A LATE NEOLITHIC FISHING NET

Transcription

1 A LATE NEOLITHIC FISHING NET FROM KURDISTAN, NORTHERN IRAQ? O. NIEUWENHUYSE, K. BERGHUIJS and S. MÜHL Abstract: In this paper we present a textile imprint observed on a prehistoric (Late Neolithic) sherd recovered from the site of Bestansur, Northern Iraq. Dated to ca cal. BC, this represents one of the earliest textile imprints in the region. We discuss the fi nd and the type of textile. Rather tentatively we suggest it may have been used as a fi shing net. Résumé : Nous présentons ici une empreinte de textile observée sur un tesson préhistorique (Néolithique fi nal) découvert sur le site de Bestansur, Iraq du nord. Datée de ca cal. BC, cette trouvaille représente une des plus anciennes empreintes textiles de la région. On discute cette découverte et le type de textile représenté. À titre d hypothèse, on suggère qu il a pu s agir d un «fi let de pêche». Keywords: Neolithic; Late Neolithic; Pottery; Textile; Imprint; Fishing. Mots-clés : Néolithique ; Néolithique fi nal ; Céramique ; Textile ; Empreinte ; Pêche. INTRODUCTION The ancient Near East is home to some of the world s earliest sedentary, textile-producing cultures, but the material evidence for early textile use remains exceedingly scarce (Nadel et al., 1994; Schick, 1988; Stordeur, 1989; Vogelsang- Eastwood, 1999). Woven textiles simply do not preserve well in the region and most of the evidence is indirect. For example, faunal and botanical studies may suggest textile production, by pointing to the cultivation of fibrous plants such as flax or the exploitation of sheep for wool. Such evidence has been attested for the later parts of the Neolithic period (Breniquet, 2008, Cavallo, 2000, van Zeist and Bakkers, 1974; Rooijakkers, 2012 (this volume); Russell, 2012; Ryan, 2011). Evidence for earlier usages of textiles mostly consists of imprints: the impressions left by the woven textiles on plastic materials such as plaster, bitumen or clay. Early textile imprints are known from small clay tokens from Jarmo in Iraqi Kurdistan (Adovasio, 1975), bitumen-covered reed baskets at Tell Sabi Abyad in northern Syria (Akkermans et al., 2006; Berghuijs, in press), the surfaces of White Ware vessels (vaisselle blanche) in Upper Mesopotamia (Thuesen and Gwozdz, 1982; Maréchal, 1982; Nilhamn and Koek, in press) and the so-called cord-impressed pottery vessels from the northern Levant (Nieuwenhuyse, 2009). Indeed, so rare is the evidence we have that each new find deserves to be reported (Thomas et al., 2012). As a contribution, we here present an intriguing find made recently in a regional survey project on the Shahrizor Plain of Iraqi Kurdistan (Altaweel et al., in press; Mühl, 2010, 2011 and 2012). The Neolithic site of Bestansur (Shahrizor Survey Project site no. SSP-006) yielded a collection of microlithics and plain, coarse pottery dated to the 7 th millennium BC on typological grounds. Whilst studying the material in the field, we noticed that one sherd showed an impression of what appeared to be basketry. Upon magnification and inspection at the Textile Research Centre in Leiden it became clear that it was, in fact, an imprint of textile; more specifically, of a net. This imprint currently represents the oldest clear evidence for the existence of netting in the Near East. Netting is, of course, well attested in central Europe already by 25,000 BC (Soffer, 2000), but this evidence for it in the Near East is the earliest we now have in that region. Manuscrit reçu le 24 juin 2012, accepté le 12 juillet 2012

2 142 O. NIEUWENHUYSE, K. BERGHUIJS and S. MÜHL THE SITE OF BESTANSUR Fig. 1 The location of the site of Bestansur (SSP 6) in the Shahrizor Plain. Bestansur is a small tell site with a diameter of m and a height of about 6 m, located on the left bank of the Tanjero River between the cities of Sulaymaniyah and Halabjah (fig. 1). The site is situated on the edge of a hilly ridge at the western periphery of a fan created by a seasonal stream coming down from the Asmir Dagh range and the Shaikh Ismail Mountain. Bestansur is located in a well-watered area with both various perennial and seasonal streams and wells adjacent to the site (fig. ). Fertile agricultural fields surround the site to the west, south and east, while a little birch grove grows north of the site. The region was densely settled in all periods. Within a 2.5 km radius around Yasin Tepe, the most prominent site in this region, eight tell sites were reported by the Iraqi Directorate of Antiquities (Directorate of Antiquities, 1976: 86), and the Shahrizor Survey Project detected four additional sites in the 2009 and 2011 campaigns (Altaweel et al., in press). Earlier surveys had already attested Neo Assyrian and Achaemenid inhabitation at the site (Directorate of Antiquities, 1970: 224, site no. 98). The Shahrizor Survey Project collected evidence for prehistoric occupation. After collecting pottery at the mound itself, scatters of obsidian and flint tools comparable to finds from Jarmo (Hole, 1983) were observed in the ploughed fields located to the east and the west of the site. This led to a systematic sampling of (parts of) these fields: unit A west of the mound, and unit B to the east, each with a grid size of 5 x 5m (fig. 2). This sampling yielded numerous fragments of microlithic flints and obsidian dated to the earlier, aceramic stage of the Neolithic. The find scatters did not extend to the outer limits of the ploughed fields, but disseminated after a few metres. Pottery sherds were found in limited quantities, mostly coming from unit A at the western base of the mound. This pottery consists of a plain, coarsely-made, plant-tempered Coarse Ware. The hand-made sherds are comparatively thick-walled and all show roughly finished, coarsely-smoothed surfaces. The traces of the primary shaping can often still be discerned, including the kneading and scraping of the vessel with the fingers or with sharp tools. Vessel shapes include bowls, hole-mouth pots and collared vessels with short, sturdy necks and indistinct shoulders (fig. 3). A relatively large number of thick-walled, heavy base fragments was found. These must have belonged to large vessels, presumably used for storage. In northern Iraq good comparisons may be found in the upper levels of Jarmo, at Ali Agha, or the basal levels of Tell Hassuna (Adams, 1983; Caldwell, 1983; Lloyd and

