Hallan Çemi
Fertile crescent ; Hallan Çemi is at the far north. | |
Alternative name |
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Location | Batman Province, Turkey |
Coordinates | 38°13′27″N 41°14′30″E / 38.22417°N 41.24167°E |
History | |
Founded | c. 9700 BCE |
Abandoned | c. 9270 BCE |
Periods | Neolithic |
Cultures | Pre-Pottery Neolithic A |
Site notes | |
Archaeologists | Michael Rosenberg |
Ownership | Private |
Designation | 960-1 |
Hallan Çemi is a
Excavations
It was discovered in 1990 during the surveys carried out by Michael Rosenberg and H. Togul in the water collection area while the
The primary aim of the excavations was to obtain sufficient information about the livelihood economies of the residents.[3]
Architecture
Excavations results of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A dated [4] at least four stages in the placement structure is identified. However, excavations were made enough to reveal architectural remains in the top three building phases.[5]
It is thought that there is a natural pit, one meter in diameter, that hut-style houses were built around. The pit was likely used as a garbage dump as evidenced by animal bones and stone fragments were found inside of it. It is understood that this pit, which is used in all three building levels, has a hut-style structure. In addition, the presence of three sheep skulls with their horns suggested that this pit was "multi-functional".[2]
The architecture of all three building levels is different. Sandstone blocks were used in the first building level. The two circular structures unearthed during the excavations are 5–6 meters in diameter and their tops are knitted with branches.[2] The entrance part of the buildings was left open and a second wall was built here in the form of a semicircle. A door opening is left on this wall. Between these two walls, the widest one is 1 meter at the front. The buildings were built by excavating the soil and half buried. The walls are up to one meter of stone and it is understood that the top was built using the knitting technique. In stone masonry walls, there are vertical grooves 10 centimeters in width.[2] It is thought that the buttresses and reed-reed bundles forming the roof were plastered with mud. [6]
In the middle of both buildings, three tap blocks and a U-shaped hearth were built.[2] It is understood that the two buildings in question are not for residential purposes, but for general use by the community.[7]
In the second building level, stones collected from the nearby Sason Stream were used. However, two round structures can be seen here as well, but they are smaller and there is no second wall in front. The floors, on the other hand, were formed by carefully placed sandstone blocks. [2] River stones were used in the third building level. In this building level, there are U-shaped structures, whose floors are not stone-paved and whose function is unknown, seen in the other two building levels. [2]
Although there are very few pottery found on the southern skirts of the hill, it is not possible to talk about the Pottery Neolithic settlement in the light of the findings.[2]
Archaeological finds
About 60% of the chipped stone tools and wastes found in the settlement are obsidian, the closest obsidian source is Nemrut Mountain at a distance of three days (100 km). In addition, goat and pig-headed pestles carved from stone were found. Stone beads are the finds from the ornaments of the people living in the settlement. Stone vessels carved from limestone are abundant even on the surface.[2] It is stated that the Çayönü settlement bears similarities with such finds from the late layers.[8] They are thin-walled, flat bottomed, almost vertical profiled bowls or deep bowls. The outer cedars are mostly carved with geometric decorations in the form of zigzag, cross lines and wavy lines. Descriptions of nature are also seen. In one of these, there is a very schematic depiction of three dogs or wolves walking in a row.[2]
Animal bones collected during the excavations amount to 2 tons, mostly belonging to mammals. 36% of these belong to sheep, 7% to goats, for a total of 43%; 27%
The heads of excavation, Michel Rosenberg and Dr. Richard Redding,[13] published a series of articles and suggested that Hallan Çemi residents used a kind of pig farming known as the "New Guinea Model" after its practicing today in New Guinea.[14][15] According to this model, sows were handled and allowed to mate with wild boars. Of the resulting offspring, the males were killed and eaten at a certain age along with some females, while other females were fed to be bred later.[15]
More than 130 freshwater oyster shells have been collected in excavations. The growth lines of 63 of the shells have reached the present day as strong enough to be examined. 16% of these finds were removed from the water during the slow growing season, summer; 43% were collected before the high-growth period, early or mid-autumn; 19% during the full rapid-growth period in late autumn and winter; and 16% at the end of the fast-growing period in spring. This ranging across seasons is evidence that the Hallan Çemi settlement is not a seasonal settlement but a permanent one.[13]
Evaluation
It is a small settlement with no building density.[16][17] It is approximately 1.5 acres in area.[18]
Although they lead a settled life, Hallan Çemi's livelihood is hunter-gatherer . The diets of these resident hunter-gatherers are predominantly based on nuts, legumes and a variety of game animals.[16] Especially the consumption of nuts was highlighted.[11] Therefore, it is seen as a community that has not yet started agriculture. Except for the pig, he is also on the verge of domestication, there is no evidence that the animal was domesticated.[4][16][19]
The plant remains uncovered give an idea about the plants collected. There is no evidence of wild or cultivated cereals. In the chipped stone industry of the settlement, no finds are found in the style used to make sickle knives. Commonly collected wild plants are
However, dating with new findings in 1993 is made to roughly 11.700 - 11.270 years before the present day of the settlement.
There are various approaches to the dating of the settlement and discussions based on these. The head of the excavation considers Epipalaeolithic ends [23] and Pottery Neolithic heads,[4] although they are adjacent to each other .[24]
References
- ^ Peasnall, Brian L. (2002). "Intricacies of Hallan Çemi". Penn Museum. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j TAY – Yerleşme Dönem Ayrıntıları
- ^ Brian L. Peasnall, Intricacies of Hallan Cemi
- ^ a b c "Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı" (PDF). 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-09-12. Cilt 1 (1993), Sh.: 126
- ^ M. Rosenberg - R. W. Redding, Sh.: 40
- ^ 16. Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı (1994), Sh.: 125
- ^ 17. Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı (1995) Cilt 1 Sh.: 10
- ^ Starkovich - Stiner, Sh.: 47
- ^ a b c Michael Rosenberg, Hallan Çemi Tepesi: Some Preliminary Observations Concerning Early Neolithic Subsistence Behaviors in Eastern Anatolia Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine (2002), Sh.: 5
- ^ M. Rosenberg - R. W. Redding, Sh.: 42
- ^ a b 17. Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı, Sh.: 12
- ^ Rosenberg, Sh.: 8
- ^ a b 16. Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı, Sh.: 83
- ^ A new system for computing dentition-based age profiles in Sus scrofa Archived 6 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine (2014), Sh.: 187
- ^ a b Ximena Lemoine, Pig Exploitation at Hallan Çemi, Southeastern Anatolia: Proposing an Alternative Model Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c M. Rosenberg - R. W. Redding, Hallan Chemi and Early Village Organization in Eastern Anatolia Sh.: 40
- ^ M. Rosenberg - R. W. Redding, Hallan Chemi and Early Village Organization in Eastern Anatolia Sh.: 40
- ^ Erica Hughes, Absolute and Relative Dating of Hallan Çemi Tepesi Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine (2007), Sh.: 2
- ^ Rosenberg, Sh.: 3
- ^ 15. Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı Sh.: 125-126
- ^ a b Rosenberg, Sh.: 4
- ^ a b B. M. Starkovich - M. C. Stiner (2009), Hallan Çemi Tepesi Sh.: 46
- doi:10.3406/paleo.1998.4667. Archived from the originalon 2014-06-01. Sh.: 27
- ^ Erica Hughes, Sh.: 1