Neolithic Pottery in Syria

The archaeological site of Tell Kashkashok II, approximately 20 km northwest of Hassake, Syria, was excavated by the University of Tokyo mission under the direction of Professor Toshio Matsutani in 1987 and 1988, prior to the construction of the dam on Wadi al-Awaj, a tributary of the Khabur river. The site comprises a small mound of about 100 m by 80 m, with a maximum height of less than 4 m from the adjacent wadi plain. The two seasons of excavations defined two major occupation periods. The earlier was the Proto-Hassuna phase of the Pottery Neolithic period (the mid-7th millennium BC) and the later one was the Ubaid to the Gawra period (5th millennium BC).

The tool kit of this period included a variety of pottery, flaked and ground stone artifacts, bone tools, stone bowls and clay artifacts. The pottery consisted of abundant plain coarse ware and a smaller amount of painted pottery (attached photo) with red to brown geometric decorations.

Provenance of the shown vase: Tell Kashkashok.

Current location: National Museum of Damascus.

Diameter: 8 cm. 

Material: painted pottery. 

Era: Neolithic. 

Photo: Nicholas Randall. 

Yoshihiro Nishiaki. Tell Kashkashok II, the Upper Khabur, Syria. 

ʾIḍāʾāt ʿalā al-Matḥaf al-Waṭanī fī Dimašq. DGAM (Direction Générale des Antiquités et des Musées de Syrie). Ministère de la Culture, 2006.