MIDDLE EAST

THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZARTION

THE MIDDLE EAST
TIME PERIODS 2,700,000- 1200 BC

LOWER PALEOLITHIC
2,700,000- 200,000 BC
CHALCOLITHIC EARLY BRONZE
4500- 3300 BC 3300- 2200 BC

MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC
200,000- 30,000 BC

POTTERY NEOLITHIC MIDDLE BRONZE

4500- 3300 BC 2200- 1550 BC

UPPER PALEOLITHIC
40,000- 12,000 BC

PRE-POTTERY NEOLITHIC LATE BRONZE

9500- 4500 BC 1550-1200 BC
MESOLITHIC
12,000- 5000 BC
 PALEOLITHIC : SUSTENANCE 2,700,000- 200,000 BC
Throughout the Palaeolithic, humans were hunters, fishers, and gatherers; in fact for the
greater part of the Lower Palaeolithic, early humans (Australopithecus, Homo habilis, and
Homo erectus) were probably scavengers rather than hunters.

It was during the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic that hunting really came into its own, and
became more efficient, with more specialized tools and communal drives.

Hunters concentrated on herbivores such as the horse, bison, deer, goats, and antelopes,
depending on the climate which fluctuated through the Ice Ages.

Artist‖s rendition of hunting scene.

www.methodfitness.com
PALEOLITHIC : SHELTER 2,700,000- 200,000 BC

Palaeolithic peoples appear to have been

highly mobile, or nomadic, moving with the
animals that they hunted or with the seasons.

Throughout the Lower Palaeolithic, they must

have lived mostly in flimsy camps, traces of
which are found primarily in open-air sites
and river terraces, though some caves were
also occupied. In the Middle and Upper
Palaeolithic cave-mouths and rock-shelters
were far more intensively and extensively
used, but people also continued to live in
open-air settlements.
In the Lower Palaeolithic, simple windbreaks
or crude huts were erected, but by the Upper
Palaeolithic there is evidence for light tents
sophisticated huts made of hundreds of
mammoth bones.
An assortment of prehistoric tools provides evidence
of the hunting and gathering methods of early
peoples. Slabs of bark were often used to gather nuts
and berries and functioned as crude dishes or bowls
(top left). Reproductions of fishing tackle and arrows
believed to have been used around 8000 BC are
displayed on the lower left. Recovered tools for
digging and cutting (right) are shown with recreated
wooden handles. The heads of the adzes are made
from flint, as is the fire-starter shown below them.
Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia
PALEOLITHIC : FIRE 2,700,000- 200,000 BC

Fire appears to have been mastered

by 1.5 million years ago, and hearths
are commonplace in living-sites of
the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic.

Fire was probably used originally for

light, warmth, and protection from
wild animals, but eventually also for
cooking food.

By the Upper Palaeolithic it was also

being used for heating flint to make
it more workable; for changing the
colours of mineral pigments; and in
some areas for firing clay figurines
and vessels. www.dkimages.com
PALEOLITHIC : BURIAL 2,700,000- 200,000 BC
The first clear evidence of burial
practices occur during the Middle
Palaeolithic. One Neanderthal The Red Lady of
burial—at Shānīdār Cave, Iraq— Paviland is a
fairly complete
appears to have been accompanied by
Upper
flowers. It is in the Upper Palaeolithic Paleolithic-era
that burial becomes more elaborate, human male
with red ochre, grave goods, and skeleton dyed in
red ochre.
beads, as well as other forms of www.pembroke
ornamentation, and tools. story.org

PALEOLITHIC : ART 2,700,000- 200,000 BC

Similarly, while some rudimentary Horse (c.
examples of art are known from the 15,000-10,000
Middle and even the Lower BC), Lascaux,
France
Palaeolithic, it is in the Upper arthistory.about.
Palaeolithic on every continent that com
figurative art appears, as rock or cave
art or as portable engravings and
carvings.
OLDOWAN ERA 2,580,000- 1,500,000 BC

The Oldowan era is the earliest formally

recognized cultural tradition of the
Lower Paleolithic and Oldowan tools are
the oldest known, appearing first in the
Gona and Omo Basins in Ethiopia. They
are named after the Olduvai Gorge site in
northern Tanzania, and are associated
with Homo habilis and Homo
rudolfensis. Oldowan hominids primarily
gathered fruits and vegetables and
scavenged medium and large size game.
Possibly, like chimpanzees, Oldowan
hominids occasionally killed small game
to supplement their diet.

insidethecosmiccube.blogspot.com
 OLDOWAN TOOLS 2,580,000- 1,500,000 BC

The tools likely came at the end of a long

period of opportunistic tool usage:
chimpanzees today use rocks, branches, leaves
and twigs as tools. The key innovation is the
technique of chipping stones to create a
chopping or cutting edge. Most Oldowan tools
were made by a single blow of one rock
against another to create a sharp-edged flake.

Flakes were used primarily as cutters,

probably to dismember game carcasses or to
strip tough plants. Fossils of crushed animal
bones indicate that stones were also used to
break open marrow cavities. And Oldowan
deposits include pieces of bone or horn Oldowan stone tools were simply broken to give a sharp
showing scratch marks that indicate they were edge
used as diggers to unearth tubers or insects. www.ushumans.net
OLDOWAN SITES 2,580,000- 1,500,000 BC

YIRON, ISRAEL : 2,400,000 BC

The oldest occurrence of Oldawan art is in Yiron, in the north of the Israeli Rift
where flint artefacts were found.
RIWAT, PAKISTAN :>1,900,000 or 2,500,000 BC
The early human colonization of south Asia is represented by stone tool
assemblages in the Siwalik hills at Riwat, near Rawalpindi in Pakistan. Pebble
core, flake and chopping tools have been found.
ERQ-EL-AHMAR, ISRAEL :1,96,000- 1,78,000 BC
Erq-el-Ahmar is a rock-shelter located in the Wadi Khareitoun southeast of
Bethlehem. The site had pebble tools belonging to the Oldowan era.
UBEIDIYA, ISRAEL :1,400,000- 1,100,000 BC
El-`Ubeidiya in the Jordan Rift Valley preserves traces of the earliest migration
of Homo erectus out of Africa. The site yielded core-flake (developed Oldowan)
tools.
KASHAFRUD, IRAN : 800,000 BC
Kashafrud Basin provides evidence of the oldest-known human occupation of
Iran. There are some collections of simple core and flake stone artifacts made of
quartz, indicating skill and good knowledge, since quartz‖s friable nature
requires experience and control.
 ACHEULEAN TRADITION 1,400,000-100,000
100,000BC
BC

The Acheulean Tradition gets its name from the site of St. Acheul, France. The Acheulean
tradition originated in Sub-saharan Africa, and early forms of Homo spread the
culture out of Africa into the near east, southern and western Europe. They continued
with large, medium and small game hunting, scavenging and gathering.

By 500,000 years ago the Acheulean methods had penetrated into Europe, primarily
associated with Homo heidelbergensis, where they continued until about 200,000 years
ago. The industry spread as far as the Near East and India, but apparently never reached
Asia, where Homo erectus continued to use Oldowan tools right up to the time that
species went extinct.
Bhimbetka, Auditorium Cave, Madhya Pradesh:
Acheulian Petroglyph Site, c. 200,000 - 500,000 BC.

