(originally published in (1998): XIX Kazi Sonuclar Toplantisi. Pp. 179-207. Ankara: Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Culture, General Directorate of Monuments and Museums.)
1996 EXCAVATIONS AT HACINEBI TEPE
Gil J. Stein
INTRODUCTION:
The fifth field season of the Northwestern University salvage excavations at Hacinebi Tepe, Birecik district, Sanlõurfa province took place from July 10-August 30, 1996, directed by Gil Stein (Northwestern University). The excavations were funded with support from the National Science Foundation, the Kress Foundation, and the generosity of private donors. We wish to express our appreciation to Mr. Mehmet Akif Isik , General Director of the Ministry of Culture’s Directorate of Monuments and Museums for permission to conduct this research. We thank Mr. Adnan Misir, Director of the Sanlõurfa Museum for his administrative assistance, and Mr. Mehmet Yücel Kumandas (Rize Museum), who served as representative of the Directorate of Monuments and Museums. We also gratefully acknowledge Mr. Kemal Isik, the Muhtar of Ugurcuk village, for his hospitality and assistance in conducting excavations at Hacinebi.
The project staff consisted of: Ms. Sevil Baltali (University of Chicago), Mr. Adnan Baysal, Ms. Lauren Bigelow (Northwestern University), Mr. Kenneth Boden (University of Arizona), Ms. Tania Collas, Ms. Güner Coskunsu (Istanbul University), Dr. Christopher Edens (assistant director), Ms. Julie Pearce Edens (University of Pennsylvania), Mr. Fokke Gerritsen (University of Amsterdam), Ms. Kathryn Keith (University of Michigan), Ms. Katherine May (Buffalo State College), Dr. Augusta McMahon (Cambridge University - assistant director), Ms. Rana Özbal (Bates College), and Mr. Mark Schwartz (Northwestern University). A team of 36 workers from the village of Ugurcuk (Hacinebi) assisted the project staff in the excavation and artifact processing activities.
SITE DESCRIPTION:
Hacinebi Tepe is a 3.3 ha. roughly triangular mound on the limestone bluffs overlooking the east bank of the Euphrates river, 5 km north of the modern town of Birecik in „anlõurfa province, southeast Turkey. The site lies near the head of the main north-south riverine trade route linking Mesopotamia and Anatolia; it also occupies a strategic location on what has historically been a major east-west river crossing point. Five seasons of excavation (1992-1996) have been investigating fourth millennium BC interaction between Uruk Mesopotamia and Local Late Chalcolithic (LLC) indigenous societies in southeast Anatolia (Stein and Misir 1994a, 1994b, 1995, 1996; Stein, Bernbeck et al. 1996; Stein, Edens, et al. 1996).
Three main occupations are attested at Hacinebi. 1-2.5 m. thick Achaemenid/Hellenistic deposits are present immediately below the plow zone, and form at least 3 main building levels. These overlie an erosion layer that seals off a series of burials dating to the Early Bronze I period. This Early Bronze I use of the site was first detected in the 1996 field season. Burials of this period cut into a Late Chalcolithic occupation up to 5 m. deep, dating approximately 4000-3300 BC. The Late Chalcolithic occupation consists of two phases: an earlier Phase A which has only typologically early Local Anatolian Late Chalcolithic ceramics, and a later phase B. Phase B1 has typologically late Local Anatolian Late Chalcolithic ceramics, while phase B2 has both late Local ceramics and Mesopotamian Uruk style ceramics (Stein, Edens, et al. 1996:96-7).
The 1996 field season had three main goals: 1) excavation of Achaemenid/Hellenistic deposits and exposure of the underlying Late Chalcolithic deposits in operations 13 and 15; 2) excavation of Late Chalcolithic phase B deposits in operations 12, 14, and 18; and 3) analysis of ceramics and chipped stone tools recovered in the 1992-95 field seasons. Seven weeks (37 work days) of excavations took place from July 14-August 25, 1996 in five trenches: Operations 14, 15, and 18 in Area A in the north part of the site; and operations 12 and 13 in Area B in the southeast part of the site (figure 1). The following sections describe the Achaemenid/Hellenistic, Early Bronze I, and Late Chalcolithic data recovered in 1996.
