Hacinebi Excavations:

Selected Local Late Chalcolithic Artifacts

Bitumen is a naturally occurring petroleum-based tar-like material. Mixed with tempering materials it was widely used and traded in the ancient Near East as a material for waterproofing, as a building material, and as an adhesive. More than 400 bitumen artifacts have been recovered from all the fourth millennium phases (A-B1-B2) at Hacinebi. Chemical compositional analyses permit the identification of bitumen sources, and by extension, the reconstruction of fourth millennium exchange systems. The inhabitants of Hacinebi imported bitumen from a variety of sources in Anatolia, North Syria, south Mesopotamia, and southwestern Iran.

Uruk bevel rim bowl with bitumen-coated interior, possibly used for processing melted bitumen.. HN6212 Op. 10 locus 65 (Schwartz and Hollander 2000:fig.4).	Juglet with bitumen waterproofing. HN201 Op. 1 locus 12 (Stein and Misir 1994b:fig. 7).
Bitumen with basketry impression. HN3516 Op. 7 locus 39 (Schwartz and Hollander 2000: fig. 3).	Bitumen "ingot" with reed impressions, HN6106 Op. 11 locus 40 (Schwartz and Hollander 2000:fig. 5).
Chipperd stone sickle blade with bitumen hafting. HN12057 Op. 12 locus 145.	Bitumen hafting from tool handle showing string impressions. HN2259 Op. 7 locus 25.
Source: Schwartz et al. 1999:fig.3.	Source: Schwartz et al. 1999:fig.3.
Source: Schwartz et al. 1999:fig.3.	Source: Schwartz et al. 1999:fig.5.

 

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Gil J. Stein
g-stein@northwestern.edu
Anthropology Department, Northwestern University
Last modified - September 7, 2001