JARMO
![](jarmo.jpg)
Jarmo
shown Near East
![](640px-Jarmo.jpg)
The
Neolithic village of Jarmo in Iraq, 1954
Alternative
name :
Charmo
Location
: Chamchamal,
Iraqi Kurdistan
Region
: Mesopotamia
Coordinates
: 35°32'56
N 44°57'1 E
Type
: Settlement
Area
: 12,000
to 16,000 m2 (170,000 sq ft)
History
:
Founded
:
Approximately 7500 BC
Abandoned
:
Approximately 5000 BC
Periods
: Neolithic
Management
: Kurdistan
Regional Government
Jarmo
(Qal'at Jarmo) (Kurdish: Çermo) is a prehistoric archeological
site located in modern Iraq on the foothills of the Zagros Mountains.
It lies at an altitude of 800 m above sea-level in a belt of oak
and pistachio woodlands in the Adhaim River watershed. Excavations
revealed that Jarmo was an agricultural community dating back to
7090 BC. It was broadly contemporary with such other important Neolithic
sites such as Jericho in the southern Levant and Çatal Hüyük
in Anatolia.
Discovery
and excavation :
The site was originally discovered by the Iraqi Directorate of Antiquities
in 1940, and later became known to archaeologist Robert Braidwood
from the University of Chicago Oriental Institute. At the time,
he was looking for suitable places to research the origins of the
Neolithic Revolution. Braidwood worked as part of the Iraq-Jarmo
programme for three seasons, those of 1948, 1950–51 and 1954–55;
a fourth campaign, to be carried out in 1958–59 did not come
about because of the 14 July Revolution. During the excavations
in Jarmo in 1954–55, Braidwood used a multidisciplinary approach
for the first time, in an attempt to refine the research methods
and clarify the origin of the domestication of plants and animals.
Among his team were a geologist, Herbert Wright, a palaeo-botanist,
Hans Helbaek, an expert in pottery and radio-carbon dating, Frederic
Mason, and a zoologist, Charles Reed, as well as a number of archaeologists.
The interdisciplinary method was subsequently used in all serious
field work in archaeology.
Jarmo,
the village :
![](640px-thumbnail.jpg)
Personal
adornments from Jarmo – University of Chicago Oriental Institute
![](640px-Fertile_crescent_Neolithic_B_circa_7500_BC.jpg)
Area
of the fertile crescent, circa 7500 BC, with main sites. Jarmo is
one of the important sites of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period.
The area of Mesopotamia proper was not yet settled by humans
The excavations exposed a small village, covering an area of 12,000
to 16,000 m², and which has been dated (by carbon-14) to 7090
BC, for the oldest levels, to 4950 BC for the most recent. The entire
site consists of twelve levels. Jarmo appears to be two older, permanent
Neolithic settlements and, approximately, contemporary with Jericho
or the Neolithic stage of Shanidar. The high point is likely to
have been between 6,200 and 5,800 BC. This small village consisted
of some twenty five houses, with adobe walls and sun-dried mud roofs,
which rested on stone foundations, with a simple floor plan dug
from the earth. These dwellings were frequently repaired or rebuilt.
In all, about 150 people lived in the village, which was clearly
a permanent settlement. In the earlier phases there is a preponderance
of objects made from stone, silex—using older styles—and
obsidian. The use of this latter material, obtained from the area
of Lake Van, 200 miles away, suggests that some form of organized
trade already existed, as does the presence of ornamental shells
from the Persian Gulf. In the oldest level baskets have been found,
waterproofed with pitch, which is readily available in the area.
Agriculture
and cattle farming :
Agricultural activity is attested by the presence of stone sickles,
cutters, bowls and other objects, for harvesting, preparing and
storing food, and also by receptacles of engraved marble. In the
later phases instruments made of bone, particularly perforating
tools, buttons and spoons, have been found. Further research has
shown that the villagers of Jarmo grew wheat of two types, emmer
and einkorn, a type of primitive barley and lentils (it is common
to record the domestication of grains, less so of pulses). Their
diet, and that of their animals, also included species of wild plant,
peas, acorns, carob seeds, pistachios and wild wheat. Snail shells
are also abundant. There is evidence that they had domesticated
goats, sheep and dogs. On the higher levels of the site pigs have
been found, together with the first evidence of pottery.
Pottery
and religion :
Jarmo is one of the oldest sites at which pottery has been found,
appearing in the most recent levels of excavation, which dates it
to the 7th millennium BC. This pottery is handmade, of simple design
and with thick sides, and treated with a vegetable solvent. There
are clay figures, zoomorphic or anthropomorphic, including figures
of pregnant women which are taken to be fertility goddesses, similar
to the Mother Goddess of later Neolithic cultures in the same region.
These constitute the inception of the Art of Mesopotamia.
Gallery
:
![](Jarmo_(Qal%27at_Jarmo),_late_8th_century_BCE_to_late_6th_century_BCE._Sulaymaniyah,_Iraq,_March_2021._Aftermaths_of_1948-1955_excavations_conducted_by_the_Oriental_In.jpg)
Jarmo,
March 2021. Remains of the 1948 - 1955 excavations conducted by
the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
![](Jarmo_(Qal%27at_Jarmo),_late_8th_century_BCE_to_late_6th_century_BCE._Sulaymaniyah,_Iraq._Recent_excavations_by_a_Japanese_team_were_conducted_on_the_previous_excavat.jpg)
Jarmo,
March 2021, recent excavations by a Japanese team were conducted
on the previous excavations carried out by the Oriental Institute
between 1948 - 1955
![](Jarmo_(Qal%27at_Jarmo),_late_8th_century_BCE_to_late_6th_century_BCE._Sulaymaniyah,_Iraq,_March_2021._Aftermaths_of_1948-1955_excavations_conducted_by_the_Orienta%20(1).jpg)
Jarmo,
March 2021. Remains of the 1948 - 1955 excavations conducted by
the Oriental Institute
![](525px-Fragments_of_alabaster_jars,_Jarmo_circa_7500_BC,_before_the_7000_BC_invention_of_pottery_Louvre_Museum.jpg)
Fragments
of alabaster jars, Jarmo circa 7500 BC, before the 7000 BC invention
of pottery. Louvre Museum
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Jarmo