Umm el Tlel

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Coordinates: 35 ° 10 ′ 0 ″  N , 38 ° 43 ′ 0 ″  E

Relief Map: Syria
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Umm el Tlel​
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Syria

As Umm el Tlel , more rarely Tell Oumn part is, one the early Middle Palaeolithic dated archaeological site in northeastern Syria which, at the Fund complex of El Kowm belongs. In addition to Umm el Tlel, these include the sites of Hummal and Ain Juwal to the south and Nadaouiyeh Aïn Askar to the west . In Umm el Tlel excavations were carried out between 1991 and 2010, with a total of 6 m thick 89 layers emerging. 29 of these layers were assigned to the Upper Paleolithic , 3 to transitional layers , such as the Ahmarium, and 57 to the Moustérien and thus the Middle Paleolithic.

Excavations and dating

Systematic excavations began in Umm el Tlel in 1994 as part of the permanent French mission in El Kowm under the direction of Eric Boëda and Sultan Muhesen from the universities of Nanterres and Damascus. Eric Boëda, who joined the archaeological team in El Kowm in 1987, became the most important excavator for the Um el Tlel site, but also for El Meirah. There the African donkey was used by the hunter-gatherer groups as a source of food and raw materials, as a skeleton find of a donkey in Umm el Tlel has shown. A broken Levallois tip was found in the third cervical vertebra .

In 1997 the site was dated to 40,500 BC. Dated. The Moustérie layers date from between 75,000 and 45,000 before today. The production of blades continued until around 40,000 BC. Prove. Up until 2004, a total of over 100 layers with a total thickness of 12 m were distinguished.

Climatic conditions

The layers can be combined into groups. In Complex V13 , according to Christophe Griggo, eight layers were found, in which camels made up 80% and horses 15% of the bones. The extensive lack of certain bones, such as the skull, indicates that in camels only the meat-rich body parts were brought into the site, while in horses all of the prey was brought home. So it was a slaughterhouse in which hunted prey was cut up. In contrast, layer V2βa, where horses again dominate, is a living site.

In Complex V11 is an almost pure camel bone accumulation. A quarter of the bones come from young animals. The hunt was processed on site to the extent that the meat-rich parts were separated out and then taken away. Only ten flint artifacts indicate extremely little stone processing and further processing of the hunted prey. So it was probably a hunting camp.

Animal remains, hunting spectrum

The animal remains are unique in the Middle East. Camels and horses make up a considerable part of the prey in all classes. Gazelles, antelopes, hippos and ostriches were also captured. Four groups can be distinguished in the Moustérie layers. In six layers of the geological complex V13 'only remains of steppe dwellers have been discovered. Camels represent more than 80% of the finds. Small amounts of gazelle, antelope, ostrich and auroch bones (the latter probably immigrated from Anatolia ) were discovered. These species are predominantly associated with a very dry climate.

Layer V12a is also dominated by steppe inhabitants, but the gazelle dominates here with a share of over 65%. This indicates a cooler climate. The two layers of the geological complex V11 again contained only camels, a clear indication of a very dry climate. In geological complex V2, horses were primarily found, for the first time connected with remains of hippos. Camel and gazelle are also found. Overall, this indicates a wetter phase.

Bitumen, composite tools

ROCEEH Motm 2010 12 Paleolithic Adhesives.pdf

The excavation site became better known through the discovery of bitumen , which was used as an adhesive. This has recently been proven for about 70,000 years ago. With this bonding technique the production of composite tools became possible. Only in Italian Visogliano are such traces much older. The traces of fire come from the oxygen isotope level MIS 11 or 13, which corresponds to an age of 427,000 to 528,000 years.

