Mureybet

Coordinates: 36°02′36″N 38°07′43″E / 36.0434°N 38.1287°E / 36.0434; 38.1287
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Mureybet
مريبط
Mureybet is located in Near East
Mureybet
Shown within Near East
Mureybet is located in Syria
Mureybet
Mureybet (Syria)
LocationSyria
RegionRaqqa Governorate
Coordinates36°02′36″N 38°07′43″E / 36.0434°N 38.1287°E / 36.0434; 38.1287
Typesettlement
Width75 m (246 ft)
Height6 m (20 ft)
History
Founded10,200 BC
Abandoned8,000 BC
PeriodsNatufian, Pre-Pottery Neolithic A, Pre-Pottery Neolithic B
Site notes
Excavation dates1964, 1965, 1971–1974
ArchaeologistsM. N. van Loon, J. Cauvin
Conditionflooded by Lake Assad
Public accessno

Mureybet (

Arabic: مريبط, romanizedmuraybaṭ, lit.'covered') is a tell, or ancient settlement mound, located on the west bank of the Euphrates in Raqqa Governorate, northern Syria. The site was excavated between 1964 and 1974 and has since disappeared under the rising waters of Lake Assad. Mureybet was occupied between 10,200 and 8,000 BC and is the eponymous type site for the Mureybetian culture, a subdivision of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA). In its early stages, Mureybet was a small village occupied by hunter-gatherers. Hunting was important and crops were first gathered and later cultivated, but they remained wild. During its final stages, domesticated
animals were also present at the site.

History of research

The first archaeological investigation of the site was carried out in 1964. In that year, the site was noted during an

Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) directed by Jacques Cauvin.[2] All excavations were part of the larger international – and eventually UNESCO-coordinated – effort to investigate as many archaeological sites as possible in the area that would be flooded by Lake Assad, the reservoir of the Tabqa Dam, which was being built at that time.[3] The filling of Lake Assad eventually led to the flooding of Mureybet in 1976.[4] Although the site is now submerged and no longer accessible, the material that has been retrieved during the excavations continues to generate new research.[5][6][7] This material is currently stored at the National Museum of Aleppo and the Antenne d'Archéorient de Jalès in Berrias-Casteljau in France.[8]

Mureybet and its environment

Mureybet was at the northern end of the area of Natufian culture (12,000 to 9,500 BC), not far from Tell Abu Hureyra.

Mureybet is located in modern-day Raqqa Governorate in northern Syria. It is situated on an elongated ridge that is c. 4 metres (13 ft) above the river terrace of the Euphrates, which flowed directly west of the site before the valley was flooded. Mureybet is a tell, or ancient settlement mound, measuring 75 metres (246 ft) in diameter and 6 metres (20 ft) high.[1]

Climate and environment of Mureybet during the time of its occupation were very different from the modern situation. When Mureybet became occupied around 10,200 BC, climate was slightly colder and more humid than today, an effect of the onset of the

terebinths, almonds and wild cereals.[9]

Occupation history

The excavations have revealed four occupation phases I–IV, ranging from the

equids and fishing was also important. They had dogs, evidence for which is indirect at Mureybet but bones of which have been identified at nearby and contemporary Tell Abu Hureyra.[10]

Phases IB, IIA and IIB (9,700–9,300 BC) make up the

Khiamian, a poorly understood and sometimes disputed sub-phase straddling the transition from the Natufian to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA). Mureybet is the only site where Khiamian deposits are associated with architectural remains. The oldest of these remains date to phase IB and consist of a round semi-subterranean structure with a diameter of 6 metres (20 ft). In the subsequent phases, slightly smaller round houses built at ground level also appeared, at least some of which were used simultaneously. The walls were built from compacted earth, sometimes reinforced with stones. Hearths and cooking pits were located outside the buildings. Harvested crops included barley, rye and Polygonum. Sickle blades and grinding stones are more common and show more use-wear, indicating that cereals became a more important component in the diet. The fauna at Mureybet changed significantly during phase IIB. Gazelle makes up 70% of the assemblage and small animals decrease in importance, although fish remained important. Toward the end of the Khiamian, equid hunting gained importance at the expense of gazelle.[11]

Area of the Fertile Crescent, circa 7500 BC, with main sites of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period. Only northwestern and northern Mesopotamia were occupied, and central and southern Mesopotamia, with insufficient natural rainfall, were not yet settled by humans.

Phases IIIA and IIIB (9,300–8,600 BC) represent the Mureybetian, a subphase of the PPNA that was named after Mureybet and is found in the area of the Middle Euphrates. Architecture diversified, with rectangular, multi-cellular buildings appearing next to the round buildings that were already known from the previous phases. Walls were built from cigar-shaped stones that were created by percussion and that were covered with earth. Semi-subterranean structures also continued to be used and they are compared to similar structures found at nearby and contemporary

writing for record keeping evolved from a system of counting using small clay tokens. The earliest use of small clay tokens for counting were found in phase III. It coincided with a period of explosive rapid growth of the use of cereals in the Near East.[13]

The last occupation phases, IVA (8,600–8,200 BC) and IVB (8,200–8,000 BC) date to the Early and Middle PPNB, respectively. No architecture has been encountered in phase IVA. No domesticated cereals were found, but this may be an effect of very small archaeobotanical sample that was retrieved from these phases. Hunting focused on equids, followed by aurochs. It could not be determined whether any domesticated animals were exploited in Mureybet. Mud-built walls of rectangular structures were uncovered in phase IVB. Domesticated sheep and goat were exploited in this period, and domesticated cattle may also have been present.[14]

Material culture

The excavation of Mureybet has produced an abundance of lithic material. During all periods, flint was the main raw material from which tools were made. It was procured from local sources. Obsidian was much less common. Natufian tools include points, burins, scrapers, borers and herminettes, a kind of tool that was primarily used for woodwork.[10] Flint arrowheads appeared in the Khiamian period. Other stone tools included burins, end-scrapers and borers.[11] Mureybetian stone tools included Mureybet arrowheads, scrapers and burins, while borers were much less common.[12] During the PPNB phase, Byblos arrowheads replaced the Mureybetian types, and other technological improvements were also introduced.[14]

Apart from the lithics, other artefact categories were also present in Mureybet in smaller quantities. Personal ornaments in the Natufian period consisted of pierced

shells and small stone and shell discs. Only a few bone tools were found.[10] During the Khiamian, bone was used for needles, awls and axe sheaths. Beads were made from stone, freshwater shells and bone. Among the three figurines from this phase was one with clear anthropomorphic characteristics.[11] The Mureybetian bone tool assemblage closely resembled its Khiamian predecessor. The presence of baskets at Mureybet has been inferred from use-wear analysis on flint and bone tools. Other artifact categories include limestone vessels, stone querns, beads, pendants, including one from ivory and eight anthropomorphic figurines made from limestone and baked earth. Seven of these figurines could be identified as women.[12]

See also

References

Bibliography