1989 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Prehistoric Investigations of West Asia
| Project/Area Number |
63041038
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Overseas Scientific Survey.
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | Field Research |
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| Research Institution | The University of Tokyo |
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Principal Investigator |
MATSUTANI Toshio Professor, The Institute of Oriental Culture, The Univ. of Tokyo, 東洋文化研究所, 教授 (30012983)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
FUJII Sumio Curator, Okayama Orient Museum, Okayama City, 学芸員
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| Project Period (FY) |
1985 – 1989
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| Keywords | Hassuna Ia / Ubaid / Uruk / Neolithic / Early Agriculture / Settlement / Tell / Pit house |
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| Research Abstract |
Our expedition excavated a site of the early agricultural settlement named Tell Kashkashok II which dated to Hassuna Ia period(the sixth millenium B.C.) in the basin of the Khabur river, Hassake district, north-eastern part of Syria. We made a preliminary survey in 1985, and carried out two season's excavations which made from April to September 1987(the first season) and from July to December 1988 (the second season). The results of two season's excavations are very important to the study for the formation of the early agricultural community. Therefore, we want to continue hereafter the investigations of the sites of this period in the Khabur basin.
The results of these excavations are as follow:
1 The Hassuna Ia period was the era when the first agricultural settlements appeared in the North Mesopotamia. The distribution of these settlements was supposed to be limited in the northern part of Iraq. No site of this period was recognized in Syria until we found Kashkashok II. By the finding of this settlement in the Khabur basin, the distribution of the Hassuna Ia settlements was enlarged to the west.
2 In the lowermost layer of Tell Kashkashok II, we found a pit house dug down into the bed rock. In the next layer there were tauf walled rooms which were gypsum-lined on the wall and the floor. Several gypsum-lined bins were dug at the corner of rooms.
3 Some unearthed objects were influenced by the materials from the Levant and Anatoria. So, this site offers an important information for the study of the early Neolithic settlement.
4 After Hassuna Ia layers, they made a cemetery in the Ubaid and the Uruk periods (fifth to fourth millenia B.C.). We were able to get the structure of grave pit.
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