Yarim Tepe

 ( Archaeological Sites In Iraq ) 

Yarim Tepe is an archaeological site of an early farming settlement that goes back to about 6000 BC. It is located in the Sinjar valley some 7km southwest from the town of Tal Afar in northern Iraq. The site consists of several hills reflecting the development of the Hassuna culture, and then of the Halaf culture and .

The settlement was investigated between 1969 and 1976, and later by the Soviet archaeological expedition under the leadership of Rauf Munchaev and Nikolai Merpert.[1]Merpert, Nikolai I., and R. M. Munchaev, "The Investigation of the Soviet Archaeological Expedition in Iraq in the Spring 1969: Excavations at Yarim Tepe, First Preliminary Report", Sumer 25, pp. 125-131, 1969[2]Merpert, N. I., and R. Munchajev, "Excavations at Yarim Tepe 1970, Second Preliminary Report", Sumer 27, pp. 9–22, 1970[3]Merpert, N. I., Munchajev, R. M., & Bader, N. O., "The investigations of the Soviet Expedition in Iraq 1973", Sumer, XXXII, pp. 25–61, 1976[4]Merpert, Nikolai I., and R. M. Munchaev, "Soviet Expedition’s Research at Yarim Tepe III Settlement in Northwestern Iraq, 1978- 1979", Sumer 43, pp. 54-68, 1984Merpert N. Ya. 1993. The archaic phase of the Hassuna culture. In N. Yoffee, J. J. Clark (eds.), Early stages in the evolution of Mesopotamian civilization. Soviet excavations in Northern Iraq. The University of Arizona Press, Arizona: 115–127

13 building layers are found here, reflecting the main stages of this culture. The cultural level is 6.5 m deep. There are more than 1500 rectangular furnaces and ceramic ovens used for cooking. The earliest known kiln, dating to around 6000 BC, was found here.

The village had courtyards and small streets with rectangular mud-brick buildings. There were also public granaries. Burials of children in vessels were found, as well as various stone utensils, such as stone crushers, and hacksaws.

The findings also include ceramic vases, female clay figurines, and other items.

Metal items were also found, such as a lead bracelet, copper beads, as well as copper ore, which represents some of the oldest metallurgy in Mesopotamia. Yarim Tepe thefreedictionary.com

Bovine bones were also found.

The cultural level is 7 m deep, and it consists of ten structural horizons. The bones of both domestic and wild animals were found, among them the bones of sheep, ox, goats, and pigs.

Ceramic figured vessels in the shape of elephants and women were found among other pottery. Some ceramic containers have pictures of fish, birds, gazelles and other animals on them.

Some pendant seals were also discovered, including a very old copper seal.

The burial customs included cremations, and the burials of skulls Yarim Tepe thefreedictionary.com

At least three Ubaid building levels are found here on top of several Halaf levels. The uppermost levels of the Halaf cultural deposits are analogous to the Arpachiyah levels TT-6 to TT-8, and Tepe Gawra levels XVIII-XX. Three stone seal-pendants have also been found.

In 1985, Narimanov made comparisons between the Chaff-Faced Ware from Leyla-Tepe and the evidence from Yarim Tepe III. He believed that these parallels were due to the migration of some Ubaid culture representatives into Transcaucasia in the first half of the 4th millennium BC.I. Narimanov (1985), Обеидские племена Месопотамии в Азербайджане. Тез. Всесоюз. архолог. конфер. Баку (The Mesopotamian tribes of Azerbaijan. Proc. All-Union. archeolog. confer. Baku): 271

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