THE ACHAEMENID/HELLENISTIC OCCUPATION:
Achaemenid/Hellenistic remains were recovered in the north part of the site in operation 15, and in operations 12 and 13 in the south part of the site. The 1996 excavation of the Hellenistic deposits in operation 15 confirmed the basic sequence identified in 1995: an uppermost phase of large grain storage pits and more casually excavated pits overlay and cut down through an underlying phase of small scale stone and mud brick houses, courtyards, and domestic ovens probably dating to the 3rd-2nd centuries BC. This residential quarter in turn overlay the earliest Hellenistic phase of a large scale planned mud brick public building with its associated compact plastered courtyard surface. The structure itself was located in operations 4 and 10 to the north. However, the compact mud plastered courtyard floor associated with this Hellenistic public building extended from the south end of operation 10 down across the entire area of operation 15. This complex was constructed by cutting down into and levelling off the uppermost portion of the Late Chalcolithic deposits in this part of the site.
In area B at the south end of the site, the most substantial Hellenistic deposits recovered in the 1996 field season derived from operation 13. Operation 13 is a 10 x 10 m. trench adjacent to operations 11 and 12. The trench was excavated in 1996 in order to follow the line of the massive Late Chalcolithic stone enclosure wall 101/68 from its earlier exposures in operations 7, 11, and 12 (Stein, et al. 1996b). The stratigraphic sequence of operation 13 closely matches that of nearby operation 7 in having an uppermost Hellenistic architectural complex overlying an Achaemenid burial (McMahon 1996).
The architectural levels of the Hellenistic period in operation 13 consist of additional rooms of the massive structure which extends over adjacent trenches in operations 2, 7, 11 and 12 (figure 2; see also Stein, Bernbeck et al. 1996, Stein, Edens et al. 1996). This building complex consists of at least three courtyards and measures at least 25 by 35 meters in extent, and has been dated by the associated pottery and objects to the fourth century BC. The Hellenistic building sealed off burial 38, dating to the 5th century BC Achaemenid period. The following description is summarized from Dr. McMahon's report on the burial (McMahon 1997). The burial is similar to and clearly contemporary with Burial 28 in Operation 7 (excavated in 1993; see McMahon 1996: 227-229 & Fig. 14). Burial 38 is in a deep, roughly rectangular pit, which contained a baked clay coffin set in a mudbrick cist, sealed off with mudbrick. There were three jars outside the coffin between the cist and the pit sides, two cylindrical jars with horizontal red paint stripes (figure 3:B-C) and a narrow-necked plain bottle. The coffin is oval in plan, with straight sides and a heavy flat rim with finger impressed decoration (figure 3:A). Below the rim were four horizontal lug handles for transporting the coffin.
Inside the coffin, the body lay in a flexed position, with the head towards the east-northeast, as was the skeleton in Burial 28 in Operation 7. Against the southern wall of the coffin, were two small alabaster or marble alabastra with wide flat rims and vestigial lug handles (figure 4:A-B). At the back of the skeleton were three more items, a red-striped jar of the same type as those outside the coffin, a copper mirror with traces of the wooden handle still preserved (figure 4:C), and a badly shattered object made of turtle shell.
Several pieces of jewelry and other ornaments had been placed on and around the body (figure 4:D-M). At the right side of the jaw was a group of five fragmentary hollow bronze lunate-shaped objects and bits of wire which may have been part of an elaborate earring or earrings; and at the other ear was a plain penannular silver earring. Around the neck was a group of beads in faience, rock crystal, and striped glass, along with 15 bronze coin-shaped pendants with stamped decoration on both faces (figure 4:M). Near the back of the pelvis were two sets of three gilt-silver rings, fused together in a straight line (figure 4:F-G). With these ring sets were two large gilt-silver hub-shaped beads (figure 4:J); these four items may have been part of a belt, given their location on the body. And finally, on each leg there was a silver and bronze alloy anklet with finely-detailed calf-head finials (figure 4:D-E). The burial goods are consistent with a 5th century BC date, roughly contemporaneous with burial 28 in Operation 7 (McMahon 1996).
