Mapping Minerals, Charting Community: a Petrographic Study of Dalma Ware in the Chalcolithic Near East
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Savanna Buehlman-Barbeau for the degree of Master of Science in Applied Anthropology presented on September 11, 2020. Title: Mapping Minerals, Charting Community: A Petrographic Study of Dalma Ware in the Chalcolithic Near East Abstract approved: ______________________________________________________ Leah Minc The recent recovery of Dalma Ware at the archaeological site of Surezha, Northern Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraqi-Kurdistan), has raised questions regarding the method of its arrival in the region (Stein 2017; Stein & Fisher 2018). In order to assess Dalma Ware’s potential modes of dispersal into Northern Mesopotamia, ceramic petrography and paste analysis was used to identify communities of practice among the local and Dalma ceramics from Surezha, as well as the Dalma assemblage from Dalma Ware’s type-site, Dalma Tepe (modern-day NW Iran). Comparison between the Dalma Ware from Surezha and Dalma Tepe revealed a similar chaîne opératoire of ceramic production, despite results of their contrasting origins of geologic provenance (Minc & Buehlman-Barbeau 2020). However, the Dalma assemblage from Surezha also had distinct differences with the assemblage from Dalma Tepe, including a lower average amount of mineral inclusions per ceramic sample, and larger organic inclusions. Overall, the Dalma Ware at Surezha displayed significant similarities to Surezha’s local wares in addition to its resemblance to the community of practice found at Dalma Tepe. The petrographic and paste results from the ceramics at Surezha and Dalma Tepe were compared with expectations for four possible modes of dispersal to explain the presence of Dalma Ware at Surezha: trade, pastoralism, itinerant specialists, and displacement (i.e., exogamy, migration), and suggest that more than one mode may have been operative. Regardless, the recovery of Dalma Ware at Surezha is highly suggestive of Northern Mesopotamia’s connections with communities in Western Iran during the late 5th millennium BCE. ©Copyright by Savanna Buehlman-Barbeau September 11, 2020 All Rights Reserved. MAPPING MINERALS, CHARTING COMMUNITY: A PETROGRAPHIC STUDY OF DALMA WARE IN THE CHALCOLITHIC NEAR EAST by Savanna Buehlman-Barbeau A THESIS submitted to Oregon State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Presented September 11, 2020 Commencement June 2021 Master of Science thesis of Savanna Buehlman-Barbeau presented on September 11, 2020 APPROVED: Major Professor, representing Applied Anthropology Director of the School of Language, Culture, and Society Dean of the Graduate School I understand that my thesis will become part of the permanent collection of Oregon State University libraries. My signature below authorizes release of my thesis to any reader upon request. Savanna Buehlman-Barbeau, Author ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I give my utmost gratitude and appreciation to my advisor, Dr. Leah Minc, whose knowledge, patience, and kindness I could not have done this without. Dr. Minc, thank you for bringing me into the wonderful world of petrography, INAA, and ceramic analysis. I cannot express enough how grateful I am for the opportunities you have given me, and your persistent support in these past two years. Your work as an archaeologist and researcher continues to inspire me, and I will carry all that you have taught me for the rest of my archaeological career. I would next like to express my deep appreciation for Dr. Gil Stein. As someone who very much has had a fascination with Mesopotamian archaeology from a young age, I am both honored and awestruck to have the opportunity to contribute to a project as incredible as this, with a scholar whose work I have followed since I was a kid. Dr. Stein, I can’t thank you enough for all your generosity and support. My sincere thanks also go out to Dr. John Alden, whose expertise I could not have done without, and the entire team at Surezha. I extend my appreciation and thanks to the Penn Museum, through which I was able to analyze the Dalma Ware from Dalma Tepe, and to the Erbil Civilization Museum, which graciously allowed the analysis of ceramics from Surezha. Without the archaeologists, curators, and staff at these institutions, this thesis would not have been possible. I am likewise grateful to Oregon State University’s Anthropology Department, for the generous grant award which greatly helped in funding the necessary expenses of this project, and to my graduate committee, for their patience and support. I would also like to extend my gratitude to my maternal grandparents for their everlasting support, and the many, many trips we took to the UW Geology Museum together. Of course, to my paternal grandparents, I owe thanks for supplying me with archaeology books, which stand as a small tower on my bookcase. Finally, my deepest appreciation is for my parents, who inspired my love of science through their adoration of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, and for my sister, who I can always count on to share my passion for stories and the unknown. