DOI Heft:
Syria
DOI Artikel:Makowski, Maciej: Anthropomorphic figurines of the third millennium BC from Tell Arbid preliminary report
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42091#0476
TELL ARBID
SYRIA
ANTHROPOMORPHIC FIGURINES OF THE
THIRD MILLENNIUM BC EROM TELL ARBID
PRELIMINARY REPORT
Maciej Makowski
The settlement remains discovered by
a Polish-Syrian team on the site of Tell
Arbid are dated from the first half of the 3rd
through the end of the 1st millennium BC.
More importantly, an uninterrupted
stratigraphic sequence for a larger part of
the 3rd millennium, from the time of
Ninivite 5 culture through Early Dynastic
III (Early Jazirah III) and Akkadian (Early
Jazirah IV) to Post-Akkadian (Early Jazirah
V — end of the 3rd millennium), was traced
in a number of trenches. The present article
is a preliminary report on studies of
anthropomorphic figurines,1 considered one
of the characteristic categories of the
material culture of the period.
THE COLLECTION
Most of the nearly 40 figurines from Tell
Arbid dated to the 3rd millennium BC
were made summarily and sloppily with
little attention to details. These are mainly
small figurines, made of poorly fired dark
gray or graphite clay with mineral and
vegetal temper. It is entirely possible that
they were fired accidentally, by contact
with hot ashes, for instance, as the better
fired pieces are characterized by a brown or
gray color of the clay. The bigger figurines
appear to be better made and more precise
in the rendering, the clay being well-
tempered (usually with mineral particles)
and well fired to a greenish or red-brick
color as a rule. Most of these bigger and
better figurines originated from layers
dated to the second half or the end of the
3rd millennium BC. The only other
material used for making the figurines
beside clay is stone (one example).
None of the figurines were ever found
in a context that could be presumed to be
the place where the piece had originally
functioned. The objects come from room
fill, refuse pits, street deposits and
disturbed or eroded layers. This does not
help in the reconstruction of the meaning
and function of these figurines and it
frequently burdens the dating.
1 The collection could be studied thanks to a grant from the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology of Warsaw
University.
472
SYRIA
ANTHROPOMORPHIC FIGURINES OF THE
THIRD MILLENNIUM BC EROM TELL ARBID
PRELIMINARY REPORT
Maciej Makowski
The settlement remains discovered by
a Polish-Syrian team on the site of Tell
Arbid are dated from the first half of the 3rd
through the end of the 1st millennium BC.
More importantly, an uninterrupted
stratigraphic sequence for a larger part of
the 3rd millennium, from the time of
Ninivite 5 culture through Early Dynastic
III (Early Jazirah III) and Akkadian (Early
Jazirah IV) to Post-Akkadian (Early Jazirah
V — end of the 3rd millennium), was traced
in a number of trenches. The present article
is a preliminary report on studies of
anthropomorphic figurines,1 considered one
of the characteristic categories of the
material culture of the period.
THE COLLECTION
Most of the nearly 40 figurines from Tell
Arbid dated to the 3rd millennium BC
were made summarily and sloppily with
little attention to details. These are mainly
small figurines, made of poorly fired dark
gray or graphite clay with mineral and
vegetal temper. It is entirely possible that
they were fired accidentally, by contact
with hot ashes, for instance, as the better
fired pieces are characterized by a brown or
gray color of the clay. The bigger figurines
appear to be better made and more precise
in the rendering, the clay being well-
tempered (usually with mineral particles)
and well fired to a greenish or red-brick
color as a rule. Most of these bigger and
better figurines originated from layers
dated to the second half or the end of the
3rd millennium BC. The only other
material used for making the figurines
beside clay is stone (one example).
None of the figurines were ever found
in a context that could be presumed to be
the place where the piece had originally
functioned. The objects come from room
fill, refuse pits, street deposits and
disturbed or eroded layers. This does not
help in the reconstruction of the meaning
and function of these figurines and it
frequently burdens the dating.
1 The collection could be studied thanks to a grant from the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology of Warsaw
University.
472