Tell Hassan Overview

Lucia Chiocchetti

The grant will support the publication of a study titled:

The Prehistoric pottery from Tell Hassan and the Hamrin valley, Iraq (VI-IV millennium b.C.). A revisited approach to the Samarra-Halaf-Ubaid scenario as seen from the 1977-1979 excavations.

The study concerns the remarkable and so far unpublished pottery from the Halaf and Ubaid levels of Tell Hassan (excavated in the years 1977-1979 by the University of Turin and the Centro Scavi di Torino per il Vicino Oriente e l’Asia, directed by prof. Antonio Invernizzi.).

Tell Hassan lay in the Hamrin valley, in central-eastern Iraq, on the medium course of the Diyala river that, flowing down from the Zagros mountains, is one of the main feeders of the Tigris.

The area was the object of a salvation project in the years 1977-1979, before the erection of a dam on the Diyala that transformed the valley into a water basin.

An impressive number of excavations took place at the same time, with the participation of many institutions from everywhere in the world, producing findings whose date ranged from the VIII millennium aceramic period to the Early Islamic and over.

In accordance to its geographic position, the area revealed itself as a complex system: a sort of ‘microcosm’ that, though with uniquely distinctive characters, participated in the chronological and cultural evolution of Mesopotamia.

The particular character of the area is reflected also in the prehistoric pottery:

• We found a Samarra tradition; the southernmost (and latest) point of diffusion of the Halaf culture;.an Eridu-Hajji Mohammad-Ubaid (3) horizon, of southern origins; a Late Ubaid phase, evidently part of the northern (Gawra) tradition.

All such cultures show interesting elements of local tradition and of mutual connection and interchange, whose entity and significance are far from being ascertained.

The prehistoric pottery from the Hamrin sites, if it was published at all, was in most cases presented just as a general typology, or as a catalogue, often without clear indications of the technological characters of the sherds and of their location on the site.

The Halaf pottery from Tell Hassan showed a high level of control over producing and firing aspects, with a particular fine polichrome painted decoration, displaying a rich repertoire of motifs.

During the field work, notwithstanding such luxuriant variety, the presence of different ‘groups’ of shapes and decorations, often associated with different colours of fabric and painting, was already envisaged.

Of this pottery, only a handful of vases has been published so far. The many other complete shapes and thousands of sherds, recorded and drawn, still await publication.

The definitive study and publication of the data from the pottery of Tell Hassan, both Halaf and Ubaid, would certainly contribute in filling the growing gap between the state of research in Iraq and in the rest of the Near East.

These data, connected with a strong work of comparison and connection with the other prehistoric pottery from the Hamrin area, would constitute a valuable contribution to the study of Mesopotamian prehistory.

The camera-ready copy of the study will be ready for publishing two years after the beginning of the grant. The study will be published in the specialized series Mesopotamia.

Statement of purpose and significance of the project

The Hamrin area

The project has developed from a long story, started with the archaeological campaigns that took place in the Hamrin Valley, Iraq, in the years 1977-1979.

Then the candidate took part in the excavations of the Halaf and Ubaid site of Tell Hassan and of the Late Ubaid site of Tell Abu Husaini, carried out by the Centro Scavi di Torino per il Vicino Oriente e l’Asia and the University of Turin, under the direction of late professor Giorgio Gullini and of professor Antonio Invernizzi.

The Hamrin valley lies in central-eastern Iraq, on the medium course of the Diyala river, one of the main feeders of the Tigris. The Hamrin valley is an elongated basin, limited to the east by the Zagros mountains and to the west by the Jebel Hamrin, a hilly ridge that separates the valley from the broader Mesopotamia plain. The Narin river flows through the valley with a seasonal course. The river Diyala, flowing towards the Tigris, cuts the valley in two and then, finding its way through an opening in the Jebel Hamrin, runs towards Baghdad, about 200 km to the southwest (see fig.1).

Such characters, both of seclusion and of connection with the Mesopotamian alluvium, influenced as we will see further on, the cultural scenario of the region

The area was the object of a rescue project in 1977-1979, before a dam on the river Diyala was built.

An impressive number of excavations took place, with the contribution of many universities and scientific institutions from different countries of the world.

The date of the findings ranged from an aceramic phase (VIII millennium b.C.) to the Early Islamic period (I millennium c.e.)

In accordance to its geographic position, the area revealed itself as a complex system: a sort of ‘microcosm’ that, though with uniquely distinctive characters, participated in the chronological and cultural evolution of Mesopotamia. In various periods, such like the Early Dynastic (ca. 2900-2350 b.C.) and Isin-Larsa (2004-1763b.C.) it had a major role in Mesopotamian history, both from a political and especially cultural point of view.