Acheulian artisans who placed the cupules on

Chief's Rock may have seen the rock as a figuration
of one or even two elephants. The larger 'elephant'
appears to have a flake removed to create the eye.
The possible smaller 'elephant' which appears to
have two eye chips (noted in highlight) has a very
steeply sloping back, which suggests a very young
elephant.

www.originsnet.org
 ACHEULEAN TOOLS 1,400,000-100,000
100,000BC
BC

The tradition is characterized by bifaces i.e. large

bifacially flaked stone tools, such as hand axes,
cleavers and picks. The most common tool materials
were quartzite, glassy lava, chert and flint. Making
an Acheulean tool required both strength and skill.

The key innovations were

• chipping the stone from both sides to produce a
symmetrical (bifacial) cutting edge
• the shaping of an entire stone into a recognizable
and repeated tool form
• variation in the tool forms for different tool uses.

Acheulean tools show a regularity of design and

manufacture that is maintained for over a million
years. This is clear evidence of specialized skills and
design criteria that were handed down by explicit
socialization within a geographically dispersed
human culture. 1
Phases in the experimental reduction of a ―hand axe‖.
blogs.sciencemag.org
1: http://www.handprint.com/LS/ANC/stones.html
ACHEULEAN SITES :INDIA 1,200,000-100,000
69,000 BC
BC

Large cutting tools have been 1

known for a long time in South Asia
and have always been considered to
be related to the Acheulian. The 2
character of the Indian Acheulian,
however, has not been well
described and its evolution is poorly 3
4

known, as there are few sites which 5

are dated. 6
7
8
The large cutting tools (especially
9
cleavers but also hand axes) are
mostly based on the production of
large flakes.

They compare well with the early
Acheulian from other parts of the
world.
1 Dina and Jalalpur, Pakistan
3 Adi Chadi Wao & Umrethi, Guj.
5 Navasa, Maharashtra
7 Yudurwadi, Maharashtra
9 Attaripakkam, Tamil Nadu
www.assemblage.group.shef.ac.uk
2 Didwana, Rajasthan
4 Pilkasaur, MP
6 Bori, Maharashtra
8 Isampur, Karnataka
 ACHEULEAN SITES :INDIA 1,200,000-100,000
69,000 BC
BC

SITE AGE CHARACTERISTICS

Adi Chadi Wao, Gujarat 69,000 BC Final Acheulian
Kaldevanhalli 174,000- 166,000 BC
Umrethi, Gujarat 190,000 BC
Didwana, Rajasthan > 390,000 BC Levallois technique
Teggihalli, Karnataka > 350,000- 287,333 BC Late Acheulian
Sadab, Karnataka 290,405 BC Late Acheulian tools, red
ochre
Nevasa, Maharashtra > 350,000 BC Late Acheulian, Levallois
technique
Yudurwadi, Maharashtra > 350,000 BC Late Acheulian
Dina and Jalalpur, Pakistan 700,000- 500,000 BC
Bori, Maharashtra 670,000- 537,000 BC Acheulian with trihedrals
Isampur, Karnataka > 1,200,000 BC
UBEIDIYA, ISRAEL 1,400,000-1,100,000 BC

Ubeidiya is an early paleolithic archaeological

site located on a low rise in the Jordan Valley of
Israel, and is one of the oldest hominid sites
outside of Africa.

Bone found at the site include extinct species of

hippopotamus and deer, and molluscs; hominid
teeth were found at the site, unidentifiable to
species.

(I)
The site consists of several identified 'living floors'
of concentrations of Acheulean tools such as
handaxes, picks, and bifaces, and pebble-core Core tools of the
Oldowan type
tools and flake-tools. were found in
'Ubeidiya, Israel
Homo erectus populations effortlessly shifted (I), as were
their stone tool technology between the Acheulian
bifaces (II)
production of large cutting tools (picks, www.uiowa.edu
handaxes, cleavers, etc.) and pebble-core (II)
reduction.
HOLON, ISRAEL 201,000-198,000 BC

Excavations at the open-air site of

Holon, Israel, have provided a
unique perspective on hominin
behavior, technology, and
subsistence strategies in the Middle
East.

Late Acheulian tools found use

trifacial reduction method. The
flakes were not derived from hand
axes but rather from core
reductions.

Tools from the Paleolithic site of Holon,

Israel.
A: Handaxe.
B: Chopper.
C: Retouched Flake.
www.semioticon.com
ANATOLIA 600,000 – 10,000 BC

Traces of human existence found in Anatolia date back to approximately 2 million years
ago. Many sites have remains of the Homo Neanderthal species along with tools and
implements.

Yarimburgaz

Karain and Belbaşı

caves

Dülük

Mağaracık

Turkey
www.google.com
 ANATOLIA 600,000 – 10,000 BC
• Earth was covered with ice during this age. A totem is any supposed entity that
watches over or assists a group of
• Human beings were hunters and gatherers,and people, such as a family, clan, or
survived in small groups. tribe.

• Their style of living was nomadic. Totems support larger groups than
the individual person. In kinship and
• Control over fire was gained through the end of the age. descent, if the apical ancestor of a
clan is nonhuman, it is called a totem.
• Primitive religious believes called totemism were also Normally this belief is accompanied
seen in this age. [1] by a totemic myth. [2]

1. Birth Of Civilizations, Microsoft Word Document, www. turkishdaysinny.org 2. www.wikipedia.org

ANATOLIA SITES 600,000 – 10,000 BC

•Yarimburgaz (The city of Bathonea, near Istanbul)

humans (homo-erectus) occupied the area from 800,000 BC.
Pre-pottery neolithic naviform tools and cores, made in
neolithic potteries. homo-sapiens have occupied the area for
the past 15 millennia.

• Karain and Belbaşi caves (Antalya)

Among the finds are many carved stone and bone tools,
moveable art objects, remains of the bones and teeth of Homo
Excavation site at Yarimburgaz
Neanderthal and Homo Sapiens, burnt and unburned animal
www.heritage-key.com
and bread fossils.

• Dülük (Gaziantep)

• Mağaracık (Antakya)

A Lower Paleolithic chopper from

Balitepe, NW Turkey Karain Caves
www. pb-archaeology.blogspot.com www.flickr.com
TABUN CAVE, ISRAEL 387,000-100,000
40,000 BC
BC

The Tabun Cave, located at Mount Carmel B: 40,000 years C: 150,000 years
was occupied intermittently during the D: 250,000 years E: 400,000 years
F: 500,000 years G: 1,000,000 years
Lower and Middle Paleolithic ages. It dottieandrichard.info
features one of the longest sequences of
human occupation in the Levant.

Large amounts of sea sand and pollen traces

found suggest a relatively warm climate at
the time. The Coastal Plain was narrower
than it is now, and was covered with
savannah vegetation.

The cave dwellers of that time used

handaxes of flint or limestone for killing
animals (gazelle, hippopotamus, rhinoceros
and wild cattle) and for digging out plant
roots. Over time, the handaxes became
smaller and better shaped, and scrapers
made of flint were probably used for
scraping meat off bones and for processing
animal skins.
TABUN CAVE, ISRAEL 387,000-100,000
40,000 BC
BC
The upper levels in the Tabun Cave consist
mainly of clay and silt, indicating that a
colder, more humid climate prevailed; this
change yielded a wider coastal strip,
covered by dense forests and swamps. The
material remains from the upper strata of
the cave are of the Mousterian culture
(about 200,000 - 45,000 years ago).

