Shir
Coordinates: 35 ° 12 ′ 4.9 ″ N , 36 ° 37 ′ 46.9 ″ E
Shir or Schir ( Arabic شير, DMG Šīr ) is a late Neolithic site in western Syria , twelve kilometers northwest of the city of Hama , the capital of the province of the same name. The settlement is located on a 30 meter high terrace formation above the Nahr as-Sārūt , a tributary of the Orontes .
Research history
The Shir settlement area was discovered in 2005 during a regional survey in the area of the central Orontes and archaeologically examined from 2006 to 2010 by the Damascus branch of the Orient Department of the German Archaeological Institute and the Direction Générale des Antiquités et des Musées de la Syrie as part of a cooperation project .
The natural spatial conditions indicate the region of the middle Orontes as one of the favored zones of the Near East , which played an essential role during the Neolithization process ( Neolithization = transformation from game-exploiting and appropriating economic forms with a mobile way of life to food-producing economy with sedentary forms of life in the period between approx. 10,000 and 6,000 B.C.), in which, however, comparatively few Neolithic sites are known.
The settlement
According to 14 C dates, the Shir site is approximately between 7000 and 6200/6100 BC. Chr. (Calibrated data) populated. Towards the end of the 7th millennium BC The place is evidently abandoned - possibly due to climatic changes - and then never settled again permanently. This fact allowed the large-scale exposure of various areas of the approximately four hectare settlement area, in which different issues were investigated. In the south area, stratigraphic investigations of the entire sequence were carried out on an area of 450 m² , in the central area the two youngest settlement layers were exposed on an area of approx. 1200 m², in the north-east area two buildings with special functions were examined on 700 m².
architecture
The stratigraphic sequence in the southern area attests there for the period between 7000 and 6450 BC. Six successive building layers, each with different sub-phases. A differentiated settlement development could be proven here, which is characterized in individual phases by a strong planning component. What is particularly noticeable in all layers is the later removal of the stone material, which was apparently used over and over again. The development of the younger layers of the central area is characterized by numerous, formally heterogeneous house complexes, the context of which, however, is disturbed by mine horizons. These buildings date to around 6300/6200 BC. Chr.
In the north-east area, a planned-looking building complex of two north-west-south-east facing buildings with a total of 16 rooms was recorded, which was probably built around 6200/6100 BC. Was abandoned. These buildings were probably two-story, the structure and volume of the preserved and excavated basement floors indicate a primary use as storage rooms / magazines, which were only accessible via ladders through the upper floors. As a function of these buildings, both a use as a communal storage facility and a use as a combined residential storage facility for a socially distinguished person or group of people would be conceivable.
The buildings in Shir usually have foundation walls made of the limestone found in the region, while the rising masonry was made of adobe or rammed earth ( Pisé ), of which little has been preserved. The most striking feature in residential buildings of all levels are massive, elaborately constructed floors made of lime mortar . This technique is already known in the early Neolithic (10th to 8th millennium BC) and is characterized by a high demand for fuel, so that a certain amount of environmental damage in the vicinity of the settlement cannot be ruled out.
The ecological basis of the settlement area was extraordinarily favorable, as at least two productive habitats could be used: The open oak forest surrounding the settlement and the dense floodplain forest of the Sarut and Orontes, which is about four kilometers west of the settlement. The water supply was secured by the year-round water of the Sarut River. Raw materials for the construction of buildings and the manufacture of everyday objects such as limestone and basalt stone , flint and clay were available in the immediate vicinity of the settlement. The fertile Terra Rossa soils of the region allowed high-yield agricultural cultivation. As the paleobotanical data show, all important grains and pulses were grown in Shir: barley, emmer / einkorn wheat, naked wheat, lentils, flat peas, chickpeas and lentil vetch. Among the wild plants, pistachio , fig and almond deserve special mention. In addition to the domesticated species sheep , goats and cattle , the animal food spectrum also included hunting animals such as gazelles and deer .
Burials
Numerous burials exist within the settlement area exposed in the south. Most of these are graves of children and infants that are in the buildings under walls and lime mortar screeds. Burials of adults are less common and are more likely to be outside of the houses in the form of individual graves. In the youngest layer of the central area there is a larger area with numerous burials, which can possibly be referred to as an extramural necropolis . All graves are poor in gifts, special objects are turquoise pearls, which, however, only occur in infant burials.
Finds
The oldest layer of the Shir settlement dates back to around 7000 BC. Ceramic finds on. This ceramic is one of the earliest finds in the Middle East . Containers made from baked clay represent one of the most important innovations at the transition from the Early Neolithic to the Late Neolithic in the Middle East around 7000 BC. The oldest known ceramic vessel is already of very high quality. It is the so-called Dark Face Burnished Ware (DFBW), a minerally lean, shiny polished ceramic, whose predominant shapes in Shir form small pots and bowls and which were probably only produced in small quantities.
A special type of DFBW is the corded ceramic decorated with cord and fabric impressions, which provides important information on Neolithic textile production. From around 6500 BC. Ceramics are produced in significantly larger quantities, but in lower quality. The so-called Coarse Ware is predominantly vegetable -leaned and rarely has decorations. As a significant innovation in the second half of the 7th millennium BC The manufacture of large vessels with heights between 0.80 and 1.00 meters can apply. These were likely used as storage jars for storing plant foods.