3 A Late Neolithic fishing net from Kurdistan, Northern Iraq? 143 Fig. 2 Plan of Bestansur (SSP 6) showing the location of areas sampled on October 1 st, Dashed line: estimated extent of the Prehistoric fi nd scatter. Safar, 1945). These contexts are all dated to the 7 th and early 6 th millennium cal. BC. Further away, in Upper Mesopotamia, good comparisons may be found at Tell Sabi Abyad in levels dated to between ca cal. BC (Akkermans et al., 2006, Nieuwenhuyse, 2007 and in press). Here we would like to draw special attention to a vessel fragment showing the impressions of textile on the exterior base surface (fig. 4). The vessel had a concave base with a diameter of about 26 cm (fig. 3.3). The concave shape may have been deliberate: concave bases are stronger than flat bases. Furthermore the ridged base edge would have improved stability (Nieuwenhuyse, in press). The basal part of the vessel was shaped while standing on a piece of textile or rather, as subsequently became clear, on a convex surface on which this textile had previously left its imprints (see below). Textileimprinted Coarse Ware pottery containers have so far not been reported from northern Iraq but this omission is almost certainly due simply to the lack of research. Recent investigations at Late Neolithic sites in Upper Mesopotamia, the Northern Levant and Central Anatolia have shown that the practice of shaping coarse pottery on a surface of basketry or cloth was not uncommon in the second half of the 7 th millennium in the Near East (Godon, 2010; Nieuwenhuyse, 2009 and in press) The type of pottery discussed here bears no relationships to the so-called Basket Ware known from Pakistan in the 5 th to 3 rd millennium (Mutin, 2006). 0 5 cm Fig. 3 Late Neolithic Coarse Ware ceramics from Bestansur (SSP-006). No. 3.3: textile imprints on the exterior base

4 CNRS ÉDITIONS - TIRÉS À PART CNRS ÉDITIONS - TIRÉS À PART CNRS ÉDITIONS - TIRÉS À PART CNRS ÉDITIONS - TIRÉS À PART 144 O. NIEUWENHUYSE, K. BERGHUIJS and S. MÜHL Fig. 4 Bestansur (SSP-006). Two different views on the Late Neolithic Coarse Ware base fragment with textile imprints on the exterior surface (photo by Ben Grishaaver at Leiden University; image by Erica Dooijes). The forthcoming excavations at Bestansur ( are likely to yield additional examples. From a potters perspective, the use of a basket or piece of textile as a base for shaping pottery had the advantage of allowing the vessel to be moved about more easily during the shaping, as well as facilitating easy removal from the ground after shaping. THE NET IMPRESSION The visible net fragment impression consists of 44 diamond-shape meshes, measuring approximately 2 x 5 mm each (fig. 4, fig. 5). It is likely that the actual net was slightly larger than can be deduced from the impression due to shrinkage of the clay during the drying process, although the effect of this would have been almost negligible; after the shaping the coarse pottery would have shrunk some 5% at the most (Loe Jacobs, pers. comm., December 2011). The original mesh size of the net would therefore have been around 2.1 x 5.3 mm. Unfortunately, while we can safely say that the textile was knotted, the knot type could not be identified. For present purposes we define a net as a textile in which the warp and weft threads are either knotted or looped at the point of intersection, thereby creating a fabric with clear open spaces. We can certainly exclude a twine weave, as the aforementioned intersections of the warp and weft threads clearly show lateral or circular thickenings; one would not be able to see the passing over/under of the threads in a twine weave on any impression, as they will not be visible as thickenings. We interpret these thickenings as knots, hence our identification of this piece of textile as a net. The cordage that was used to make the net had a thickness of 1 mm and was most probably made of vegetal fibres, Livre-paleorient indb 144 Fig. 5 Close-up of the textile imprints from Bestansur (SSP-006) (photo by Ben Grishaaver at Leiden University). as the visible individual fibres vary in thickness. It was not possible to determine the type of fibre, nor the spin direction of the fibres. As to the type of fibre, we may also note that the surface collection yielded no spindle whorls while, moreover, the collected pottery typologically seems to predate the adoption of spindle whorls in Upper Mesopotamia (Rooijakkers, in press). These observations might be taken to suggest that no wool was processed at the site, but we emphasize that the lack of spindle whorls by itself is not a reason to reject the use of wool (Barber, 1991: 20-30; see the discussion in Rooijakkers, 2012, this volume). Intriguingly, the imprint itself appears to be an impression of an impression, i.e. a positive rather than a negative. This is indicated by the position of the mesh impressions relative to the cordage impression, as the meshes are visible as depressions in the clay and the cordage on top of the clay, whereas in a negative impression one would expect the contrary. This means that for some reason a piece of netting had left its imprint onto a soft clay surface. After the textile had been removed, this imprinted surface was either then used as a ground surface or platform for shaping a pottery container, or a just-finished pottery vessel, the clay still soft and wet, was placed onto the imprinted surface. This left an imprint of an imprint a positive on the exterior base of the pot. It is unlikely that the piece of textile functioned to facilitate the removal of the pottery vessel from the ground surface, as the textile itself had already been removed before the pottery vessel was placed on this surface. 21/12/12 13:42

