More Seals and Sealings from Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria

Akkermans, P.M.M.G.; Duistermaat, Kim

doi:10.1179/007589104790600969

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 1 publication

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Domuztepe in Turkey and Arpachiyah in Iraq have typical seal assemblages (Mallowan and Rose 1935; von Wickede 1990; Carter 2010). At Tell Sabi Abyad in Syria, among the large assemblage of sealings from late sixth millennium BC levels, motifs include single animals, mainly goats, as well as geometric designs (Akkermans and Duistermaat 1996; 2004). During the subsequent fifth millennium BC Northern Ubaid–Late Chalcolithic 1 period, animal images became more common, and the motif repertoire diversified, incorporating additional animal species, plus occasional human figures (von Wickede 1990; Frangipane 2016b).…”

Section: Seals In Mesopotamian Prehistorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Composite Human‐animal Figures in Early Urban Northern Mesopotamia: Shamans or Images of Resistance?

McMahon

2022

Oxford J Archaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Urban growth in northern Mesopotamia in the early fourth millennium BC was accompanied by an increase in clay container sealings, reflecting the intensified movement and management of resources and manufactured items. The diverse imagery impressed into these sealings includes a human-ibex grasping a pair of snakes, a bird-human, and other composite figures. The human-ibex in particular has been identified as a 'shaman', but this is not an appropriate term. The early fourth millennium BC was a period of enormous social and economic upheaval generated by the growth of cities and institutions. Composite figures may have expressed resistance to increasingly structured lived experiences, acknowledging the paradoxes of urban living and affirming the continued presence of the unexplainable.

show abstract

Section: Seals In Mesopotamian Prehistorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Composite Human‐animal Figures in Early Urban Northern Mesopotamia: Shamans or Images of Resistance?

McMahon

2022

Oxford J Archaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, where other small clay artefacts such as sealings and figurines have received much scholarly attention (e.g. Akkermans & Duistermaat 2004; Garfinkel 1995; Kuijt & Chesson 2005), geometric-shaped clay objects have been largely overlooked.…”

Section: Subject Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tell Sabi Abyad (Fig. 2) was excavated by Prof. Peter Akkermans, University of Leiden in the Netherlands, from 1985 until 2010 (Akkermans 1989; 1993; 1996a,b; Akkermans & Duistermaat 1996; 2004; Akkermans & Verhoeven 1995; Akkermans et al 2010; 2012; Duistermaat 1996; Duistermaat & Schneider 1998; Verhoeven 1999; 2000; Verhoeven & Akkermans 2000). The site is comprised of four prehistoric tells, varying in size from 0.5 to 5 ha (Akkermans et al 2014, fig.…”

Section: Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

Reconsidering ‘Tokens’: The Neolithic Origins of Accounting or Multifunctional, Utilitarian Tools?

Bennison-Chapman¹

2018

CAJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The origin of record keeping is a key question in the development of social complexity and specialized economies, representing the first step towards the emergence of written communication. Yet the precursors of the world's earliest writing and its initial stages of development remain little understood. Small, geometric clay objects ('tokens') appear in the tenth millennium cal. BC, the start of the Neolithic in West Asia, prevailing into the first millennium. It is largely assumed that from their inception clay objects played a crucial role in record keeping, directly evolving into the world's earliest known writing. Utilizing new and previously unpublished Neolithic data comprising almost individually studied 3000 objects, accompanied by information from 56 further Neolithic sites, this article investigates the meaning of Neolithic 'tokens'. Analysis proves the basis of their predominant interpretation to be incorrect; clay objects appear earlier than previously recognized and are not a necessary component of Neolithic agro-pastoral villages. 'Tokens' were multi-functional artefacts; even within a single site clay objects performed multiple roles. Though likely used in simple counting activities, this was not limited to the accounting of agricultural produce. Nor was counting the sole function of clay objects in the Neolithic. Clay objects were not created to administer agricultural produce and there is no evidence to suggest that in the Neolithic they formed part of a unified symbolic system. ). Though concerns were raised at the time of publication (such as Pollock 1999, 166; Zimansky 1993), Schmandt-Besserat's work remains mainstream, despite evidence to support her claims, especially the reasons for the initial appearance and use of 'tokens' in the Neolithic period being far from secure.This article investigates evidence for the predominant interpretation of the earliest 'tokens', those from the Neolithic period. To date no convincing evidence supporting Denise Schmandt-Besserat's interpretation of the function of pre-historic 'tokens' has been published. This paper utilizes new and previously unpublished Neolithic data comprising almost 3000 individually published objects, in addition to data from a total of 79 sites (Table 1). Importantly, the research specifically incorporates information regarding the immediate and wider context of clay objects in the Neolithic. Analysis proves that, far from being the unequivocal precursors of cuneiform script and part of Schmandt-Besserat's proposed symbolic administrative 'token' system, clay objects were basic, multi-functional tools with a range of meanings, functions and uses.The abundance of clay objects found across an expansive temporal and geographic zone (Fig. 2), spanning the entire West Asian region across many millennia, implies an important role for these artefacts, a role which may relate to one of the many economic, cultural, symbolic and lifestyle changes seen at the start of the Neolithic, the period in which they initially occur. 'Tokens' are char...

show abstract

“…The use of stamps as seals, the appearance of the first sealings and their integration into bureaucracy in urban centres are well defined for the Near East (Akkermans and Duistermaat ; Collon , 11; Wengrow , 14–18; Frangipane ; , 13–14). Since the appearance of the first Near Eastern seal impressions, it has usually been accepted that ‘the origin of the system of sealing had essentially to do with property and the protection of that property’ (Akkermans and Duistermaat , 5). Collon (, 14) defined the Near Eastern sealing system as an administrative alternative to writing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Lead Seal from the Laodikeia‐Kandilkiri Excavations and an Overall Assessment of Seal Use in South‐Western Anatolia During the Early Bronze Age

Oğuzhanoğlu

2019

Oxford J Archaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary Kandilkırı, one of the two prehistoric settlements of the ancient city of Laodikeia on the Lykos River (Laodicea ad Lycum), was settled during the Early Bronze Age (EBA) 2 and 3 periods. The present study attempts to provide an overall assessment of questions pertaining to seals and sealing practices in south‐western Anatolia, raised due to the discovery of a lead stamp seal at Kandilkırı. In EBA 2, metal seals appeared alongside the pre‐existing clay ones, and by the end of the EBA 3, negatives of metal seals seem to have been added to the ‘trinket mould’ repertoire of artisans, who mainly cast lead and were active along the trade routes. The custom of seal usage in the Near East seems to have been partially adopted in south‐west Anatolia in the EBA, then passed to mainland Greece from this region. It is proposed that the south‐western corner of Anatolia might have played a more active role in the transport of Near Eastern ideas as a result of its closer proximity to the Mediterranean coast, and that at least a part of this connection might have been established via sea routes.

show abstract

More Seals and Sealings from Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria

Cited by 4 publications

References 1 publication

Composite Human‐animal Figures in Early Urban Northern Mesopotamia: Shamans or Images of Resistance?

Composite Human‐animal Figures in Early Urban Northern Mesopotamia: Shamans or Images of Resistance?

Reconsidering ‘Tokens’: The Neolithic Origins of Accounting or Multifunctional, Utilitarian Tools?

A Lead Seal from the Laodikeia‐Kandilkiri Excavations and an Overall Assessment of Seal Use in South‐Western Anatolia During the Early Bronze Age

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About