In addition to ceramics, Silex devices make up the majority of the range of finds. Within the range of devices, the comparatively large number of sickles that were used for harvesting the vegetable foodstuffs is striking. In addition, bullet tips of the Amuq and Byblo types form another outstanding but small group of the device spectrum.
This is dominated by the very large number of so-called ad-hoc devices, i.e. simple flint cuts without elaborate shapes. This decline in defined forms is likely to be related on the one hand to the favorable raw material situation in Shir, where high-quality flint is available directly in the terrace formation below the settlement, but on the other hand it is also due to the decline in hunting activities. The raw material for the obsidian haircuts and implements, which occur in small numbers, comes from Central Anatolia .
In other finds of weapons such are sling-stones , Bolas and Food Preparation Equipment such as grinding stones , mortar and pestle particularly represented numerous. Items that are most likely related to textile and leather processing, such as sewing needles , awls and scrapers , are also common. The objects were initially probably made in individual houses when required, and from the more recent settlement phases there are also collective finds of semi-finished products (e.g. sewing needles made from animal bones) that show a certain degree of craftsmanship. One of the bone artifacts is a perforated, flute-like object. Typical jewelry items are various shapes of pendants and pearls as well as finger and arm rings, and lip pegs also appear. Special pieces of jewelry are the so-called "butterfly pearls " made of green stone ( serpentinite and green obsidian ) as well as small cylindrical pearls made of turquoise . These rocks do not exist locally and their existence confirms the participation of the Shir settlement in large-scale exchange networks that reached at least from Anatolia to the Sinai Peninsula .
The investigations in Shir give a comprehensive insight into the development of a Neolithic village over a period of approximately 800 years. The recorded data prove complex architecture, differentiated use of raw materials and elaborate technologies for the production of buildings and artifacts. They also show that Shir was integrated into the Neolithic exchange and communication network between Anatolia and the Red Sea and, in comparison with simultaneous settlements in the Levant , northern Mesopotamia and the Anatolian region , demonstrate the strong regional component of cultural development in the late Neolithic .
literature
- Karin Bartl , A. Farzat, W. al-Hafian 2012: The Late Neolithic Site of Shir. New Results from 2010 , in: Zeitschrift für Orient-Archäologie 5, 2012, 168–187.
- Karin Bartl, A. Haidar, with contributions by Olivier Nieuwenhuyse and Dörte Rokitta-Krumnow 2008: Shir - A Neolithic site on the central Orontes. Preliminary report on the results of the autumn 2005 test campaign and the spring 2006 excavation campaign , in: Zeitschrift für Orient-Archäologie 1, 2008, 54–88.
- Karin Bartl, M. Hijazi, J. Ramadan, with a contribution by Reinder Neef 2009: The late Neolithic settlement Shir / Western Syria. Preliminary report on the results of the excavation campaigns in autumn 2006 and spring 2007 , in: Zeitschrift für Orient-Archäologie 2, 2009, 140–161.
- Karin Bartl, Michel al-Maqdissi 2007: Ancient Settlements in the Middle Orontes Region Between ar-Rastan and Qal'at Shayzar. First Results of Archaeological Surface Investigations 2003-2004 , in: Daniele Morandi Bonacossi (Ed.): Urban and Natural Landscapes of an Ancient Syrian Capital. Settlement and Environment at Tell Mishrifeh / Qatna and in Central-Western Syria , Udine, 9-11 December 2004, Udine, Studi Archeologici su Qatna, Forum, Udine 2007, 227–236.
- Karin Bartl, J. Ramadan 2008: The Late Neolithic Site of Shir. Third Season of Excavations 2007 , in: Chronique Archéologique en Syrie 3, 2008, 63–73.
- Karin Bartl, J. Ramadan, W. al-Hafian 2010: Shir / West Syria. Results of the fourth and fifth seasons of excavations in 2008 , in: Chronique Archéologique en Syrie 4, 2010, 59-66.
- Karin Bartl, J. Ramadan, W. al-Hafian 2011: Shir / West Syria. Results of the sixth and seventh season of excavations in 2009 , in: Chronique Archéologique en Syrie 5, 2011, 51-60.
- O. Nieuwenhuyse 2009: The Late Neolithic Ceramics from Shir. A First Assessment , in: Zeitschrift für Orient-Archäologie 2, 2009, 310–356.
- OP Nieuwenhuyse, Karin Bartl, K. Berghuijs, G. Vogelsang-Eastwood 2012: The cord-impressed pottery from the Late Neolithic Northern Levant: Case-study Shir , in: Paléorient 38, 2012, 65–77.
- Dörte Rokitta-Krumnow 2011: The lithic artifacts from the Late Neolithic settlement of Shir / Western Syria , in: Zeitschrift für Orient-Archäologie 4, 2011, 212–244.
- Dörte Rokitta-Krumnow 2012: Lithic finds from the 7th millennium BC In the northern Levant. The development of the stone tool industry in the late Neolithic settlement Shir / Syria. Dissertation at the Department of History and Cultural Studies at the Free University of Berlin 2012 online
Web links
- Project website of the DAI , archive.org, June 29, 2013