literature

  • Stéphanie Bonilauri, Eric Boëda , Christophe Griggo, Heba Al Sakhel, Sultan Muhesen: Un éclat de silex moustérien coincé dans un bassin d'autruche (struthio camelus) à Umm El Tlel (Syrie Centrale) , in: Paléorient 33,2 (2007) 39-46. ( online )
  • Christophe Griggo: Report: Étude de la faune d'Umm el Tlel. Mission Archéologique d'Umm el-Tlel / El Meirah, Bassin d'El Kowm, Syrie , in: Paléontologie (2005) 82–91.
  • Aline Emery-Barbier: Rapport Palynology. Mission Archéologique d'Umm el-Tlel / El Meirah, Bassin d'El Kowm, Syrie , 2005, pp. 74–81.
  • Sylvain Ploux, Sylvie Soriano: Umm El Tlel, une séquence du Paléolithique supérieur en Syrie centrale. Industries lithiques et chronologie culturelle , in: Paléorient 29,2 (2003) 5-34.
  • Eric Boëda, Christophe Griggo, Sandrine Noël-Soriano: Différents modes d'occupation du site d'Umm El Tlel au cours du Paléolithique moyen (El Kowm, Syrie Centrale) , in: Paléorient 27.2 (2001) 13–28
  • Daniel Helmer, Maria Saña: Étude de la faune d'Umm el Tlel (El Kowm, Syrie). Fouilles Molist . in: Cahiers de l'Euphrate 1 (1993) 93-105.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Jean-Marie Le Tensorer : Regional Perspective of early human populations in Syria: the case of El Kowm , in: Nuria Sanz (Ed.): Human Origin Sites and the World Heritage Convention in Eurasia , Vol. I, UNESCO, 2015, Pp. 54-71 ( online , PDF).
  2. ↑ Dorota Wojtzak: The Early Middle Palaeolithic Blade Industry from Hummal, Central Syria , Diss., Bael 2012, p. 39. ( online , PDF).
  3. ↑ Christophe Griggo: Mousterian fauna from Dederiyeh Cave and comparisons with Fauna from Umm El Tlel and Douara Cave , in: Paléorient 30,1 (2004) 149–162, here: p. 159.
  4. ^ Richard G. Klein: The Human Career. Human Biological and Cultural Origins , University of Chicago Press, 1999, p. 349 f.
  5. ↑ Christophe Griggo: Mousterian fauna from Dederiyeh Cave and comparisons with Fauna from Umm El Tlel and Douara Cave , in: Paléorient 30,1 (2004) 149–162, here: p. 150.
  6. ↑ Eric Boëda, Jacques Connan, Daniel Dessort, Sultan Muhesen, Norbert Mercier, Hélène Valladas, Nadine Tisnerat: Bitumen as a hafting material on Middle Palaeolithic artefacts , in: Nature 380 (1996) 336–338.
  7. ↑ Christophe Griggo: Mousterian fauna from Dederiyeh Cave and comparisons with Fauna from Umm El Tlel and Douara Cave , in: Paléorient 30,1 (2004) 149–162, here: p. 157.
  8. ↑ Christophe Griggo: Mousterian fauna from Dederiyeh Cave and comparisons with Fauna from Umm El Tlel and Douara Cave , in: Paléorient 30,1 (2004) 149–162, here: p. 159.
  9. ↑ Christophe Griggo: Mousterian fauna from Dederiyeh Cave and comparisons with Fauna from Umm El Tlel and Douara Cave , in: Paléorient 30,1 (2004) 149–162, here: p. 159 f.
  10. ↑ This and the following according to Christophe Griggo: Mousterian fauna from Dederiyeh Cave and comparisons with Fauna from Umm El Tlel and Douara Cave , in: Paléorient 30,1 (2004) 149–162, here: pp. 152–154.
  11. ↑ Eric Boëda , Stéphanie Bonilauri, Jacques Connan, Dan Jarvie, Norbert Mercier, Mark Tobey, Hélène Valladas, Heba Al-Sakhel: New Evidence for Significant Use of Bitumen in Middle Palaeolithic Technical Systems at Umm el Tlel (Syria) around 70,000 BP , in: Paléorient 24.2 (2008) 67-83 ( online ).
  12. ^ Wil Roebroeks , Paola Villa: On the earliest evidence for habitual use of fire in Europe , in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, March 14, 2011.