Archaeologists find 11-millennium-old building in Syria

DAMASCUS (AFP) - Archaeologists said they have discovered an 11-millennium-old building with on the banks of the Euphrates River in northern Syria.

"A remarkable discovery has just been uncovered of a large circular building dating back to 8,800 BC near (the locality of) Ja'de," the head of the French archaeologal team that made the find told AFP.

The building, much larger than normal houses, "had a collective use, probably for all of the village or a group," Eric Coqueugniot said.

"A part of this community building takes the shape of the head of a bull and retains painted decorations, the oldest known in the Middle East," he said.

"The multi-coloured geometrical paintings" that decorate the building would be displayed at the museum of Aleppo, in northern Syria, he added.

"Many hunting weapons, domestic tools ... were discovered at this level. The majority of these tools are made of flint and very few are of obsidian (volcanic stone)," he said.

Coqueugniot heads the team of the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), France's largest scientific establishment, which has led the excavation work at the site for the past 15 years.

6,000-Year-Old City Found in Syria
Tuesday May 23 12:35 PM ET
Scientists from the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute found a protective city wall under a huge mound in northeastern Syria known as Tell Hamoukar. The wall and other evidence indicated a complex government at an early date... [I]deas behind cities may have predated the Sumerians, said McGuire Gibson of the Oriental Institute. Among the features indicating the site was a full-blown city, not just a town: thin, porcelain-like pieces of pottery, indicating a sophisticated manufacturing technique, and huge cooking ovens, big enough to feed large numbers of people. There also were stamps to make impressions in wet clay - like primitive hieroglyphics - used to make tokens that served as records for trade transactions. The stamps were in the shapes of animals, including bears, dogs, rabbits, fish and birds.
Discovery Challenges Urban Theory
May 23, 2000
The discovery of a 6,000-year-old city in Syria is challenging long-held beliefs about the beginning and spread of urban civilization. Archaeologists from the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute uncovered the settlement last year while excavating a huge mound known as Tell Hamoukar. A protective city wall and artifacts indicate a complex government was in place as early as 4,000 B.C. Scholars had long believed the development of cities began in Sumeria in southern Mesopotamia and then spread north around 3500-3100 B.C... But the Hamoukar settlement apparently developed independently at the same time as its southern neighbors, researchers said.
'Oldest city' unearthed?
by Sally Suddock
July 3, 2000 08:40 CDT
The Independent newspaper, based in London, said archaeologists believe that the city, called Hamoukar, may date as far back as 6,000 BC... Hamoukar, between the legendary Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, spreads over 750 acres and the population may have reached 25,000 people in the ancient period when the region was known as Mesopotamia. Dr Mouhammed Maktash, director of the Syrian-American joint excavation... told the UK newspaper that "one of the most astonishing finds has been of double-walled living quarters to encourage air flow, suggesting the inhabitants had designed their own air-conditioning system to combat summer temperatures of more than 40 degrees Centigrade." ...Textbooks and historians have theorized that is was the Sumerians who established the oldest known "modern" civilizations of the Babylonian and Mesopotamian era, at about 3500 BC. Hamoukar is thought to have predated the birth of the Sumerian civilization by 2500 to 3000 years.

Catal Huyuk in Turkey was abandoned by 5600 BC.

"Catal Huyuk in Turkey was abandoned by 5600 BC."

I have often wondered what impact the explosion of Mt. Mazama (Crater Lake) around that time had on the civilizing world. I did not know that Catal Huyuk was abandoned at what may have been the time of the eruption. I am not so hot at math [maybe someone can help out here] but if Pinitubo left a 3 mile diameter crater, and Mazama left a 6 mile diameter crater, then Mazama could have ejected around 16 times what Pinitubo did, when it caused our 500 year Mississippi flood and other severe weather in the following years.

Some years ago I saw and interesting article in "The National Geographic" about the excavation of a 50 foot high mound in Bulgaria. The pottery from 6,000 BC was bright and varied, and artistically interesting. Later pottery from 3,000 BC was dark and dull, although well shaped. At the time I wondered, what happened to the earlier people to bring about such a change. This was before I learned so many interesting things that could have had an influence. I wish I knew the date on that article, as I have a large collection of National Geographics, organized by year.

Regarding the round civic building, I wonder how similar they are to the round buildings found on Malta? Also, having discovered the book by Gloria Farley, "In Plain Sight" about prehistoric overseas visitors to the Americans, I wonder if there could be some influence on the round Kivas of the southwest Indians.

Some years ago I saw and interesting article in "The National Geographic" about the excavation of a 50 foot high mound in Bulgaria. The pottery from 6,000 BC was bright and varied, and artistically interesting. Later pottery from 3,000 BC was dark and dull, although well shaped. At the time I wondered, what happened to the earlier people to bring about such a change. This was before I learned so many interesting things that could have had an influence. I wish I knew the date on that article, as I have a large collection of National Geographics, organized by year.

Take a look at the July 1980 issue

"Take a look at July, 1980 [National Geographic]."

Thanks, I'll check it out. Meanwhile, here are some further thoughts on emerging knowledge of earlier than expected social/civic development.

For a long time in North American, archeologists were limited by the Clovis first prejudice. Now they are finally discovering that Indian cultures existed well before the Clovis period. Presumably this occurred shorthly after the Ice Age began its end around 18,000 years ago (18kya). In France and Spain, archeologists were surprised to discover that some of the best cave art dated back to around 32kya. This makes sense as during the 20kya period there was a significant, stepped downturn in temperatures.

Since man tends to build communities along the coast, for fishing, boating, and sunbathing ;) the fact that sea levels were around 400 feet lower at the end of the Ice Age, means that probably a lot of development was drowned as the sea levels rose over the millenia. The Persian Gulf above the Straits of Hormuz was drowned around 8kya, so who knows what civilization might have existed there. The Sumerians may have been the recovery phase of this disaster which they memorialized in the flood story of Gilgamesh (Noah). Since the Syrian city was far above sea level, it does not surprise me that it could exist as a well developed commercial center that survived by not being inundated.

If schools of archeology were not so hidebound, a lot more undersea exploration would be taking place, discovering who knows how many wonderful secrets. Anyone interested should check out the books and web site of Graham Hancock who has done a lot of exploring of this topic.

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