THE EARLY BRONZE AGE I OCCUPATION:
The most most significant and unanticipated discovery of the 1996 field season was the presence of a previously unknown Early Bronze Age I ca. 3100-2700[?] BC use of the mound after its abandonment at the end of the Late Chalcolithic. Two burial areas at the north and south ends of the mound (ops. 12, 18) yielded evidence for a variety of burial practices which show great continuity in mortuary practices with both the infant jar burials of the fourth millennium and the limestone cist tombs of the mid-late third millennium BC. The number and variety of both adult and infant EB I burials on the northeast and southeast mound slopes suggest that the associated settlement was located close by, most likely beneath the present day village of Ugurcuk.
The Early Bronze I deposits in Operation 12 consisted of two occupation levels. The uppermost of these consisted of a single, small stone structure with north, east, and south walls preserved (walls 100, 106, 107). The west wall was missing; either the crude structure was open to the southwest or else the west wall had eroded downslope.
The earlier EB I phase is characterized by the use of the sloping open area in operation 12 as a cemetery (figure 5). The eight EB I burials recovered in operation 12 include adults and infants in three different forms of interment: jar burials, simple inhumations, and cist burials. The four jar burials (129, 135, 140, 201) consisted of infants placed in re-used storage jars with a band rim bowl sealing the mouth of the vessel. Grave goods consisted of frit beads, single copper/bronze pins or small ceramic vessels. The two adult inhumations (128, 141) differed from one another. Burial 128 was a loosely flexed adult inhumation, with the body facing southeast. No grave goods were recovered. In burial 141, the skeleton was in an extended position, oriented NNW-SSE, but was lying on its stomach. The positioning of the arms and the rest of the body suggested that the deceased might have been tossed in rather than carefully laid to rest. The only grave good in burial 141 was the mandible of a donkey or onager. The meaning of this unusual burial remains unclear.
The two stone/mud brick cist tombs (145, 153) resembled the intact cist burial from operation 18, but contained fewer artifacts. Burial 153 had limestone slabs lining the east and west sides of the cist, with mud brick at the north end (the southern end of the burial remained unexcavated in the south baulk of the trench). Two large flat limestone slabs sealed off the top of the tomb. The burial itself was a badly preserved adult skeleton, oriented NE-SW. Grave goods included two beaded rim bowls, and a broken pedestalled goblet. The other cist burial (145) had been robbed in antiquity, so that only the skull remained.
At the north end of the mound in area A, excavations in a new trench, operation 18, exposed a second group of burials dating to the Early Bronze I period (ca. 3000-2800 BC) after the abandonment of the Late Chalcolithic settlement. The settlement associated with these burials has not yet be found, but it was probably located very close by, perhaps in the area now occupied by the modern village of Ugurcuk, immediately to the east of Hacinebi Tepe. The four Early Bronze I burials in operation 18 are NE-SW oriented cist tombs, lined with large, crudely hewn limestone slabs on the sides, covered with 3-4 large limestone slabs, and sealed with mud plaster (figure 6). Three of the burials had been robbed (burials 4, 6, and 10), but burial 5 was found sealed and intact.
Burial 5 contained a single poorly preserved skeleton of an adult with the head lying to the east. The body was interred with a rich array of grave goods consisting of seventeen ceramic vessels, including "champagne cups", small pedestalled bowls, and small jars (figures 7 and 8). Ceramic parallels with sites such as Carchemish, Jerablus Tahtani, Hassek, and Arslantepe allow these burials to be dated to the Early Bronze Age I. Other grave goods included hundreds of small, light bluish-green frit beads and four ornamental bronze pins. Two of the latter are especially noteworthy for their double rams head decorations (figure 13:F-G). After the use of operation 18 as an EB I cemetery, this portion of the site was abandoned, and remained that way throughout the Achaemenid, Hellenistic, and Roman occupations of the site.