The large number of fallow deer bones

found in the upper layers of the Tabun
Cave may be due to the chimney-like
opening in the back of the cave which
functioned as a natural trap. The animals
may have been herded towards it, and fell
into the cave where they were butchered.

The Tabun Cave contains a Neanderthal-

type female, dated to about 120,000 years Neanderthal woman found at Tabun in Israel
ago. It is one of the most ancient human mathildasanthropologyblog.wordpress.com
skeletal remains found in Israel.
MOUSTERIAN INDUSTRY 2,00,000-40,000 BC

Named after the site of Le Moustier, a

rock shelter in France, Mousterian
describes a style of predominantly flint
tools (or industry).

The Mousterian industry appeared in

much the same areas of unglaciated
Europe, the Near East and Africa where
Acheulean tools appear. In Europe these
tools are most closely associated
with Homo neanderthalensis, but
elsewhere were made by both
Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens.

Artist‖s rendition of a neanderthal

www.google.com
 MOUSTERIAN TOOLS 2,00,000-40,000 BC

Mousterian toolmakers either shaped a

rock into a rounded surface before
striking off the raised area to get a wedge
shaped flake, or they shaped the core as a
long prism of stone before striking off
triangular flakes from its length.

Tools included small hand axes, flake

tools probably used as knives and toothed
instruments produced by making notches
in a flake, perhaps used as saws or shaft
straighteners. Wooden spears were used
to hunt large game such as mammoth and
wooly rhinoceros. Scrapers appear for the
dressing of animal hides, which were Neanderthal tools
probably used for shoes, clothing, www.boneclones.com
bedding, shelter, and carrying sacks.
 MOUSTERIAN TOOLS 2,00,000-40,000 BC

By this time the entire process had Replica stone tools of the Acheulean industry, used by Homo
standardized into explicit stages (basic erectus and early modern humans, and of the Mousterian
industry, used by Neanderthals.
core stone, rough blank, refined final
www.britannica.com
tool). Variations could be produced by
changes at any stage. A consistent goal
was to maximize the cutting area which
made the process more labour intensive
but also meant that the tools could be
reshaped or sharpened, so that they
lasted longer.

Because tools were combined with other

components (handles, spear shafts) and
used in wider applications (dressing
hides, hunting large game), this
technology led to manufacturing
activities in other materials. Mousterian
tool making procedures made possible
the accumulation of physical comforts
which imply social organization and
stability.
Mousterian “tool kits” often have quite
different contents from site to site., which
either means that different groups of
Neanderthal men had varying toolmaking
traditions or that they were used by the same
peoples to perform different functions.
 MOUSTERIAN SITES :INDIA 2,00,000-40,000 BC

The number of Mousterian sites are Stone tools

few. In general, however, the middle assemblage from
the central
Palaeolithic populations occupied Narmada Basin
the same regions and habitats as the www.assemblage.
preceding Acheulian populations. group.shef.ac.uk

Mousterian stone tool assemblages have been found at:

SITE
16R Dune, Didwana, Thar
Desert, Rajasthan
Hathnora, Narmada, Madhya
Pradesh
Patpara, Middle Son
Amnapur, Narmada, Madhya
Pradesh
TIME CHARACTERISTICS
150,000- 100,000 BC Mousterian tools
200,000- 300,000 BC Hominid cranium (around 200,000
years old) represents an advanced
stage of Homo erectus or early stage
of Homo sapiens
>103,000 BC (100,000- Blade and flake blade middle
150,000 BC) Palaeolithic tools
74,000 BC Middle Palaeolithic tools
 QAFZEH CAVE, ISRAEL 100,000 BC

A dozen or so remains found in the

Qafzeh Cave are the oldest specimens of
modern humans in the Near East.
This precedes the known dates for the
existence of Neanderthals in the region,
which goes on to prove that modern
humans and Neanderthals were actually
contemporaries, at least for some time,
and do not have any direct ancestral
linkages.

Neanderthal skull (left) and modern human skull (right)

www.nationalgeographic.com
The fossils of
Skhul and
Qafzeh found
at Qafzeh cave,
Israel are the
oldest Homo
sapiens
sapiens of the
Middle East.
geoserver.itc.nl
 KEBARA CAVE, ISRAEL 60,000 BC
Kebara Cave is
an Israeli limestone cave locality of
the Wadi Kebara.

• Excavations in this part of the world

have revealed skeletal remains of
Neanderthals.

• The most significant discovery

Neandarthal skeleton found in Kebara Cave
made at Kebara Cave was that in www.nationalgeographic.com
1982 of the most
complete Neanderthal skeleton
www. nationalgeographic.com
found to date.

•A throat bone called the hyoid,

needed for speech, was found in the
Neanderthal remains. This points at
the fact that they could speak, but did
not have an effective communicative
language, which eventually led to
their downfall.
KEBARA CAVE, ISRAEL 60,000 BC

• The 4 meter thick cave deposit has

Levallois stone artifacts, many hearths, and
midden deposits.

• The oldest occupations at Kebara Cave are

thought to be associated with the Middle
Paleolithic Aurignacian and
Mousterian traditions, and range between
60,000 and 48,000 years ago.

• These oldest levels yielded thousands of

animal bone- primarily mountain gazelle
and Persian fallow deer- much with cut
marks, burned bones, hearths, ash lenses
and stone artefacts. [3]

3. www.archaeology.about.com by K. Kris Hirst

 SHANIDAR CAVE, IRAQ 60,000 BC

The cave site of Shanidar is located in the

Zagros Mountains of Kurdistan in Iraq. It
yielded the first adult Neanderthal skeletons
in Iraq, dating between 60-80,000 BC.
• The skull had a flat back and the body
had many deformities and injuries.
Around 9 more such remains were also
found.

• The Neanderthals buried their dead, and

were ritualistic as well

• One of the buried skeletons has traces of

plants and flower pollen next to the body.

• Injury signs on the skeletons of the

Neanderthals point at the possibility of a
clash between the Neanderthals and
modern humans.
Shanidar Cave Neandarthal Skull – Shanidar 1
www.wikipedia.com www.wikipedia.com
 IRANIAN STEPPES 43,000 B.C.

• The vast Eurasian and Iranian Steppes were an unbroken grassland stretching from the
Gulf of Aqaba to Mongolia, rich with big game like antelope and bovids.

•Upper Paleolithic era hunters soon began expanding along its length.

•Climate shifted and became colder, more arid and dry, as drought hit the region, turning it
into a desert, effectively closing the Saharan Gateway for the next 20, 000 years, and most
hunter gatherers remained in the Middle East.
• These semi-arid plains were a part of an
ancient superhighway stretching from
France to Korea.

•A small group of these hunter gatherers

kept moving north of the Middle East
toward Anatolia and thereafter formed
the founding settlements of this region.

