Village on the Euphrates From Foraging to Farming at Abu Hureyra

by Moore, A. M. T.; Hillman, G. C.; Legge, A. J.

• ISBN13: 9780195108064
• ISBN10: 019510806X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-11-16
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Tel Abu Hureyra, a settlement by the Euphrates River in Syria, was excavated in 1972-73 by an international team of archaeologists that included the authors of the book and scientists from English, American, and Australian universities. The excavation uncovered two successive villages: in the first village ( c. 11,500-10,000 BP), inhabitants foraged vegetation and hunted local wildlife, the Persian gazelle, in particular. In the second village ( c. 9700-7000 BP), inhabitants employed a more sophisticated method of food production, the cultivation of grain crops and the pasturing of sheep, goats, cattle, and pigs. Documented first hand in this book, these findings capture the transition in human history from the hunting-and-gathering to the farming way of life.

Author Biography

About the Authors

A. M. T. Moore is Associate Dean for the Social Sciences in the Graduate School at Yale University.

G. C. Hillman is Reader in the Archaeology Department at the University of London.

A. J. Legge is Director at the Centre for Extramural Studies and Reader in the Archaeology Department at Birkbeck College, University of London.

Table of Contents

PART I THE INCEPTION OF THE EXCAVATION
The Themes of the Research	3	(16)
The Potential of the Site	3	(3)
The Archaeological Context	6	(5)
The Problem of Agricultural Genesis	11	(3)
Theories of Agricultural Development	14	(5)
Beginning Work	19	(24)
The Salvage Campaign	19	(4)
Selection of Abu Hureyra	23	(5)
Location of Abu Hureyra	28	(5)
Excavation Strategy	33	(5)
Analysis of the Results	38	(5)
The Setting	43	(52)
The Geographical Background	43	(6)
The Potential Vegetation under Modern Climatic Conditions	49	(24)
Environment in the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene	73	(12)
The Presence in Historical Times of the Large Vertebrates Found at Abu Hureyra	85	(4)
Species of the Region Apparently Absent from Abu Hureyra	89	(6)
PART II THE SETTLEMENT OF ABU HUREYRA 1
Methods of Excavation at Abu Hureyra	95	(10)
Nature of the Deposits	95	(1)
Excavation and Recording	96	(6)
Interpretation	102	(1)
Chronology	103	(2)
The Excavation of Abu Hureyra 1	105	(28)
A. M. T. Moore
Excavation of Trench E	105	(7)
The Sequence of Occupation	112	(14)
The Chronology of Abu Hureyra 1	126	(7)
The Chipped Stone and Bone Artifacts	133	(32)
The Chipped Stone	133	(1)
D. I. Olszewski
Description of the Chipped Stone Assemblage	134	(8)
Temporal Changes in Chipped Stone	142	(1)
Chipped Stone Tool Frequencies: Changes and Interpretations	143	(6)
Abu Hureyra 1 and the Middle Euphrates	149	(3)
Abu Hureyra 1 and the Levant	152	(1)
Summary	153	(1)
The Bone Artifacts	154	(1)
S. L. Olsen
Methods	154	(2)
Manufacturing Techniques for the Bone Artifacts	156	(2)
The Bone Artifact Types	158	(4)
Conclusions	162	(3)
Stone and Other Artifacts	165	(24)
A. M. T. Moore
Raw Materials	165	(1)
Types of Artifacts	165	(12)
Commentary	177	(3)
The Culture of Abu Hureyra 1	180	(5)
Summary	185	(4)
PART III THE VILLAGE OF ABU HUREYRA 2
The Excavation of Abu Hureyra 2	189	(72)
A. M. T. Moore
Trench B	189	(20)
Trench D	209	(12)
Trench E	221	(19)
Trench G	240	(11)
The Occupation Sequence and Chronology of Abu Hureyra 2	251	(10)