THE LATE CHALCOLITHIC OCCUPATION:
The Late Chalcolithic occupation at Hacinebi consists of an early precontact phase A (ca. 4000-3800), a late precontact phase B1 (ca. 3800-3700) and a contact phase B2 (ca. 3700-?3300 BC). Contact phase B2 is characterized by the presence of Uruk Mesopotamian material alongside the Local Late Chalcolithic assemblage. Late Chalcolithic remains dating to phases A, B1 and B2 were recovered in the north area A in operations 14, 15, and 18; while excavations in the south area B exposed phase B2 remains in operations 12 and 13.
Excavation of operation 14 had begun in 1995 and continued in 1996 with the exposure of Late Chalcolithic material from the contact phase B2 and the late precontact phase B1, down to the top of the underlying early precontact phase A. Contact phase B2 remains were represented by pits 142 and 91/157 (figure 9), both containing almost exclusively Uruk ceramics . Pit 91/157 is notable for two small carved limestone objects - a small cup (HN122218) and a fragmentary female figurine (HN12202, see figure 13:B); the latter is one of the few human representations from the Late Chalcolithic occupation of the site. Pit 142 contained sealing clay and two jar sealings (HN11283/4 and 11285). These bore the impression of the same seal with a motif showing feet or footprints on the obverse, while the reverse bore the impression of the lip of a jar .
The phase B2 Uruk pits cut into two underlying levels of mudbrick architecture dating to the late precontact phase B1. Finds from trash deposits in these early building levels included local style Anatolian stamp seal impressions and a small simply carved limestone "eye idol" (figure 13:C). The latter find is particularly important because it demonstrates that the use of these figurines is a local southeast Anatolian practice, rather than being a practice that entered from southern Mesopotamia during the later B2 contact phase.
The most significant architectural find in operation 14 was the discovery of a large stone and mud filled terrace (locus 119), built at the end of early precontact phase A. The terrace is oriented northwest-southeast, and measures at least 10 x 3.8 meters in the portions excavated to date. Terrace 119 abuts against and therefore postdates lower platform 221/47 immediately to the south in operations 1,4, and 6 (figure 9). Terrace 119 is also built up against and partially cuts into the eroded slope of the earlier occupation levels in the northeast corner of the mound. The original packed mud plaster surface of the terrace had been eroded away, so that only the south and west retaining walls and the stone/mud platform fill were preserved; the east and north faces of the structure remain unexposed, and may have eroded down the northeast slope of the mound. The area inside the retaining walls of terrace 119 was filled with alternate layers of mud and unworked limestone rocks. We now have evidence for the construction of three monumental platforms and terraces at the end of the early precontact period. The scale of this platform and terrace complex is consistent with the interpretation that the northeast part of the site was an area of either elite residence or public buildings in the period before intensive interaction with Uruk Mesopotamia.
Late Chalcolithic remains were also recovered in operation 15 at the north eand of the site. Excavation of operation 15 had begun in 1995 and continued in 1996 with the removal of remaining Achaemenid/Hellenistic occupation levels and exposure of Late Chalcolithic strata from the contact phase B2. Two main Late Chalcolithic building levels were exposed in operation 15; both date to the contact phase B2. The uppermost building level consisted of a small NE-SW oriented mudbrick house (figure 10) in which only the southernmost two rooms were preserved. The larger 2.2 x 4.4 m. northern room had white plastered mud brick buttresses and walls (164, 165, 166). The smaller 1 x 2 m. southern room was added on at a later date with the construction of wall 184. The house had two superimposed plaster floors. The contact phase B2 dating for this house is established by the high concentrations of Mesopotamian Uruk ceramics in the ash and midden that fill the rooms, and most notably by the find of two complete bevel rim bowls in the floor deposit of the southern room. The house appears to have been peacefully abandoned.
The mud brick building overlies a larger contact phase B2 stone architecture. The west side of this structure was destroyed by later pits. In the center of the room or courtyard was with a sunken, oval plastered hearth (locus 219), filled with ash and containing a fragmentary "U" shaped andiron, probably used as a support for cooking vessels. The building apparently extended to the north and east, where portions of it are preserved as walls 100, 101, and 102 in immediately adjacent operation 10. One pit (222) dug from floor surface 217/218 contained mostly Uruk ceramics, an unsealed jar stopper (HN13570) and a wicker basket sealing with a stamp seal impression on the obverse (HN13571). An Uruk cylinder seal impression showing an animal procession (HN13445) was found on an unbaked clay jar sealing in trash deposit 213 to the west of this structure.
