to Yarim Tepe II. The hill is 10 m high. The pottery is typical for Northern Ubaid and Halaf. It was excavated in 1978-79. At least three Ubaid building levels are found here on top of several Halaf levels. The uppermost levels of the Halaf cultural deposits are analogous to
68-572: Is Ginnig . The time frame for this period was about 6700-6300 BC. ‘Archaic Hassuna’ has been introduced more recently as a new period different to proto-Hassuna. This period is recorded to have a decrease in the concentration of dung in ceramic production and an increase in the use of two-layer slabs in construction, although they were used prior to this period. During this timeframe, pottery kilns start to show up in many sites. The changing patterns within pottery may also connect with an increase in cultural diffusion. The type site , Tell Hassuna ,
85-488: Is a Neolithic archaeological culture in northern Mesopotamia dating to the early sixth millennium BC. It is named after the type site of Tell Hassuna in Iraq . Other sites where Hassuna material has been found include Tell Shemshara . By around 6000 BC people had moved into the foothills (piedmont) of northernmost Mesopotamia where there was enough rainfall to allow for "dry" agriculture in some places. These were
102-684: Is also recorded to possess Archaic Hassuna artifacts. The time frame for this period was about 6300-6000 BC. Foothills Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range , higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topographically higher mountains , hills, and uplands. Frequently foothills consist of alluvial fans , coalesced alluvial fans , and dissected plateaus . Foothills primarily border mountains, especially those which are reached through low ridges that increase in size closer and closer to
119-688: Is extremely rare, such artifacts raise the possibility that lead smelting may have begun even before copper smelting." Kul Tepe (Iraq) is a related site located about 6km due west from Yarim tepe. Two mounds there (Kultepe I, and Kultepe II) have been excavated. The lowest level of Kultepe I contains material of Sotto type (from nearby Tell Sotto), and above it there is archaic Hassuna materials. The lowest level also contains three high quality marble vessels, with parallels at Tell es-Sawwan and Umm Dabaghiyah. 36°19′14″N 42°22′03″E / 36.32045°N 42.3675°E / 36.32045; 42.3675 Hassuna culture The Hassuna culture
136-534: The Arpachiyah levels TT-6 to TT-8, and Tepe Gawra levels XVIII-XX. Three stone seal-pendants have also been found. In 1985, Narimanov made comparisons between the Chaff-Faced Ware from Leyla-Tepe and the evidence from Yarim Tepe III. He believed that these parallels were due to the migration of some Ubaid culture representatives into Transcaucasia in the first half of the 4th millennium BC. Metal
153-441: The ceramic containers were just being introduced. The pottery vessels were still very few in number in these early settlements. At that time, the main emphasis was on the pottery with a mineral temper, as opposed to the plant-tempered pottery which came to predominate later. The time frame for this period was about 7000-6700 BC, and at this time stone vessels and White Ware were still being used in addition to pottery. Because of
170-572: The first farmers in northernmost Mesopotamia. They made Hassuna-style pottery (cream slip with reddish paint in linear designs). Hassuna people lived in small villages or hamlets ranging 2–8 acres (0.81–3.24 ha). At Tell Hassuna, adobe dwellings built around open central courts with fine painted pottery replace earlier levels with crude pottery. Hand axes, sickles, grinding stones, bins, baking ovens, and numerous bones of domesticated animals reflect settled agricultural life. Female figurines have been related to worship and jar burials within which food
187-574: The main stages of this culture. The cultural level is 6.5 m deep. There are more than 1500 rectangular furnaces and ceramic ovens used for cooking. The earliest known kiln , dating to around 6000 BC, was found here. The village had courtyards and small streets with rectangular mud-brick buildings. There were also public granaries. Burials of children in vessels were found, as well as various stone utensils, such as stone crushers, and hacksaws. The findings also include ceramic vases, female clay figurines, and other items. Metal items were also found, such as
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#1732764696187204-616: The mountain, but can also border uplands and higher hills. Areas where foothills exist, or areas commonly referred to as the foothills, include the: Another word for a foothill region is "piedmont", derived from "foot of the mount" in Romance languages . The Piedmont region of Italy lies in the foothills of the Alps , and several other foothills in other parts of the world are called "piedmont" , and include: Ecosystems of piedmonts (foothills) are often known as submontane zones, relating to
221-437: The narrow local emphasis in many pottery studies as of now, these earliest pottery traditions may be known in literature as: Nevertheless, all of these nomenclatures may refer to quite similar types of pottery, depending on some specific geographic region of Upper Mesopotamia. This period denotes a higher use of ceramics than with the pre-proto-Hassuna period. The site of Umm Dabaghiyah ( de:Umm Dabaghiyah-Sotto-Kultur ), in
238-458: The same area of Iraq, is believed to have the earliest pottery in this region, and is sometimes described as a 'Proto-Hassuna culture' site. Other related sites in the area are Sotto and Yarim Tepe I, having 585 recorded ceramic fragments. They were found by archaeologist A.A. Bobrinsky. Another pre-Hassuna or proto-Hassuna site in Iraq is Tell Maghzaliyah . Yet another site with proto-Hassuna pottery
255-439: The tholos plan. The cultural level is 7 m deep, and it consists of ten structural horizons. The bones of both domestic and wild animals were found, among them the bones of sheep, ox, goats, and pigs. Ceramic figured vessels in the shape of elephants and women were found among other pottery. Some ceramic containers have pictures of fish, birds, gazelles and other animals on them. Some pendant seals were also discovered, including
272-432: Was already quite common at Yarim Tepe; as many as 21 examples of worked copper or copper ore were found in the lower levels of the settlement. Even more remarkably, the earliest use of lead is also documented. "The earliest lead (Pb) finds in the ancient Near East are a 6th millennium BC bangle from Yarim Tepe in northern Iraq and a slightly later conical lead piece from Halaf period Arpachiyah , near Mosul. As native lead
289-577: Was placed related to belief in afterlife. The relationship of Hassuna pottery to that of Jericho suggests that village culture was becoming widespread. More recently, the concept of a very early 'Pre-Proto-Hassuna' pottery tradition has been introduced by some scholars. This has been prompted by more recent discoveries of still earlier pottery traditions. Pre-Proto-Hassuna refers to the Late Neolithic period in Upper Mesopotamia when
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