Artist's impression of the Hunter gatherers of the Middle •They hunted in groups, and had
East. temporary shelters, and no organized
www.scienceblogs.com activities or social structures yet.
 UPPER PALEOLITHIC 40,000- 12,000 BC

In the Upper Paleolithic period Neanderthal

man disappears and is replaced by the Homo
sapiens .

It marked the beginnings of communal

hunting and extensive fishing, and the first
conclusive evidence of belief systems centering
on magic and the supernatural come from this
time. Catalogued tools from the Upper paleolithic era.
www.blue.utp.edu.com
Pit houses, the first man-made shelters, were
built, sewn clothing was worn, and sculpture
and painting originated. Tools were of great
variety, including flint and obsidian blades
and projectile points.

Characteristic of the period were hunting and

fishing settlements along rivers and on lake
shores, where fish and molluscs were
abundant. Portable art from the Upper paleolithic era.
www.blue.utp.edu.com
 UPPER PALEOLITHIC :INDIA 40,000- 12,000 BC

Due to arid climate and sparse vegetation, human

populations faced restricted food resources in this period.
This explains the limited number of upper Palaeolithic
sites in the arid and semi-arid regions. However, excellent
archaeological evidence of this period comes from the
Belan and Son valleys in the northern Vindhyas , Chota
Nagpur plateau in Bihar, upland Maharashtra , Orissa
and from the Eastern Ghats in Andhra Pradesh. Cave art from the Upper paleolithic era.
www.blue.utp.edu.com

SITE TIME CHARACTERISTICS

Baghor I, Son Valley
Chopani Mando, Belan Valley
Budha Pushkar, Thar Desert
Paisra, Munger, Chotta
Nagpur
8,000 BC Stone tools used for food
processing, hunting, craftwork
23,000- 17,000 BC Habitation site with cultural
sequence from Upper Palaeolithic
to Neolithic.
40,000-12,000 BC Parallel Sided blades struck from
Prismatic cores.
7,000 BC Blade and Burin tools
 EMIRIAN 40,000- 12,000 BC

•The Emirian culture represents the transition between the

Middle Paleolithic and the Upper Paleolithic in the Levant
(Syria, Lebanon, Palestine).

•There are also numerous stone blade tools, including some

curved knives similar to those found in the Chatelperronian
culture of Western Europe.

•The Emirian eventually evolved into the Antelian culture,

still of Levalloise tradition but with some Aurignacian
influences. [1]
www.google.com

Emirian stone tools

www. adias-uae.com 1. www.wikipedia.org
 AURIGNACIAN ART INFLUENCE 32,000- 26,000 BC

• The Aurignacian culture is an archaeological culture of

the Upper Paleolithic, located in Europe and southwest Asia,
which exerted a strong influence on the Middle East.

•Aurignacian flint tools were more varied than those of earlier

industries, employing finer blades struck from
prepared cores (typical ―8‖ shape) rather than using crude flakes.

•The people also made pendants, bracelets and ivory beads, and
three-dimensional figurines to ornament themselves.

•The Aurignacian tool industry is characterized by complex art,

which includes figurines depicting faunal representations of the
time period associated with now-extinct mammals,
including mammoths, rhinoceros, and the European horse, along
with anthropomorphized depictions that could be inferred as
some of the earliest evidence of religion.

•The oldest known example of figurative art, the Venus of Hohle

The ―Lion Man‖ of the
Fels, comes from this culture.
Aurignacian culture.
www.wikipedia.org
 MESOLITHIC 12,000-5000 BC

The Mesolithic peoples were hunter-fisher-

gatherers, like their predecessors, but they often
focused on very different species (such as red
deer and boar rather than reindeer) because of
the change to a more to a more temperate climate
at the end of the Ice Age.

Their toolkits reflect these changing conditions,

Mesolithic rock art
and are characterized by the presence of www.wikipedia.org
geometric microliths. These they used not only as
barbs on arrows but also probably in composite
tools, mounted with resin on to handles or shafts
to be used as sickles and other plant-processing
implements. There were also stone axes or adzes
used in woodworking.

It was the middle east Mesolithic people, such as

the Natufians of Palestine, who took the first
decisive steps towards producing food and
adopting a sedentary lifestyle. Mesolithic tools
www.wikipedia.org
 MESOLITHIC :INDIA 12,000-5000 BC

Increased food security during
this period led to reduction in
nomadism and to seasonally
sedentary settlement. This is
reflected in the large size of
Mesolithic sites, the marked
growth in human population,
and the presence of large
cemeteries.
The explanation for this dramatic
increase in human settlements
lies in the increased rainfall and
its effect on the growth of plant
and animal life.
The first human colonization of the Ganga plains took
place during this period, as proved by the presence of
more than two hundred archaeological sites in
Allahabad, Pratapgarh, Jaunpur, Mirzapur and
Varanasi districts of Uttar Pradesh.
Similarly, the effective colonization of the deltaic
region of West Bengal and West Coast, particularly
around Mumbai and in Kerala also took place during
this period.

Microliths, are tiny tools made

from microblades of one to five
cm length, by blunting one or Mesolithic hunting
more sides with steep retouch, scenes in red, Urden,
India
were extensively used. www.chenzhaofu.cn
 MESOLITHIC :INDIA 12,000-5000 BC

The first evidence of intentional

disposal of the dead comes from this
period. The dead were buried in
graves both in extended and crouched
position. Sometimes two individuals
were buried in a single grave. The
dead were occasionally provided with
grave offerings which include chunks
of meat, grinding stones, stone, bone
and antler ornaments, and pieces of
haematite.

Mesolithic human burials have been

found at Bagor in Rajasthan, Langhnaj
in Gujarat, Bhimbetka in Madhya
Pradesh, and Lekhahia, Baghai Khor,
Morhana Pahar, Sarai-Nahar-Rai,
Mahadaha and Damdama in Uttar
Pradesh.
Mesolithic Sites in India
Prehistoric human colonization of India
ANATOLIA 10,000 – 8000 BC
• Glacier covering the earth surface started melting,
and climatic conditions of today first appeared.
• Transformation of humans from hunters and
gatherers into manufacturers also started in this age
•It is considered that primitive farming was also
first done in this speriod
•Hunting and the collecting of plants continued to
be the main supply of food, but the human began to
store his food in storages for later consumption

Excavated wall Lizard – Urfa Excavation

www.blogspot..com www.wikipedia.com
ANATOLIA TOOLS 10,000 – 8000 BC

•Pottery and small tools first appeared, bows

and arrows were used.

• Animals became smaller in size and faster

than before, so human had to develop his
stone tools and weapons in a lighter and
more practical form.

• More tools and weapons which were made

of bones and wood and also some other
personal ornamentation and daily use
items such as combs.

• One of the most interesting usages of stone

of this period is what is called Microliths
that are small tools made from Obsidian
and flints.

• Domestication of Animals is the main

development of this period; the Dog was
domesticated during the Mesolithic Age.
Mesolithic Tools www.google.com
NATUFIAN CULTURE 9000 B.C.

•Natufian Culture thrived in the Near East‖s

Levant Region (the Eastern Mediterranean)

•Warming temperatures gave rise to new plant

foods which enabled nomadic hunter-gatherers
to settle down in large communities based on
foraging.

• It‖s members were probably the first to

domesticate dogs.