5 A Late Neolithic fishing net from Kurdistan, Northern Iraq? 145 DISCUSSION Although the specific type of netting could not be identified, the imprint from Bestansur is among the earliest evidence so far for textile production in northern Iraq, indeed for Upper Mesopotamia as a whole. A precise, absolute date is not yet possible, but typological comparisons of the associated surface pottery suggest that the vessel was made between ca 6500 and 6200 cal. BC. The imprint was left when the vessel was shaped while standing on a surface on which a netted textile had previously left its imprint; the pottery fragment shows the imprint in positive. The material used cannot be reconstructed but it probably was a vegetal fibre. What purpose could the net have had to the inhabitants of Late Neolithic Bestansur? A wide range of usages seems possible. The net may have been a hunting net for insects or small game. It may also have been used as an item of dress, for instance as a veil or a hairnet, although the coarse mesh does not make this option very likely. It may have been a carrying net for the suspension or transportation of goods. The net may also have been used as part of an architectural construction. Painted Halafian pottery from the 6 th millennium occasionally shows buildings made of light-weight materials that may have included mats and nets made of basketry or textile (Breniquet, in press; Campbell, in press). Finally, the piece of netting may have been re-used as part of the potter s tool kit. Presently we cannot say for certain what this net was used for. Speculating, we propose that a likely primary function of the net was that of a fi shing net (Thomas et al., 2012). This is suggested by the coarse size of the meshes, and the location of the site in marshy surroundings near a small river. If this suggestion bears any merit, the size of the meshes would suggest the net was used for catching relatively small fishes. Painted Samarra and Halaf ceramics in the region sometimes show fishes as part of the iconography, testifying to the importance of this resource in the later 7 th and 6 th millennium cal. BC. Forthcoming excavations at Bestansur should clarify the degree to which fish or other water animals formed part of the diet in the earlier 7 th millennium. Admittedly, the rare representational iconography from these periods has so far shown no people engaged in fishing. Somewhat later, however, during the Ubaid period, southern Mesopotamians would sail the Gulf for trading and fishing (Carter and Crawford eds., 2010). The roots of this practice may perhaps be traced back to the activities of the Late Neolithic inhabitants of Northern Mesopotamia. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The work in the Sharizor is made possible thanks to the great support from our colleagues at the Directorate of Antiquities and Museum of Sulaimaniya. In particular we wish to thank Kamal Rasheed, Director of Antiquities, Hashim Hama, Director of the Sulaimaniya Museum, Zuhair Rajab, Archaeological Field Director, Saber A. Saber, Director of Archaeological Investigations, as well as Rebin Reba, Othman Tawfeeq, Dliwa Ali and the Shahrizor Surveyors of 2009 H. Backhaus, J. Hänsel, M. Heil, P.A. Miglus (survey co-director ), A. Pauly, and L. Voss. We wish to thank the editors of this special issue of Paléorient for inviting us to contribute, and especially Catherine Breniquet for her many useful suggestions. Gillian Vogelsang was of invaluable assistance checking our descriptions and providing feedback. Olivier P. NIEUWENHUYSE Faculty of Archaeology University of Leiden POB RA, Leiden THE NETHERLANDS onieuw@xs4all.nl Koen BERGHUIJS Textile Research Centre Hogewoerd HW, Leiden THE NETHERLANDS koenberghuijs@kpnmail.nl Simone MÜHL Institut für Vorderasiatische Archäologie Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1 D München GERMANY simone.muehl@vaa.fak12.uni-muenchen.de

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