Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of Archaeology and Museology BACHELOR’S DIPLOMA THESIS The Study of Halaf pottery from the Eastern Khabur Archaeological Survey (EHAS) in Iraqi Kurdistan Brno 2017 Beáta Baluchová Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of Archaeology and Museology Centre of Prehistoric Archaeology of the Near East Beáta Baluchová Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Mgr. Mateiciucová, Inna Ph.D. Consultant: Prof. Dr. Pfälzner, Peter Dr. Sconzo, Paola Dr. Nieuwenhuyse Olivier Brno 2017 DECLARATION I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, Using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. I agree with storing this work in the library of the Prehistoric Archaeology of the Near East At the Masaryk University in Brno and making it accessible for study purposes. Brno 30.11.2017 ............................................................. Signature Abstract/Annotation Title: The Study of Halaf pottery from the Eastern Khabur Archaeological Survey (EHAS) in Iraqi Kurdistan Author: Beáta Baluchová Department/Institute: Masaryk University, Faculty of Arts, Department of Archaeology and Museology, Centre of Prehistoric Archaeology of the Near East Supervisor: Mgr. Mateiciucová Inna Ph.D. Consultant: Prof. Dr. Pfälzner, Peter Dr. Sconzo, Paola Dr. Nieuwenhuyse Olivier The study deals with the pottery, identified as Halaf, from the autonomous area of Kurdistan in Iraq. The material, which I analysed, originates from a surface collection carried out by the team of Tuebingen University from 2013. The work in field is lead under supervision of Prof. Dr. Peter Pfälzner and Dr. Paola Sconzo. The thesis is a preliminary effort to present material and distinguish more precisely ceramic material from EHAS to the chronological order from Pre-Halaf/Proto-Hassuna, Proto-Halaf, Early Halaf, Middle Halaf, Late Halaf and Halaf-Ubaid Transitional. The Halaf pottery will be divided on ware bases according to the technological and morphological characteristics. To achieve more accurate outcomes I will compare this material with those known from continuously occupied sites, specifically at least one of sites, Tell Arpachiyah and Yarim Tepe, which are located in Iraq, and Tell Halula, Tell Sabi Abyad and Chagar Bazar, which are situated in Syria. My research focuses on a description and analysis of material obtained from three different sites, which are located in diverse areas. These zones were divided in the EHAS project according to geographical and morphological attributes. They are the Tigris valley, the eastern Tigris valley plateau and the lower Zagros chains with Khabur basin. There will also be mention the amount of so called Halaf pottery, which have been found in each zone from the beginning of project in 2013 until the campaign 2016, including. Keywords: the Late Neolithic pottery, Halaf, survey, Iraq, Kurdistan, comparison, the Tuebingen Eastern Khabur Archaeological Survey (EHAS) Abstrakt/Anotacia Názov práce: Štúdia Halafskej keramiky z Eastern Khabur Archaeological Survey (EHAS) v Iraku Autor: Beáta Baluchová Oddelenie/Inštitút: Masaryková Univerzita, Filozofická fakulta, Oddelenie Archeológie a Muzeológie, Centrum Pravekej Archeológie Predného Východu Vedúci práce Mgr. Mateiciucová Inna, Ph.D. Konzultant: Prof. Dr. Pfälzner, Peter Dr. Sconzo, Paola Dr. Nieuwenhuyse Olivier Štúdia sa zaoberá Halafskou keramikou z autonómnej oblasti Kurdistan v Iraku. Materiál, ktorý som analyzovala pochádza z povrchového archeologického zberu, ktorý je organizovaný tímom z univerzity v Tuebingene od roku 2013. Práca v teréne je realizovaná pod vedením prof. Petra Pfälznera a Post. Doc Paoli Sconzo. Bakalárska práca sa snaží o predbežné predstavenie keramického materiálu, ktorý bol v rámci archeologického prieskumu zaradený do Halafskej kultúry. Táto keramika bude zadelená do chronologického rámca od Pre- Halafskej, Proto-Halafskej, rannej, strednej a neskorej Halafskej keramiky až ku prechodu k Obejdskej kultúrnej tradícii. Halafska keramika bude rozdelená na základe technologických a morfologických charakteristík do predchádzajúcimi výskumami zadefinovaných skupín. Na dosiahnutie presnejších výsledkov je materiál porovnávaný s tým, ktorý je vypublikovaný z výskumov vykonávaných na dlhodobejšie osídlených lokalitách. Jedná sa o osídlenie v Iraku a to Tell Arpachiyah a Yarim Tepe a sídliska Tell Sabi Abyad, Tell Arbid Abyad a Chagar Bazar, ktoré sú situované v Sýrii. Analyzovaná keramika je tiež porovnávaná s materiálom, ktorý bol získaný počas súčasných výskumov v irackom Kurdistane. Práca sa zameriava na opis a analýzu materiálu získaného z troch odlišných lokalít, ktoré patria k rozdielnym zónam. Tieto zóny boli diferencované v EHAS projekte podľa geografických