•Cemeteries yield clues of social hierarchy in

which jewellery, burial artifacts and grave
Artist‖s rendition of Natufians working in the markers serve as indicators of status.
fields.
amscoextra.blogspot.com
NATUFIAN CULTURE 9000 B.C.

•Natufians developed basic agricultural skills, such as the use of stone bladed sickles

•The focus shifted from hunting, but when they hunted, the did so in a more effective and co-
operative manner.

•The knowledgeable Natufians compensated for the drastic change in climate around 9000
B.C. by supplementing plants of their traditional food crops.

•This heralded the age of

farming dominated societies all
over the Middle East and an
agrarian lifestyle all over the
world.

•They grew mostly cereals, often

clearing wild scrubs to
Natufian reaping tool in which small, sharp blades might‖ve been set. experiment with new seeds.
www.nationalgeographic.org
NATUFIAN CULTURE 9000 B.C.

•Open settlements that were of modest size,

with some traces of round huts, some of
which were built on stone foundations,
although caves are also known to have still
been inhabited.

•Traces of normal developments of flint

industries based essentially upon local
Upper Palaeolithic antecedents, both
influenced in their food getting by the
already intensified food-collecting practices
of immediate predecessors

•Sheep used at the incipient level, hints of

flint sickles, ground-stone mullers, mortars
and pestles, and probable hoe blades suggest
Ruins of supporting wall of an ancient Natufian house
that food plants also received marked www.wikpedia.org
attention.
 THE FERTILE CRESCENT 10,000 B.C.
•Stretches in graceful curve from the
Nile Valley, across the Syrian Desert, to
the Tigris and Euphrates rivers of
modern Iraq.

•Birthplace of irrigated agriculture and

urban civilization approximately 12,000
years ago.

•Shifting climate and growing

populations made hunter-gatherer
sustenance insufficient and spurred the
shift to agriculture.

•Region was home to wild crops (barley)

that could be supplemented and wild
animals (goats and sheep) that could be
domesticated.

•Incorporated two of the most important The Fertile Crescent (Green)

regions : Mesopotamia and the Levant. www.staff.4j.lane.edu
 JARMO, IRAQ 7000 BC
Jarmo is an archeological site located in northern Iraq on the foothills of the
Zagros Mountains. The site of Jarmo is approximately three to four acres
(12,000 to 16,000 m²) in size and lies at an altitude of 800 meters above
sea level in a belt of oak and pistachio
woodlands.
•The oldest known agricultural community in the
world, dating back to 7000 BC.

• There were approximately 100 to 150 people

who lived in the village.

• The people reaped their grain with stone sickles,

stored their food in stone bowls. They grew emmer
and einkorn wheat, barley, and lentils. In addition
to their agriculture, they also foraged for wild
plants such as the field pea, acorns, pistachio nuts,
and wild wheat

• possessed domesticated goats, pig, sheep, and Excavations at Jarmo

dogs.. The later levels of settlement contained www.google.com
evidence of clay pottery.
 JARMO, IRAQ 7000 BC
Twenty permanent mud-walled houses were excavated. which
had:
1. stone foundations
2. tauf walls
3. reed bedding
A primitive form of commerce existed. Bone tools, especially awls,
were abundant. Bone spoons and beads were also found
Jarmo is one of the oldest sites at
which pottery has been found. This
pottery is hand made, simply
designed with thick sides, treated
with vegetable solvents. There are
clay figures, zoomorphic or
. anthropomorphic, including figures
of pregnant women (fertility Sitting figure, Hassuna,
goddesses) similar to the Mother 6000 B.C.
Goddess. www.wikipedia.com

Jarmo as a settlement was a social and economical

Bone awls example for future Mesopotamian cultures that would
www.google.com arise around 4000 BC. [1]
1. www.mnsu.edu
 NEOLITHIC 9500- 3300 BC

The Neolithic has traditionally been

associated with the origins of farming and a
sedentary way of life, together with the use
of pottery and of ground (polished) stone
tools.

In the Near East food production developed

before pottery occurred (thus giving rise to
the terms “Pre-Pottery Neolithic” and
“Pottery Neolithic”).

The Neolithic also saw the rise of the first
true villages, with houses being built of
different materials, for example, mud-brick
houses in the Levant
These early farming tools date from about 6000 BC. The
axe, bottom, was used for clearing; flint sickles, left,
were used for harvesting cereal crops; a flat rock and
rounded stone, centre, were used for grinding flour; and
perforated clay slabs, upper right, were probably used to
ventilate bread ovens.
Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia
NEOLITHIC 9500- 3300 BC

The mobile hunter-gatherers of the

Palaeolithic knew how to make pottery,
but did not generally do so, as it is too
heavy to carry; their receptacles were
undoubtedly made of leather and basketry.
Pottery, thus a natural development for
sedentary peoples, was widely used by the
neolithic people.

Pottery was often richly decorated with

incised, stamped, or painted motifs.
Neolithic art also included a wide variety
of figurines (often of females, as in the
Mother Goddess).

The cultivation of cereals and Pottery excavated at Jericho, dating from the period
domestication of animals such as cattle, 3300-1550BC
www.bible-archaeology.info
sheep, goats, and pigs was adopted, not as
a brilliant discovery, but as a necessity
caused by the pressures of a rising
population.
 NEOLITHIC :INDIA 9500- 3300 BC

Neolithic tools Toranagallu ash mound

www.wikipedia.com www.wikipedia.com

SITE TIME CHARACTERISTICS

Kashmir Neolithic Culture 3,000 BC Lived in pits dug into the compact
Karewa loess
Ganga Valley Neolithic 2500 BC Convergence of Indo-Aryan,
Culture Dravidian and Austro-Asiatic
peoples
Eastern Neolithic Culture 2200 BC Pointed-butt celts and cord
impressed pottery
Peninsular Neolithic Culture 3,000 BC Ash Mounds
JHUSI & LAHURADEWA :INDIA 7000- 2500 BC
Lahurdewa, in the central ganga plain is
surrounded by water bodies. Availability of water
and well-suited soil conditions would have been
determining factors for the locations.
lahuradewa • early innovations associated with the ceramic
`
types and other artefacts
Jhusi
•cereal domestications and some sort of
cultivations at quite an early date.
•Appearance of morphologically distinct form of
rice, comparable to cultivated Oryza sativa - an
Prehistory in
India, early beginning of agriculture.
d oc. By VN Misra •There is a strong possibility that people have
been living in Ganga Plains since late Palaeolitic
and interacted with the communities living in the
The Neolithic phase at Jhusi is
Vindhyas,Himalayas and other areas.
characterised by
• hand made pottery
• bone tools and arrowheads
•stone tools.
• A big structure that might have been
used as hearth-cum-pottery-kiln has also
been found.
MEHRGARH :INDIA 7000- 2600 BC

Mehrgarh is a Neolithic site in Baluchistan, Pakistan, and

one of the earliest sites with evidence of farming and
herding in south Asia. Mehrgarh is now seen as a precursor
to the Indus Valley Civilization. The site was occupied
continuously until about 2600 BC, when it was abandoned.

