YARIM
TEPE
![](640px-Neolitico_ceramico,_calcolitico_e_bronzo_antico_nel_Vicino_Oriente.jpg)
Yarim
Tepe on the map of the Middle East during Chalcolithic age (centre)
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.
The
settlement was investigated between 1969 and 1976, and later by
the Soviet archaeological expedition under the leadership of Rauf
Munchaev and Nikolai Merpert.
Yarim
Tepe excavations :
![](546px-Statuette_of_a_nude_woman_form_Yarim_Tepe,_Iraq._Ubaid_period,_5000-4000_BCE._Iraq_Museum.jpg)
Statuette
of a nude woman form Yarim Tepe, Iraq. Ubaid period, 5000-4000 BCE.
Iraq Museum
Yarim Tepe I :
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 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 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 :
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 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 a very old copper
seal.
The
burial customs included cremations, and the burials of skulls.
Yarim
Tepe III :
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 the Arpachiyah levels TT-6 to TT-8, and Tepe Gawra
levels XVIII-XX. Three stone seal-pendants have also been found.
Metallurgy
:
Metal 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 is extremely rare, such artifacts raise the possibility
that lead smelting may have begun even before copper smelting."
Kul
Tepe (Iraq) :
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.
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Yarim_Tepe