a morfologických vlastností krajiny. Jedná sa o údolie Tigrisu, východnú plošinu údolia Tigrisu a pohorie nízkeho Zagrosu s povodím rieky Khabur. Kľúčové slová: neskoro neolitická keramika, Halaf, povrchový zber, Irak, Kurdistan, porovnanie, Tuebingen Eastern Khabur Archaeological Survey (EHAS) Acknowledgement First of all, I would like to express my thanks to my great family and close friends, for their love, support, understanding and concern not only during the writing of this thesis but also during the study. In this place I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Mgr. Inna Mateiciucova Ph.D. for her guidance and help during the writing of this thesis. I would like to express my thanks to the Prof. Dr. Peter Pfälzner and Dr. Paola Sconzo, who allowed me to be a member of a team in EHAS project. Without this possibility I could not write down this thesis and have learnt so much about the beauties of the Neolithic pottery. I am also very grateful to other members of “pottery team” who though me basic information also about their pottery-period. And other enormous thanks go to the Dr. Olivier Nieuwenhuyse, who was very helpful and provided me with a lot of valuable information about the pottery. Furthermore, I would like to point out in this acknowledgement the fact that I was working with the bibliography, either acquired on my own, or those, which was at disposal via Centre of Prehistoric Archaeology of the Near East. Therefore, I used unpublished version from 2006 by Nieuwenhuyse O. P., Plain and painted pottery. The rise of Late Neolithic Ceramic Styles on the Syrian and Northern Mesopotamian Plains, because published version (2007), was not in our centre at disposal. List of abbreviations a. s. l. above sea level ca. circa, around, about cm centimetre(s) etc. et cetera, so forth EHAS Eastern Habur Archaeological Survey e.g. exampli gratia, for example et al. et alii, and others fig. figure(s) frag. fragment ha hectare(s) km kilometre(s) LoNAP Land of Nineveh Archaeological Project m metre(s) PPNB Pre-pottery Neolithic B PN Pottery Neolithic unpub. unpublished 1 Introduction The Halaf tradition is identified as culture, which is dated to the Late Neolithic period, specifically from 5 900 to 5 300 BC (Akkermans and Schwartz 2003: 115; Nieuwenhuyse 2013: 113). Periodization of the Late Neolithic is extremely complex, and it is not certain, what belonged to it and what not, especially in Iraqi Kurdistan due to lack of information. To the Late Neolithic in northern Syria is categorized Pre-Halaf, Proto-Halaf(Transitional), Early Halaf, Middle Halaf, Late Halaf and Halaf-Ubaid Transitional. In northern Iraq are classified Proto-Hassuna, Archaic Hassuna, Standard Hassuna, northern Samarra, Early Halaf, Middle Halaf, Late Halaf and Halaf-Ubaid Transitional so far (Lloyd et al 1945:257; Mallowan and Rose 1935: 43; Davidson 1977, 27; Nieuwenhuyse 2006). Periodization of the Halaf culture will be presented more precisely in the chapter Background of Halaf pottery, where I would like to summarize knowledge from the Iraq as well as Syria region. The Late Neolithic period is without any written sources, therefore, it is decisive to pay attention to the physical remains (e. g pottery, lithic industry etc.) and subsequently to the comparison of these remains between sites (Frankel 1979:1). Furthermore, it is crucial to take into the consideration the regional variability. The understanding of the Halaf culture depends on the ability to fix the culture in spatial and chronological framework (Watkins and Campbell 1987:427). The Neolithic society was developing and trying to improve their daily life according to the set conditions. I would like to point a cooling ‘event between 8.25 and 8.14 kyr BP’ (Rohling and Pälike 2005:975), which reached a peak around 6 225 BC. This might have been “a trigger”, which led to consequently changes. In archaeological record might be seen some transformations in assemblages e.g. new architectural forms and construction techniques, internal settlement’s organization, material culture and social changes, which were reflected in stamp-seals, pottery production, variety of beads, amulets and figurines and an evidence of using metal (Akkermans and Le Mière 1992:1; Campbell 1992:182; Nieuwenhuyse 2000:151; Cruells and Nieuwenhuyse 2004:47; van der Plicht et al. 2011:231, 237). I would like to highlight that pottery represents only one of the components of the Late Neolithic living, of human life, which could help us reconstruct life during this time. This reconstruction is possible owing to the large quantity and quality of found ceramic material (Frankel 1979: 2). Pottery was utilized in economic, social and ritual sphere of life (Nieuwenhuyse 2006), so consequently could reflect