Nevalı Çori

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Coordinates: 37 ° 31 ′ 6 ″  N , 38 ° 36 ′ 20 ″  E

Relief Map: Turkey
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Nevalı Çori​
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Turkey

Nevalı Çori is an early Neolithic ( PPNB ) settlement on the central Euphrates , in the province of Şanlıurfa in Turkey . The settlement lies on both sides of the Kantara stream, a tributary of the Euphrates in the hilly Taurus foothills , and has been inundated by the Ataturk reservoir since 1992 .

Dig

Fragment with incisions in the Şanlıurfa Archaeological Museum

The settlement was in the course of a rescue excavation because of the construction of the Ataturk Dam ( Ataturk Barajı ) below Samsat in seven campaigns 1983, 1985-87 and 1989-1991 by a team from Heidelberg University under the direction of the prehistoric Harald Hauptmann in collaboration with the archaeological Şanlıurfa Museum examined.

Dating

The relative chronological time of Nevalı Çori results from the type spectrum of the flint industry, which justifies an approach of the settlement in phase 3 according to O. Aurenche due to the narrow bybloss tips occurring here and the lack of surface retouching , which justifies the early to middle pre-ceramic Neolithic B (PPNB , approx. 8800-7000 BC). However, various forms of equipment show that the settlement continued up to phase 4, which would be equivalent to the late PPNB. An even finer chronological division in phase 3 results from the architecture of the settlement, as the house type with subsurface ducts typical for layers I-IV is also characteristic of the "canal plan phase" in Çayönü , while the only building findings of layer V, house 1 , with its different type of floor plan, is more oriented towards the buildings of the cell plan layer in Çayönü.

Four 14 C dates are available for the absolute time of the settlement of Nevalı Çori . Three of them come from layer II and date them with some certainty to the second half of the 9th millennium BC (8600-8000), which corresponds to the early dates from Çayönü Mureybet IVA and supports the classification in phase 3 according to Aurenche. The fourth, on the other hand, dates back to the 10th millennium, which would indicate a very early phase of the PPNB in ​​Nevalı Çori.

Houses

The settlement has five building layers. Long, rectangular houses with 2 to 3 parallel, cell-like room lines are interpreted as magazines. This is followed by an equally rectangular porch, structured by wall projections, which could be interpreted as living space. Characteristic of this house shape are thick, multi-layer foundation packings made of large rubble stones with smaller stones in the spaces as a support for the rising masonry. At a distance of 1–1.5 m, stone-covered underfloor ducts arranged transversely to the longitudinal axis ran through them, which were open to the outside for ventilation and possibly served for drainage, cooling or ventilation. 23 of these buildings were excavated, which are very similar to the so-called channeled subphase from Çayönü . The excavator assumes light flat roofs.

In the north-western part of the settlement there was a cult complex sunk into the slope, which consists of three buildings on top of each other, of which the youngest belongs to building layer III, the middle to layer II and the oldest to layer I. In the two more recent buildings, a cement floor laid using terrazzo technology was uncovered, which could not be proven in the oldest construction phase. Parallels can be found in Çayönü and on Göbekli Tepe . In the building there were monolithic pillars, which are similar to those on Göbekli Tepe and are arranged in a similar way, two central pillars, the others arranged around them and built into a kind of surrounding bench. In the east wall of this building (the most recent and middle phase of construction) there were several fragments of large limestone sculptures (see sculptures ).

The west side of the valley was also examined with a few excavation cuts, which also revealed architecture in rectangular construction in 2–3 building layers.

Sculptures

Numerous statues and small sculptures were made from the local limestone; they were the first large-scale sculptures from the Neolithic when they were discovered. In the east wall of the special building (most recent construction phase) were found among other things a larger than life head with a snake on the back of the head and a severed face and a bird whose beak ends in a human face. From the middle construction phase of the building come a pelican-like bird sculpture, the body of another bird and, fragmentarily, a strange creature with a human head and a bird-like body. Sculpture fragments were found in one of the houses, the individual parts of which could be put together to form a totem pole-like sculpture made up of mixed bird and bird-human figures. Some of the pillars also have reliefs. The T-shaped pillars (analogous to finds in Göbekli Tepe) are interpreted as human-shaped beings (perhaps gods, ancestors, supernatural beings), with the T-piece representing the head (the shorter part as the back of the head). Sometimes angled arms are depicted in high relief on the broad sides of the shaft, which merge into the hands on the narrow front side. There you will also find two straight bands hanging down parallel to each other, which the excavators interpreted as a stole-like piece of clothing.

Finds

Furthermore, over 700 ceramic figures were found, with representations of people predominating, only 30 zoomorphic representations are known. It is noticeable that male and female figurines can be identified in almost the same number. With very few exceptions, the two groups were always represented according to the same scheme.

Burials

Some of the houses contain skull deposits and incomplete skeletons.

literature

  • Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe (ed.): The oldest monuments of mankind. 12,000 years ago in Anatolia , book accompanying the exhibition in the Badisches Landesmuseum from January 20 to June 17, 2007. Theiss, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-2072-8 .
  • MediaCultura (ed.): The oldest monuments of mankind. 12,000 years ago in Anatolia . DVD-ROM. Theiss, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-2090-2 .
  • Harald Hauptmann : Nevalı Çori. Architecture . (1988) Anatolica 15, 99-110.
  • Harald Hauptmann: Nevalı Çori. A settlement of the akeramischen Neolithic on the middle Euphrates (1991/92) Nürnberger Blätter zur Archäologie 8/9, 15–33.
  • Harald Hauptmann: A cult building in Nevalı Çori. In: Marcella Frangipane u. a. (Ed.): Between the Rivers and over the Mountains, Archaeologica Anatolica et Mesopotamica Alba Palmieri dedicata. Rome 1993, pp. 37-69.
  • Harald Hauptmann: Early Neolithic stone buildings in Southwest Asia . In: Karl W. Beinhauer et al., Studies on Megalithics. State of research and ethnoarchaeological perspectives / The megalithic phenomenon: recent research and ethnoarchaeological approaches (Weissenbach, Beier & Beran 1999). Contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe 21.
  • M. Morsch: Magic figurines? A view from Nevalı Cori. In: HGK Gebel, Bo Dahl Hermansen and Charlott Hoffmann Jensen (eds.): Magic Practices and Ritual in the Near Eastern Neolithic. Ex Oriente, Berlin 2002, SENEPSE 8.
  • K. Schmidt: You built the first temple . dtv, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-423-34490-6 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mixed birds and humans are typical for the entire region until ancient times. Birds attacking (or even severing) heads can also be found in pictures in Çatalhöyük . There may be a connection here with a special cult of the dead.
  2. ↑ M. Morsch: Magic figurines? A view from Nevalı Cori. In: HGK Gebel, Bo Dahl Hermansen and Charlott Hoffmann Jensen (eds.): Magic Practices and Ritual in the Near Eastern Neolithic. Ex Oriente, Berlin 2002, SENEPSE 8.

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