Anthropology

Ichingcarpenter

(36,988 posts) Thu Sep 4, 2014, 04:53 AM Sep 2014

Tell Qaramel Syria 10,650 BC 5 Stone Towers 6 metres in diameter

The round towers of Qaramel have now been confirmed by 14C dating as the oldest such structures anywhere in the world. At c. 10,650 BC after calibration, they are older than the tower known from Pre-Pottery Neolithic Jericho. The team from the Polish Centre, directed by Prof. Dr. Ryszard F. Mazurowski, had observed the feature earlier, but only now have the excavations progressed sufficiently to permit a better understanding of the towers and surrounding area.

This dating makes the towers roughly two thousand years older than the stone tower found at Jericho, which was previously believed to be the oldest known tower structure in the world

The finds inventory complements the picture already formed of a complex and affluent community living on Tell Qaramel in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period. Not the least is this year's discovery of a fragmentary figurine of dried clay representing a bird. Ornamented stone arrow straighteners, showing geometric designs, naturally represented and stylized images of snakes and human figures etc. are a regular component of the finds, as are stone querns, pounders, grinders, decorated bowls, axes, picks, polishing stones, awls, needles, miniature toilet vases etc.

Tell Qaramel dates close in age to Gobekli Tepe (Turkey) 9130–8800 BCE. Civilization that was said to had started thanks to religious ceremonies, instead of conventional agricultural, or military unification.

The sum of the dates has already been compiled by Mazurkowski et al. (2009). Variances in these sums are due to the fact that in our compilation dates with a higher deviation than +/- 150 years have been excluded. The sum of the dates – including the GdS-dates – range between: Phase 1: 10900-9700 BC; Phase 2: 10300-9300 BC, and Phase 3: 9280-8850 BC.[3]

http://thedailyjournalist.com/the-historian/unknown-civilizations-tell-qaramel/

http://www.exoriente.org/associated_projects/ppnd_site.php?s=51

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tell_Qaramel

6 replies

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Tell Qaramel Syria 10,650 BC 5 Stone Towers 6 metres in diameter (Original Post) Ichingcarpenter Sep 2014 OP

Thank you. littlemissmartypants Sep 2014 #1

Study of Neolithic human graves from Tell Qaramel in North Syria Ichingcarpenter Sep 2014 #2

People were building sophisticated stone structures during the, "Pre-Pottery Neolithic period." another_liberal Sep 2014 #3

Facscinating smiley Sep 2014 #4

Old! Enthusiast Sep 2014 #5

Thanks for the post. ctsnowman Sep 2014 #6

littlemissmartypants

(22,690 posts)

1. Thank you.

Reply to Ichingcarpenter (Original post)

Thu Sep 4, 2014, 05:31 AM

Sep 2014

I'm so glad I subscribe to this group.

I really appreciate your posts.

~ Lmsp

Ichingcarpenter

(36,988 posts)

2. Study of Neolithic human graves from Tell Qaramel in North Syria

Reply to littlemissmartypants (Reply #1)

Thu Sep 4, 2014, 06:34 AM

Sep 2014

Abstract

Abstract - In this report we present the study of human skeletons and the mortuary practice in Tell Qaramel site in northern Syria during the period of the Pre Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA).

The samples came from 12 graves which present both individual and collective burials and contain altogether 20 skeletons. All burials discovered are of adult individuals who were buried without cranium, or cranium alone, and in few cases buried with the entire skeleton.

Analysis of these skeletal remains provides the most obvious proof of the cut head process and the circumstance according to which it is done. In some cases many cut marks on the second cervical vertebra are be noted indicating very likely that the separation of the head was made by a flint tool directly after the death.

While in other cases the body seems buried until the flesh was decayed and then the burial is opened and only the skull is taken.

Our results are compared with those of previous studies relating to Neolithic in northern and southern Syrian sites and in other sites in other regions of Middle Orient and North Africa in the aim to show the general evolution of the mortuary practice during the different periods of Neolithic and to show the religious and social beliefs governing burial rites at these periods.

http://www.ajol.info/index.php/ijma/article/view/60348/0

The people of Çatalhöyük buried their dead within the village. Human remains have been found in pits beneath the floors and, especially, beneath hearths, the platforms within the main rooms, and under beds. Bodies were tightly flexed before burial and were often placed in baskets or wound and wrapped in reed mats. Disarticulated bones in some graves suggest that bodies may have been exposed in the open air for a time before the bones were gathered and buried. In some cases, graves were disturbed, and the individual’s head removed from the skeleton. These heads may have been used in rituals, as some were found in other areas of the community. Some skulls were plastered and painted with ochre to recreate faces, a custom more characteristic of Neolithic sites in Syria and at Neolithic Jericho than at sites closer by.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%87atalh%C3%B6y%C3%BCk