Late Chalcolithic remains were also exposed in operation 18 at the north end of the site. Operation 18 is a 5 x 12 meter trench, oriented N-S, located at the base of the mound slope, immediately to the east of operations 1 and 6 on the northeast edge of the site. The trench was opened in order to investigate a Late Chalcolithic mud brick platform (locus 87) whose west edge had been initially identified in operation 6 during the 1994 excavations in that area. The highly eroded remains of this phase B2 mud brick platform extended east into operation 18. This platform measured at least 4.8 x 3.9 m. and is preserved to a height of approximately .34 m. It was constructed of reddish mud bricks on a limestone foundation course. After the abandonment of the Hacinebi mound at the end of phase B2, the platform was badly eroded and largely buried by the accumulation of wash layers originating on the adjacent mound. After this abandonment, the Early Brionze I burials described above were placed in this open slope area.
Exposures of Late Chalcolithic deposits at the south end of the mound (area B) were made in two adjacent trenches. Exposure of operation 12 continued from the 1995 season, while operation 13 was opened as a new trench immediately to the northeast (figure 1). In operation 12, the Early Bronze I burials cut into an erosion-and -wash deposit that seals off the transition between the Early Bronze I and Late Chalcolithic occupations of the site. Two Late Chalcolithic building levels were exposed in the 1996 season, representing the final stages of the contact phase B2. The uppermost level is a series of at least 28 closely spaced postholes (figure 11). The postholes are large (25-30 cm) set at intervals of about 30 cm. in two groups. In the first of these, 21 postholes extend in a single north-south line across the entire operation. They appear to have been set into a trench running parallel to monumental stone wall 101. A second set of 7 postholes (204-209, 211) runs parallel to the first row of postholes (N-S), and then turns to the west, forming a right angle - possibly the corner of a structure. In the absence of associated artifacts, the function and dating of this occupation is uncertain; it represents either the very end of the Late Chalcolithic or possibly the Late Chalcolithic-EB I transition.
The post holes cut into an underlying building level of contact phase B2 domestic mudbrick architecture (figure 11). This consists of a row of three rooms, with an enclosed courtyard to the north and open pebble surfaces to the east, west, and possibly north. The rooms are range in size from 2.3x1.5 m. (the southeast room) to 4 x 2.2 m. (south-central room). and are constructed of yellowish mud brick, with plastered walls and floors. The rooms seem to have been constructed separately in several episodes, but appear to have all been in use at the same time. A doorway through wall 155 connects the south-central and south-west rooms. The northernmost set of walls (194, 216, 188) define a possible courtyard. The rooms and courtyard contained few artifacts, and appear to have been cleaned out before the building was abandoned. Only the southeast room contained any in situ materials - notably a Local Late Chalcolithic hammerhead bowl, an Uruk bevel rim bowl and a paving of red slipped, grit tempered body sherds deliberately laid on floor 137. Operation 12 is important as the only excavated part of the site where later Achaemenid/Hellenistic construction activities did not truncate or destroy the uppermost Late Chalcolithic phase B2 occupation of the site. The evidence suggests that the Late Chalcolithic settlement on the mound was peacefully abandoned at the Late Chalcolithic-Early Bronze I transition and shifted to a new location, possibly immediately to the east, beneath the modern village of U©urcuk. At least two parts of the now abandoned mound were used by the EB I settlement as a cemeteries.
Adjacent to operation 12, a series of Late Chalcolithic phase B building levels were also recovered in operation 13. The uppermost of these can be reliably dated to the contact phase B2. The uppermost preserved Late Chalcolithic building level consists of of two converging mud brick walls one course thick, forming a narrow, north-south oriented channel 1.6 m long. The interior walls and floor of the channel had been plastered and have signs of burning and fire reddening. A large contemporaneous ash deposit lying 1-2 m to the southeast may be associated with the use of this pyrotechnic feature. The plastered channel became wider toward the south, and might have originally opened into a larger circular firebox of a kiln or furnace. This reconstruction is tentative, however, since most of the installation was destroyed by later Hellenistic pit 20.