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I: A Tale of Two Sites: Introduction...…………….…………………… 1 CHAPTER II: A Brief History of Study…………………………..………………… 6 Regional Outlooks: Summary of Iraqi Kurdistan and NW Iran………... …. 8 Iraqi Kurdistan: The Erbil Plain…………………………………….. 8 Archaeology of Surezha………………………………….…………. 9 Northwest Iran: The Ushnu-Solduz Valley…………….….……….. 11 Archaeology of Dalma Tepe……………………………………..… 12 Introduction to Dalma Ware……………...………………...………………. 13 Theory of Dalma Dispersal…………………………………………………...18 Theory of Dispersal: Trade……………………………………….… 19 Theory of Dispersal: Pastoralism………………………………….... 23 Theory of Dispersal: Itinerant Specialists…………………………... 28 Theory of Dispersal: Displacement …………...……………………. 32 Research Questions and Aims………………………………………………. 35 CHAPTER III: Theory and Application ………………………………………...……37 Community of Practice Theory ..………………………………………….… 37 Method: Understanding the Community of Dalma Practice ……….……….. 41 Community of Practice and Mechanisms of Dispersal ………………….….. 43 In Theory: Trade ..………………………..……………………….… 43 In Theory: Pastoralism ………………………………………..…….. 45 In Theory: Itinerant Specialists ...……………..…………………….. 48 In Theory: Displacement ……………………………..……………... 51 CHAPTER IV: Method of Study …..………………………………………………… 55 The Data…………………………………………………………………….... 56 Sample Selection………………………………………………….………….. 58 Paste Analysis…………………………...……..……………………………... 59 Dalma Tepe: Paste Analysis……………………………………………59 Surezha: Paste Analysis…………………………………………….…. 64 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Page Petrographic Analysis………………………………………………..…….. 71 Dalma Tepe: Petrographic Analysis……………………………….. 75 Surezha: Petrographic Analysis……………………………………. 80 Dalma Tepe: Provenance Assessment…………………………………..…. 86 Surezha: Provenance Assessment…………………..………………..…….. 90 Summary of Analysis……………………………………..………………... 93 CHAPTER V: Summary and Discussion.………...…….……………………………96 Summary of Results……………………………………….………..……….. 96 Discussion of Results……………………………………………...………… 99 In Theory: Trade………………………………….…………………..101 In Theory: Pastoralism……………………………………….……….102 In Theory: Itinerant Specialists………………….……………………103 In Theory: Displacement……………………………….……………..104 Dalma Ware: Study Summary……………………………………………..… 105 Limitations of Study…………………………………………………………. 107 The Study of Dalma Ware Going Forward………………………………….. 108 BIBLIOGRAPHY ….…………………...……….………………………….…….….111 APPENDICES ………………………………………………………………..………127 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 2.1 Map of Study Area……………………………………...……………………….10 2.2 Geographic Map of Dalma Extent……...……………………………………….14 2.3 Map of Local Obsidian Sources in the Chalcolithic…………………………….22 4.1 Dalma Tepe: Dalma Painted…………………………………………………….60 4.2 Dalma Tepe: Dalma Impressed………………………………………………….61 4.3 Dalma Ware: Inclusion Sorting…………………………………………………62 4.4 Dalma Ware: Inclusion Amount …….………………………………………….63 4.5 Dalma Ware: Grain Shape..……………………………………………………..63 4.6 Surezha: Dalma Painted…………..……………………………………………..64 4.7 Surezha: Dalma Impressed……………………………………………………...65 4.8 Surezha: Local Wares……………………………….…………………………..66 4.9 Dalma Ware and Local Wares: Inclusion Sorting..……………………………..67 4.10 Dalma Ware and Local Wares: Inclusion Amount…………………………….67 4.11 Dalma Ware and Local Wares: Grain Shape…………………………………..68 4.12 Dalma Tepe and Surezha: Grain Form Factor….…………………….………..76 4.13 Dalma Tepe-1 Petrographic Images………………………….………………...77 4.14 Dalma Tepe-2 Petrographic Images…………………………………………....78 4.15 Surezha-1 Petrographic Images………………………………………………..82 4.16 Surezha-2 Petrographic Images………………………………………………..83 4.17 Geologic Map of NW Iran...……………………….…………………………..87 4.18 Geologic Map of the Erbil Plain………………….……………………………90 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 2.1 Regional Chronology During the Chalcolithic…………………………... 7 3.1 Expectations of Community of Ceramic Practice and Dispersal…………. 54 4.1 Total Sample Selection from Surezha and Dalma Tepe..……………….... 58 4.2 Chi-Square Test of Independence as Assessed by Ware and Type ……….69 4.3 Sample Selection: Petrographic Thin Section ..…………………………....72 4.4 Wentworth Grain Size …………………….……………………………….74 4.5 Mineralogical Composition: Dalma Tepe-1 and Dalma Tepe-2………….. 77 4.6 Mineral and Void Percentage of Dalma Ware at Dalma Tepe………….… 79 4.7 Mineralogical Composition: Surezha-1 and Surezha-2 ………………….. 81 4.8 Mineral and Void Percentage of Surezha-1 Ceramics……………….…….85 4.9 Mineral and Void Percentage of Surezha-2 Ceramics ..……………………86 4.10 Average Inclusion Amounts of Surezha Dalma and Local Wares …..…….86 5.1 Regional