The Buildings and Layout of Abu Hureyra 2	261	(16)
A. M. T. Moore
The Buildings	261	(6)
Layout of the Village	267	(2)
Growth of the Village	269	(4)
The Number of Inhabitants	273	(4)
Disposal of the Dead	277	(24)
A. M. T. Moore.
T. I. Molleson
Burial Practices in Abu Hureyra 1	277	(1)
The Burials of Abu Hureyra 2	278	(18)
The Burials of Historic Age	296	(5)
The People of Abu Hureyra	301	(26)
T. I. Molleson
The People of Abu Hureyra	304	(2)
The Juveniles	306	(1)
Diet	307	(2)
Labor and Role Specialization	309	(7)
Health	316	(2)
Affinities	318	(1)
Demographic Trends in Abu Hureyra 2	319	(2)
Social Organization at Abu Hureyra	321	(6)
PART IV THE ECONOMY OF THE TWO SETTLEMENTS AT ABU HUREYRA
The Plant Food Economy of Abu Hureyra 1 and 2	327	(96)
Abu Hureyra 1: The Epipalaeolithic	327	(1)
G. C. Hillman
Vegetation at the Start of Epipalaeolithic Occupation c. 11,500 BP	327	(7)
Food Plants and Fuels in the Abu Hureyra Area c. 11,500 BP	334	(5)
Problems of Identifying the Remains of Seeds and Fruits	339	(10)
Nutritional Qualities of Major Wild Food Plants and How They were Harvested, Processed, and Prepared	349	(17)
The Role of Plant Foods not Found in the Remains but Likely to Have Been Used by the People of Abu Hureyra 1A	366	(3)
Dietary Diversity and Nutrition at 11,500 BP: The Plant Components	369	(6)
Changes in Availability of Plant Food Resources and Diet during the Epipalaeolithic	375	(1)
Evidence for Cereal Cultivation during the Epipalaeolithic	376	(21)
Summary: The Plant Components of Subsistence during the Epipalaeolithic	397	(1)
Plant Remains from the Intermediate Period	398	(1)
Abu Hureyra 2: Plant Remains from the Neolithic	399	(1)
D. de Moulins
Composition of the Plant Remains	399	(16)
Comparison with the Plant Remains from Abu Hureyra 1	415	(5)
Overview: The Plant-Based Components of Subsistence in Abu Hureyra 1 and 2	416	(4)
G. C. Hillman
Conclusions	420	(3)
The Exploitation of Animals	423	(52)
A. J. Legge
P. A. Rowley-Conwy
Mammal Species found at Abu Hureyra	423	(6)
The Faunal Sequence at Abu Hureyra	429	(6)
Gazelle and Onager Hunting at Abu Hureyra: The Evidence for the Technique Employed	435	(15)
The Preservation of Meat	450	(2)
Bone Representation in Hunted and Domestic Mammals	452	(3)
The Evidence for Early Mammal Domestication in Southwest Asia	455	(20)
PART V THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ABU HUREYRA
The Development of Abu Hureyra	475	(36)
The Favorable Setting	475	(2)
Abu Hureyra 1, c. 11,500-10,000 BP	477	(15)
The Intermediate Period, c. 10,000-9,400 BP	492	(1)
Abu Hureyra 2, c. 9,400-7,000 BP	493	(14)
Abu Hureyra 3	507	(1)
An Integrated Interpretation	507	(2)
The Import of the Record	509	(2)
Abu Hureyra and the Beginning of Agriculture	511	(16)
The World of Abu Hureyra 1	511	(6)
The Transition from Epipalaeolithic to Neolithic	517	(3)
The Consequences of the Adoption of Agriculture	520	(3)
The Significance of the Research	523	(4)
Appendices	527	(22)
Radiocarbon and Thermoluminescence Dates	527	(3)
Thermoluminescence Dating of Sherds from Abu Hureyra 2	530	(1)
J. Huxtable
Key to Sections and Plans	530	(2)
Pottery and Plaster Analysis	532	(1)
M. Le Miere
The Human Remains	533	(11)
T. I. Molleson
Analysis of Charcoal from Abu Hureyra 1	544	(3)
V. Roitel
G. Willcox
Location of the Material Recovered from the Excavation	547	(1)
Data Tables	547	(2)
Notes	549	(6)
References	555	(20)
Index	575