The settlement was transformed from a cluster of small

mudbrick storage units with evidence of domestication of
cattle and barley to a substantial Bronze Age village at the
centre of its own distinctive craft zone. The absence of early
residential structures has been interpreted by some as
further evidence of the site‖s early occupation by mobile
early humans possible travelling through the nearby pass
seasonally.
Early farming village in Mehrgarh, c.
Although Mehrgarh was abandoned by the time of the 7000 BCE, with houses built with
emergence of the literate urbanised phase of the Indus mud bricks
www.wikipedia.org
Civilisation, its development illustrates the development of
the civilisation‖s subsistence patterns as well as its craft and
trade specialisation.
MEHRGARH :INDIA 7000- 2600 BC

The earliest settled portion of Mehrgarh was in an area

called MR.3, in the northeast corner of the 495-acre
occupation. It is a small farming and pastoralist village
dated between 7000-5500 BC, with mud brick houses
and granaries.

The early Mehrgarh residents used local copper ore,

basket containers lined with bitumen, and an array of
bone tools. They grew six-row barley, einkorn and
emmer wheat, jujubes and dates. Sheep, goats and cattle
were herded at Mehrgarh beginning during this early
period.

The most recent studies at Mehrgarh showed they even

had a pretty good grasp of evidence of dentistry.
A figurine from Mehrgarh, c.
Later periods included craft activities such as flint 3000 BCE
knapping, tanning, and bead production; also, a www.wikipedia.org
significant level of metal working.
URFA, ANATOLIA 9500-7500BC

• The hilltop mound, around 300 meters in diameter and some 15 meters high, contains a
series of circular structures or temples, carbon dated to a period between 9,500 and
7,500 B.C.
• Structures were made by first building an "artificial" mound of debris, then hollowing it
out to create a sunken chamber.
• Each contains a series of T-shaped limestone monoliths, the tallest of which are upto
five meters high.
•These freestanding stones are anthropomorphic, with the top of the T representing the
head of the figure. The stem of the T represents the body, with arms carved in light relief
on either side.

Fox – Urfa Excavations

www.wikipedia.com
 URFA, ANATOLIA :ARCHITECTURE 9500-7500BC

•The excavated architectural remains were of long

rectangular houses containing two to three parallel
flights of rooms. These are adjacent to a similarly
rectangular ante-structure, subdivided by wall
projections, which should be seen as a residential
space.
•This type of house is characterized by thick, multi-
layered foundations made of large angular cobbles A house
and boulders, the gaps filled with smaller stones so www.ancient-wisdom.co.uk
as to provide a relatively even surface to support the
superstructure. These foundations are interrupted
every 1-1.5m by underfloor channels, at right
angles to the main axis of the houses, which were
covered in stone slabs but open to the sides. They
served the drainage, aeration or the cooling of the
houses
•In the northwest part of the village a cult complex
had been cut into the hillslope The site
•Monolithic were built into its dry stone walls, its www.turkeyforholidays.com
interior contained two free-standing pillars of 3 m
height.
URFA, ANATOLIA :SCULPTURE 9500-7500BC

•The local limestone was carved into

numerous statues and smaller sculptures,
including a more than life-sized bare human
head with a snake or sikha-like tuft.
• There is also a statue of a bird.
•Some of the pillars also bore reliefs, including
ones of human hands.
• The free-standing anthropomorphic figures
of limestone excavated at Nevali Cori belong
to the earliest known life-size sculptures.
•Several hundred small clay figurines (about 5
cm high), most of them depicting humans,
have been interpreted as votive offerings.
•They were fired at temperatures between
500-600°C, which suggests the development
of ceramic firing technology before the advent
of pottery proper. [1]
sculptures
www.google.com

1. www.wikipedia.org
 URFA, ANATOLIA 9500-7500BC

• Many of the monoliths are covered in

relief carvings of wild animals, usually
either predatory or dangerous, such as
lions, snakes, foxes and scorpions.
• The floors of the temple chambers are
of burnt lime, and benches line the
walls.
• These massive stones were quarried,
Modern day Urfa cut to shape, carted into place and
www.google.com sculpted to such a high standard by
Stone Age man, obviously using only
stone and flint tools, is remarkable.

Some other Mesolithic sites are

Sarklimagara cave in Gaziantep region,
Baradiz cave from Burdur area and
open air settlements and cemeteries of
Sogut Tarlasi, Biris near Bozova.
T –shaped limestone monolith
www.wikipedia.org
 JERICHO 9000 B.C.

•Located near Jordan river in West

Bank of Palestinian territories.

•Site has been inhabited ever since

the founding of the Natufian
Culture.

•Mesolithic city plan is similar to

that of Çatalhöyük

•Site had abundant water supply,

good climate and central location

•Site shows signs of violent

demolition in 15th century B.C.

•Existed since before pottery and

agriculture.
Dwelling foundations unearthed at
Tell-es Sultan in Jericho.
www.wikipedia..org
 JERICHO : ARCHITECTURE 9000 B.C.
•During 8350- 7350 BC circular houses of mud brick
were built. From 7200 BC the houses were rectangular
in shape with plastered walls and floors.

•Population in such houses as many as 1500.

•Settlement surrounded by massive stone wall as a

defense mechanism against invaders, animals or floods

•A single gate had towers flanking it on either side

•Densely packed houses were accessible by narrow

allies.

•There were buildings for worship and storage

•Floor levels of houses were below ground level and

generally had two steps descending into the main Neolithic watch tower built and destroyed in
room. about 7000-8000 B.C. in Jericho
www.bible-lands.info
•Benches ran along most walls.
BURUSHASKI LANGUAGE, INDIA/PAKISTAN 8,000 BC

Burshaski is a “language isolate”, spoken till date by people in northwest Kashmir, but has
a history around 10,000 years old.

Linguists believe that Burushaski is

linked to ancient languages like Basque,
the extinct Sumerian tongue and some
North American languages. A woman from Burosho
www.paulstravelblog.com

Usually Burushaski is not

written. Occasionally,
the Urdu version of
the Arabic alphabet is used,
but a fixed orthography does
not exist.
Ancient genetic markers of
migrating humans suggest
how these different language
Karakoram range, where the Burosho people live pockets might actually be
www.google.com linked.
 AIN GHAZAL, JORDAN 7250- 5000 BC

Ain Ghazal is a Neolithic site located in North-Eastern Jordan, on

the outskirts of Amman.
•In its prime time around 7000 BC, it extended over 10-15
hectares and was inhabited by approximately 3000 people
(four to five times its contemporary - Jericho).
After 6500 BC, however, the population dropped sharply to
about one sixth within only a few generations, probably due to
environmental degradation
•'Ain Ghazal was set on terraced ground at a valley-side,
•Rectangular mud-brick houses that accommodated a square
main room and a smaller anteroom.
•Walls were plastered with mud on the outside, and with lime
plaster inside that was renewed every few years.
•Being an early farming community, the 'Ain Ghazal people
cultivated cereals, legumens and chickpeas in a field above the
village
•They herded domesticated goats.
However, they still hunted wild animals - deer, gazelle etc [1 An ain ghazal figure
www.google.com
1. www.wikipedia.org
ÇATAL HÜYÜK 6300– 5500 BC

•Çatal Hüyük was a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlement found
in Southern Anatolia, or present day Turkey.

•Sophisticated society with many trade links.

•Ruins yield materials from the

Iranian highlands, Syria and the
Levant region.

•It had an average population of

between 5,000 to 8,000 people.