The pyrotechnic feature overlies an earlier phase B2 building level characterized by simple mudbrick architecture and at least two pits (pits 63 and 65) containing purely Uruk ceramics such as complete bevel rim bowls and conical cups. Pit 65 also contained a complete limestone eye idol (HN12907). This object is a crudely carved limestone figurine 7.39 cm tall (figure 13:E). The head has two eye holes that were drilled through to the back of the head. The body of the figurine is oval in cross-section, with arms represented by a series of incisions on the left and right sides. This building level also contained important evidence of copper production at Hacinebi during the contact phase B2. Trash deposit 66 contained a piece of copper ore - HN12939. Analyses by Prof. Hadi Özbal of Bo©aziçi University indicate that this was a polymetallic ore whose copper/lead composition is consistent with material from the Ergani copper source in the area near Arslantepe. This ore sample is highly significant because it suggests that the inhabitants of Hacinebi in the contact phase B2 were actually smelting copper on site, rather than simply acquiring copper artifacts or ingots through trade with the source areas to the north.
The two building levels with Uruk material overlie a series of at least three additional phase B construction episodes. Their ephemeral walls form a number of small rooms built up against the eroded uppermost courses of earlier, precontact phase monumental architecture. The earliest building level reached in operation 13 was the deeply buried top of the massive massive Late Chalcolithic stone enclosure wall 101/68, known from operation 11 immediately to the south (Stein, Edens, et al. 1996:89-90). The 1995 excavations in operation 11 had indicated that this enclosure wall was initially built in phase A and continued in use throughout phase B as well. Although the niche and buttress structure of the wall’s east face in operation 11 continues north into operation 13 as well, the top portions of the wall exposed in operation 13 are apparently less well preserved, showing signs of erosion and robbing of stones for later construction. This 3 m. thick wall apparently extends on a straight NNW-SSE across the entire length of ops. 11 and 13, further confirming the monumental nature of this enclosure.
In addition to the materials recovered from stratigraphic excavations, one surface find from 1996 is particularly noteworthy. While plowing along the southwest slope of the mound, a local farmer brought to our attention a large carved limestone eye idol (HN11702). The figurine is 21 cm tall, making it the largest complete example at Hacinebi (figure 12-center and figure 13:A). Eye idols are a distinctive fourth millennium form of figurine found in northern Syria, northern Iraq, and southeast Anatolia at both Uruk and Local Late Chalcolithic sites such as Brak (Mallowan 1947), Gawra (Tobler 1950), Hassek (example on display in the Sanlõurfa Museum), Sheikh Hassan (Boese 1995:74), Umm Qseir (Hole 1986/7), Hacinebi (Stein, Bernbeck, et al. 1996:figs. 8, 10), and Arslantepe VII (Frangipane 1993). However, it is important to note that at both Arslantepe and Hacinebi, eye idols have been found in strata which predate the periods of intensive contact with Uruk Mesopotamia, strongly suggesting that these figurines are a local northern phenomenon, rather than an import from the south.
LABORATORY ANALYSES:
In 1996, continuing laboratory analyses focused on ceramics, chipped and ground stone, botanical remains, metals, and artifact conservation. Studies of both Achaemenid/Hellenistic and Late Chalcolithic ceramics continued during the 1996 field season. Dr. Augusta McMahon continued her work on developing a typology and chronology of the Achaemenid/Hellenistic material, focusing on the recording of ceramics from operations 11 and 12. Ms. Julie Pearce Edens and Mr. Kenneth Boden examined Late Chalcolithic ceramics from stratigraphically secure contexts in a series of phase B1 and B2 building levels in operation 14. Dr. Christopher Edens continued his analysis of the Hacinebi Late Chalcolithic chipped stone, with the assistance of Ms. Güner Coskunsu. At this point, approximately 13,500 pieces have been recorded, providing the largest analyzed assemblage of Late Chalcolithic chipped stone artifacts from this part of the Near East.