Prehistoric phases (VI-IV millennium b.C.)

Prehistory, the period we are concerned with, was also an important phase for the Hamrin area. A number of sites were more or less extensively excavated, bringing to light a series of agricultural settlements ranging from the Samarra to the Late Ubaid horizon (VI-IV millennium b.C.).

The afore mentioned peculiarity of the Hamrin area is evident for the prehistoric period. The following phases were found:

• A Samarra tradition, probably of central Mesopotamian origins, represented in its late phase.
• The southernmost (and latest) point of diffusion of the Halaf culture, originated in the northern valleys of the Syro-Mesopotamian area.
• An Eridu-Hajji Mohammad-Ubaid (3) horizon, of southern origins.
• A Late Ubaid phase, evidently part of the northern (Gawra) tradition.

Such cultures show a typical local character, and their reciprocal relations are not clear yet, and certainly not simply based on a mechanical succession through time.

The data obtained from the various excavations had different fortunes: from the architectural point of view the findings of the Hamrin area influenced our knowledge of prehistoric architecture in Mesopotamia, especially for the Ubaid period (V-IV millennium b.C.).

For what concerns pottery the situation is quite different.

With few exceptions the pottery was only partially published, often only as a general typology or as a catalogue, without clear indications of the technological characters of the sherds or of their location on the site.

In rare cases, where the studies were carried out on specific issues (the ‘burnt house’ of Tell Madhhur, excavated by M. Roaf; the infant graves of Tell Abada, excavated by S.A. Jasim) the results were exceptionally interesting.

Such glimpses confirmed the potential importance of a thorough exploration on the Hamrin pottery.

Tell Hassan and Tell Abu Husaini

Regarding the sites we are dealing with, an average of 40.000 sherds was unearthed, both from Tell Hassan and Tell Abu Husaini. Of each sherd the stratigraphical, topographical, formal and technological data were recorded (by the candidate among others).

The code used had some flaws, but it permitted to collect a complete range of information. It also permitted a relatively rapid work, so that all the material was recorded in the available time. A large quantity of sherds and all the vases were also drawn.

The pottery of Tell Abu Husaini was published by the candidate as a general typological description, and the problems of its connections with the northern and southern Ubaid tradition were only introduced.

The Ubaid 3 pottery from Tell Hassan is so far unpublished.

The Halaf pottery of Tell Hassan had a different history, due to its peculiar characteristics.

It showed a class of exceptionally beautiful ware, with a high level of control over the technological aspects of production, polishing and firing. Furthermore, it carried a particularly fine painted decoration, often polytonal or polichrome, displaying abstract and naturalistic elements chosen from the immensely rich Halaf repertoire. Side by side with such luxuriant production, other groups of pottery were recognised, possibly local imitations, with less ‘precious’ characters, but not for this less interesting.

Of this pottery, only a handful of vases has been published so far. They contributed (between the ‘80s and the ‘90s) to the long standing debate around the presence of a ‘transitional’ phase, theorised to have existed between Halaf and Ubaid culture.

Such theories were not sustained by a thorough analysis of the pottery: the above mentioned huge amount of data from the corpus of vases and sherds was left unused until recently, when the candidate started to ‘unearth’ them again.

A number of interesting elements came to light, like the presence, in the Halaf pottery, of different groups of ‘potteries’ differently distributed not only stratigraphically, but also throughout the different ‘horizontal’ areas of the site.

The idea of retrieving the ‘lost data’ came to the applicant in 2004, during her last permanence in Iraq.

In a very difficult moment, amid the dramatic events we all know about, we had the chance to work for some months at the Iraq museum in Baghdad, having the unique opportunity to visit the storage rooms, where many objects, mostly considered lost or robbed, were kept, awaiting better times.

We also saw again some of the prehistoric vases that had been excavated in the Hamrin campaigns.

In a situation of destruction and political confusion the idea of bringing the prehistory of Iraq back to the scientific position it deserved looked like a serious and valuable issue.

The impressive amount of research carried out outside Iraq (especially in Syria and SE Anatolia) has started to create a gap in knowledge between the two areas.

Yet, delving in the data recorded thirty years ago, we became aware that there still is a huge amount of available information that would be worthwhile to study in order to present it to the scientific community.

It could certainly contribute in overcoming the above-mentioned gap, and in improving our knowledge of Mesopotamian prehistory.