Artist‖s rendition of the city of Çatal

Hüyük
northernblue.ca
ÇATAL HÜYÜK :ARCHITECTURE 6300– 5500 BC

•Mud-brick houses were crammed together in an

agglutinative manner.

•No footpaths or streets were used between

dwellings, which were accessed by holes in the
ceiling, and were reached by interior and exterior
ladders.

•Each main room served as an area for cooking and

daily activities.

•In good weather, daily activities may also have

taken place on the rooftops, which conceivably
formed an open air plaza.

•Typical homes feature benches, raised platforms,

domed ovens and grain storage rooms.

On-site restoration of a typical interior •There are no houses with distinct features, which
www.wikipedia.org points to an absence of a social-class system.
ÇATAL HÜYÜK :ART
Mother goddess seated on a throne, flanked by two
lionesses, as depicted in the above sculpture
www.reclusveleftist.com
6300– 5500 BC
•Vivid murals and figurines are found throughout
the settlement, on interior and exterior walls.
•Predominant images include men with erect
phalluses, hunting scenes, red images of the now
extinct aurochs (wild cattle) and stags,
and vultures swooping down on headless figures
•Heads of animals, especially of cattle, were
mounted on walls.
•Carefully made figurines, carved and molded
from marble, blue and brown limestone, schist,
calcite, basalt, alabaster, and clay, represent
the Great Goddess
•Arrows, spearheads, long knives and daggers
were made out of imported flint and obsidian.
•Obsidian mirrors, animal figurines,
monochromatic pottery characterize their art.
ÇATAL HÜYÜK :BURIALS 6300– 5500 BC

•The people of Çatalhöyük buried their dead

within the village, in burial pits.

•The bodies were tightly flexed before burial,

and were often placed in baskets or wrapped
in reed mats.

• In some cases, graves were disturbed and

the individual‖s head removed from the
skeleton.

•Some skulls were plastered and painted with

ochre to recreate human-like faces, a custom
more characteristic of Neolithic sites in Syria
Infant skeleton excavated from a Çatal Hüyük
and at Neolithic Jericho than at sites closer by. burial site
www.catalhoyuk.com
•In some burials, remains are accompanied by
funerary items like food, mirrors and pottery.
CHALCOLITHIC AGE 5500-2000 B.C.

•The phase when copper metallurgy

was being adopted by Neolithic
cultures in the Near East and south-
eastern Europe is sometimes called
the Copper Age (or “Chalcolithic” or
“Eneolithic”).

•Metallurgy occurred first in

the Fertile Crescent, where it gave
rise to the Bronze Age in the 4th
millennium BC.

•Copper may originally have been a

prestige material since, unlike stone,
copper ore is not common and
needed to be mined and smelted Copper ware from the Chalcolithic age
www.anistor. gr
(heated to separate the metal from
the rock).
 CHALCOLITHIC AGE 5500-2000 B.C.
Copper, obtained from nodules of locally
available copper or from copper ores, was used to
make ornaments and weapons (such as flat axe-
blades), but was too soft or brittle to be truly
useful.

It could be cold-hammered into shape to make

rough tools or beads; or it could be cast.

Temperatures of about 800° C that were required

for smelting were provided by the high-
temperature kilns developed for firing fine
pottery.

Casting made it possible to produce larger and

Chalcolithic mine in Timna Park, Negev Desert, Israel.
more complex objects such as hammer-axes. www.wikipedia.org

Crucibles and slag dating from the 4th

millennium BC have been found, and copper
mines are known from a number of sites in the
Near East.
 CHALCOLITHIC :INDIA 5500-2000 B.C.

SITE Characteristics
Indo- •ochre-coloured pottery (OCP)
Gangetic Divide and •Rammed earth floors, post-holes, baked and
upper Ganga-Yamuna Unbaked bricks
Doab •Pottery with incised designs, graffiti, paintings in black pigment
•Cultivation of rice and barley
•Domestication of animals
Ahar, Mewar region, •Houses made of stone, mud-brick and mud,
Rajasthan Massive foundations more than a metre in width,
Walls of mud
•Wares made of well-levigated clay, slipped and burnished surface,
well baked and sturdy.
•technology based on Copper,
Copper objects
include flat axes, choppers etc
Narhan, Northern The houses were generally made of wattle-and-daub as
Vindhyas and the represented by postholes, burnt lumps of clay with
middle and bamboo and reed impressions, and compact mud floors.
lower Ganga valley They were usually of rectangular shape.
 CHALCOLITHIC :INDIA 5500-2000 B.C.

SITE Characteristics
Kayatha, •The Kayatha culture people lived in small huts having
Madhya well-rammed floors
Pradesh • cultivated wheat, barley and domesticated animals, possibly even horses.
• typical ceramic, chocolate-slipped, sturdy, well baked wares

Malwa, •wattle-and-daub houses of rectangular and round shape, burnt wooden posts,
Malwa clay plaster with bamboo, reed impressions
region, •cultivated cereals, legumes, oil seeds and fruits
Madhya •painted designs are primarily geometric such as triangles and lozenges
Pradesh (diamond shaped)

Jorwe, •large villages like Bahal and Nevasa

Western •Rectangular structures, measuring 5 × 3 m with low
Maharashtra mud walls, rows with the longer axis in a
roughly east-west orientation.
 CHALCOLITHIC SITES 5500-2000 B.C.

HACILAR, TURKEY
Hacilar is an early human settlement in south western Turkey. It has been
dated back 7040 BC at its earliest stage of development. Archaeological
remains indicate that the site was abandoned and reoccupied on more
than one occasion in its history.
BEYCESULTAN, TURKEY
Beycesultan, an archaeological site in western Anatolia, was occupied during a
long sequence between Late Chalcolithic to Late Bronze Age (Hittite Empire)
and then also in the Byzantine period.
ALIŞAR HÖYÜK, TURKEY
The site was settled from the Chalcolithic period in the fourth millennium BC
until the Phrygian period in the first millennium BC. Alişar later developed
into a walled town. Eventually it became the most significant city in the
region. It was a center for trade attracting merchants from Assyria at the
beginning of the second millennium BC.

CAN HASAN, TURKEY

Can Hasan was a late Neolithic settlement dating from 6500
BCE, inhabited into the Chalcolithic period.
ARCHITECTURE :VILLAGE 5500-2000 B.C.

In Hacilar, housing consisted of grouped

units surrounding an inner courtyard. Each
dwelling was built on a stone foundation to
protect against water damage. Walls were
made of wood and daub or mud-brick that
was mortared with lime. Wooden poles also
supported the flat roof. It is generally
believed that these houses had an upper
story made of wood.

The interiors were finished smooth with

plaster and were rarely painted. Over time
changes were made to the housing units;
Querns, braziers and mortars appeared in
the floors. Recesses in walls were also put to
good use as cupboards. The kitchen was
separated from the living rooms and the
upper levels were used for granaries and/or
workshops.
A mother goddess statuette from Canhasan, in
Turkey. This figurine, along with other mother
goddess figurines found in Canhasan, is thought to
be an evidence of a continual matriarchal society in
central Anatolia during the Chalcolithic age.
www.wikipedia.org
ARCHITECTURE :DEFENCE 5500-2000 B.C.
Village architecture also provides evidence for
the necessity of communal defence, which was
accomplished by means of a circuit wall or—as
in Hacılar—a continuous wall formed by the
outside rear walls of contiguous houses.