Ms. Tania Collas continued the archaeological conservation program, assisted by Katherine May. Conservation activities focused on two main activities. First, the large Achaemenid ceramic coffin from operation 13 burial 38 was stabilized, removed completely intact, and safely transported to the „anlõurfa Museum. Second, the main metal artifacts from the Achaemenid burial (operation 13 locus 38) and an intact Early Bronze I burial (operation 18 locus 5) were cleaned and stabilized. The conserved Achaemenid grave goods included a bronze mirror with traces of a leather covering, silver earrings, gold-plated silver beads and belt ornaments, silver-bronze alloy anklets with animal head motifs. Conservation of the Early Bronze I metals focused on two bronze toggle pins with paired rams head decorations at their proximal ends.
Preliminary processing of archaeobotanical material also continued in the 1996 season. Twenty flotation samples from Hacinebi were processed through the courtesy of Dr. Guillermo Algaze and Mr. Duncan Schlee of the Titris Höyük excavations. The processed light fractions will be analyzed by Dr. Naomi Miller (University of Pennsylvania Museum Applied Science Center for Archaeology-MASCA).
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS:
With the five excavation areas where work took place in 1996, approximately 1400 m2 of the site have now been exposed. The excavations and laboratory analyses of the fifth field season have contributed substantially to our understanding of the Achaemenid/Hellenistic, Early Bronze Age, and Late Chalcolithic occupations of Hacinebi.
The most most significant and unanticipated discovery of the 1996 field season was the presence of a previously unknown Early Bronze Age I ca. 3100-2700[?] BC use of the mound after its abandonment at the end of the Late Chalcolithic. Two burial areas at the north and south ends of the mound (ops. 12, 18) yielded evidence for a variety of burial practices which show great continuity in mortuary practices with both the infant jar burials of the fourth millennium and the limestone cist tombs of the mid-late third millennium BC. This evidence for an EB I presence is important in showing that there was continuity in the settlement of the area between the late fourth and early third millennia BC. The EBI burial and erosional deposits in operation 12 are also important for the fact that they seal off and protect the uppermost Late Chalcolithic occupation levels at Hacinebi; everywhere else at the site, these deposits had either eroded away or been truncated by later Achaemenid/Hellenistic construction. As a result, we finally have clear evidence for the peaceful abandonment of the mound at the end of the fourth millennium.
The 1996 season also contributed to our understanding of Late Chalcolithic occupation at Hacinebi. Of particular note was the recovery of additional in situ contact phase B2 deposits in residential areas of the north (operation 15) and south (operation 12) areas of the mound. Finds of eye idols and metallurgical artifacts/raw materials have contributed to our understanding of ideological and economic organization in the Late Chalcolithic settlement. The exposure of the north terrace in operation 14 showed that the platform-and-terrace complex of elite or public architecture in the pre-contact phase at Hacinebi was significantly larger than previously suspected.
With the removal of most of the Late Chalcolithic phase B occupation levels at Hacinebi, we are now in a position to make broad horizontal exposures of the early precontact phase A deposits in all three main excavation areas of the site. This will be the main focus of the planned 1997 excavations.
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1993 The Organizational Context of Specialized Craft Production in Early Mesopotamian States. Research in Economic Anthropology 14:29-59.
Stein, G. and A. Misir
1994 Hacinebi Excavations, 1992. In XV Kazi Sonuclar Toplantisi, pp. 131-152. Republic of Turkey, Ministry of culture, General Directorate of Monuments and Museums, Ankara.
1994 Mesopotamian-Anatolian Interaction at Hacinebi, Turkey: Preliminary Report on the 1992 Excavations. Anatolica 20:145-189.
1995 Excavations at Hacinebi Tepe, 1993. In XVI Kazi Sonuclar Toplantisi, pp. 121-140. Republic of Turkey, Ministry of culture, General Directorate of Monuments and Museums, Ankara.
1996 1994 Excavations at Hacinebi Tepe. In XVII Kazi Sonuclar Toplantisi, pp. 109-128. Republic of Turkey, Ministry of culture, General Directorate of Monuments and Museums, Ankara.
Stein, G., R. Bernbeck, C. Coursey, A. McMahon, N. Miller, A. Misir, J. Nicola, H. Pittman, S. Pollock and H. Wright
1996 Uruk Colonies and Mesopotamian Communities: An Interim Report on the 1992-3 Excavations at Hacinebi, Turkey. American Journal of Archaeology 100:205-260.Stein, G., C. Edens, N. Miller, H. Özbal, J. Pearce and H. Pittman
1996 Hacinebi, Turkey: Preliminary Report on the 1995 Excavations. Anatolica 22:85-128.
Tobler, A.
1950 Excavations at Tepe Gawra vol. II, Levels IX-XX. University of Pennsylvania University Museum, Philadelphia.
Woolley, L. and R. Barnett
1952 Carchemish III. The Excavations in the Inner Town. London.
Figures:
Figure 1: Hacinebi Tepe - topographic map
Figure 2: Operation 13 - Hellenistic building
Figure 3: Operation 13 - Achaemenid burial 38: A. Ceramic bathtub shaped coffin. B-D. Ceramics from burial.
Figure 4: Operation 13 Achaemenid burial 38 grave goods:
A. HN12122 Alabastron
B. HN12133 Alabastron
C. HN12140 Bronze mirror. Note mineralized fragment of leather cover.
D. HN12123 Silver/bronze alloy anklet
E. HN12124 Silver/bronze alloy anklet
F. HN12135 Gilded silver triple ring set
G. HN12136 Gilded silver triple ring set
H. HN12130 Stone disc section
I. HN12132 Iron pin
J. HN12132.1 Silver hub-shaped bead
K. HN12131 Penanular silver earring
L. HN12127 Bronze crescent earring fragments
M. HN12125 Bronze stamped coin shaped pendant (one of 15 shown)
Figure 5: Op. 12 - Early Bronze I burials
Figure 6: Op. 18 Early Bronze I cist tombs.
Figure 7: Op. 18 EBI burial 5 grave goods.Figure 8: Early Bronze I ceramics from cist tombs in op. 18
A. HN12782 Hemispheric bowl/cup
B. HN12295 Miniature globular jar
C. HN12793 Low pedestalled globular jar
D. HN12797 High necked globular jar
E. HN12780 Pedestalled hemispheric bowl
F. HN12798 "Fruitstand" - tall pedestalled gobletFigure 9: Op. 14 Late Chalcolithic terrace 119 in relation to the southern (lower) terrace 47 in operations 4/6.
Figure 10: Op. 15 Late Chalcolithic phase B2 mudbrick architecture
Figure 11: Op. 12 - Postholes cut into Late Chalcolithic phase B2 architecture.
Figure 12: Carved limestone eye idols from Hacinebi
Figure 13: Late Chalcolithic and EB I artifacts
A. HN11702 Surface find. Limestone eye idol
B. HN12202 Op. 14 locus 157 lot 282. Limestone female figurine.
C. HN11475 Op. 14 locus 146 lot 251 Limestone eye idol
D. HN11297 Op. 14 locus 56 lot 228 Limestone eye idol
E. HN12907 Op. 13 locus 65 lot 108 Limestone eye idol
F. HN12788 Op. 18 locus 5 lot 34 Copper pin with rams heads
G. HN12294 Op. 18 locus 5 lot 34 Copper pin with rams heads
H. HN12038 Op. 12 locus 140 lot 295 Copper pin
I. HN12789 Op. 18 locus 5 lot 34 Copper pin
J. HN12297 Op. 18 locus 5 lot 34 Copper pin
K. HN12784 Op. 18 locus 5 lot 34 Silver wire coil
L. HN664 Op. 1 locus 56 lot 55 Pierced sherd
M. HN4893 Op. 5 locus 76 lot 141 Hemispheric spindle whorl
N. HN4905 Op. 4 locus 146 lot 329 Pierced stone disk
O. HN2337 Op. 6 locus 44 lot 45 Lenticular pierced stone disk
Gil J. Stein
g-stein@northwestern.edu
Anthropology Department, Northwestern University
Last modified - July 20, 2001