At Hacılar and Can Hasan, the heavy ground-

floor chambers of these houses had no doorways
and were evidently entered by ladders from a
more fragile upper story.

Improvements in architecture, however, can be

seen at Mersin, where one of its later phases is
represented by a neatly planned and constructed
fortress. The steep slope of the mound was Excavation site at Tell Brak, Syria.
www. mcdonald.cam.ac.uk
crowned by a continuous defensive wall, pierced
by slit windows and entered through a gateway
protected by flanking towers. Inside, there was
formally arranged accommodation for the
garrison and other evidence of military
discipline as conceived in 5200 BC.
 BRONZE AGE 3300-1200 B.C.

Bronze Age is the period which corresponds to the

introduction of metallurgy, for making tools,
weapons, and ceremonial objects.

Sometimes, low percentages of other elements were

naturally present in the copper ore, and were found
to make the metal easier to cast and harder when set.
Adding about 10 per cent tin to the copper, a far
harder alloy—bronze—was produced, which was
easy to cast (it flowed more easily) and could be made
into many different shapes. It also held a hard, sharp
cutting edge which could be resharpened, while
worn or broken tools could be melted down and A drawing of an early cuneiform
recast. carving of a procession by Hittites in
Boğazkale, Turkey.
www.wikipedia.org
Most bronze objects—swords, spearheads, axes,
knives, pins, and brooches—were made by casting.
Other objects such as shields were made by
hammering sheets of metal into shape.
 BRONZE AGE 3300-1200 B.C.

Modern experiments have shown that

bronze tools and weapons are
generally not much sharper than their
equivalents in flint.

The adoption of bronze was, therefore,

probably closely linked to social
status: not only were the materials
sometimes difficult to obtain (and
hence presumably expensive), but
bronze is a shiny gold-coloured metal
which can also be richly decorated.

Like gold itself, it was an ideal vehicle

for the display of personal power and
wealth, and was popular among the
prehistoric aristocracy for jewellery
and ornaments, as well as for often
profusely decorated weapons and for
tools.
Because the metal was highly valued, objects made of bronze
were often hidden in hoards or buried with the dead, and it is
these sources that have yielded most of the Bronze Age
artifacts known today. The assemblage shown here consists
of objects of personal adornment.
Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2003
BRONZE AGE 3300-1200 B.C.

The agricultural way of life, established in the Neolithic period, continued. Ploughing
appears to have become widespread, as shown by remains of implements as well as
plough-marks under barrows, and depictions of ploughing in the rock art of the period.

As populations grew and expanded, pressure on land increased, and agriculture spread.
Soil erosion also increased.

Another trend towards the end of the Bronze Age was a growing emphasis on
fortifications. Bronze armour and helmets, and new types of weapons such as the very
effective slashing sword, suggest that warfare had come to the fore.

Bronze Age weapons include

slender spearheads, swords, and
knives.
Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia
2003
 MESOPOTAMIA 5900-1100 B.C.

Mesopotamia, located in a region that

included parts of what is now eastern
Syria, south-eastern Turkey, and most
of Iraq, lay between two rivers, the
Tigris and the Euphrates. The name
Mesopotamia is a Greek word meaning
“between the rivers.”

Its oldest known communities date

from 7000 BC. The world's earliest
urban civilizations arose here around
3500 BC. Mesopotamia, known as “the
cradle of civilization”, was the centre of
Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, and
Chaldean civilizations.
Ancient Mesopotamia
In the 6th century BC, it became part of www.chaldean.org
the Persian Empire, at the time the
largest empire in the world.
 MESOPOTAMIA :TIMELINE 5900-1100 B.C.

Pre-pottery Pottery Early Middle

Time period/ Era Neolithic Neolithic Chalcolithic Bronze Bronze Late Bronze
5900 – 4400 BC Ubaid

4400 – 3200 BC Uruk

3100 – 2900 BC Jemdet Nasr
2900 – 2350 BC Sumerian
city states

2350 – 2193 BC Akkadian

2119 – 2004 BC Ur (3rd
dynasty)
2000 – 1800 BC Assyrian
1800 – 1700 BC Babylonian
1600 – 1200 BC Kassite
(Middle
Assyrian)
1200 – 1100 BC Collapse of
www.wikipedia.org Bronze Age
EBLA, SYRIA 3000- 1650 BC

Ebla was part of a flourishing north Syrian civilization contemporaneous with early Egypt
and Mesopotamia.

Excavations unearthed Ebla's royal archives, a collection of more than 14,000 inscriptions
on clay tablets dating from 2500-2200 BC. They were written in the cuneiform script
developed by Sumerians, but were adapted to the language of Ebla's Semitic inhabitants
Ebla was an important commercial
centre ruled by a merchant oligarchy
that elected a monarch and entrusted
the city's defence to paid soldiers. It was
a polytheistic society.

The Akkadians destroyed Ebla around

2300 BC. Several centuries after its
destruction by the Akkadians, Ebla
managed to recover some of its
importance, and had a second apogee
lasting from c.1850 to 1600 BC.
The image shows part of the excavated city of Ebla. Most of the ruins have been given
a top layer of new bricks. Some stones used to grind flour are also seen in the picture.
www.wikipedia.org
 TEPE GAWRA, IRAQ (UBAID) 5000-3000 B.C

Tepe Gawra is a Mesopotamian city in northern

Iraq, fifteen kilometers from the modern town of
Mosul. The earliest occupations at Tepe Gawra
are dated to the mid-sixth millennium BC, the
Ubaid period in Mesopotamia.

•Burials at Tepe Gawra reveal social

stratification, expressed by the presence of
beads of imported lapis lazuli as well as ivory,
etc.
www.google.com
•A storage facility called the "round house"
stored grain and weaponry.

Tomb in Tepe Gawra Mesopotamian tablet

www.cnes.cla.umn.edu www.google.com
1. www.cnes.cla.umn.edu
TEPE GAWRA, IRAQ (SUMER) 5000-2000 B.C.

Eridu is the oldest known Sumerian city, 22 kilometers south

of Nasiriya ,during the Ubaid through Ur periods of southern
Mesopotamia. According to Sumerian tradition the city
belonged to the god Enki.

•Eridu is best known for its temples, called ziggurats.

•The earliest temple, dated to the Ubaid period about 5570 BC,
consisted of a small room with a possible cult niche and an
offering table.
• Temples were built in the classical early Mesopotamian
format of tripartite plan, with a
buttressed facade and a
long central room with
an altar.
• The city was
planned on the basis
of caste and economic
stature – with the rich in the
center and the poor surrounding
them. Ziggurat Enki – the God of Eridu
www.wayfaring.info www.wayfaring.info
SOURCES

•Readers‖ Digest Vanished Civilizations, The Readers‖ Digest Association Limited, 2002
•Prehistoric human colonization of India, V N MISRA

•Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Standard 2003

•en.wikipedia.org
•www.handprint.com
•www.originsnet.org
•www.britannica.com
•maps.nationalgeographic.com
•archaeology.about.com
•ancientneareast.tripod.com
•www.history-world.org