Introduction
The prehistoric settlement of Abu Hureyra (35° 52′ N, 38° 24′ E) was located on the edge of the valley of the Euphrates River in northern Syria. It was a very large (11.5 ha) mound composed of two superimposed villages, Abu Hureyra 1 (c. 13,400–11,500 CalB.P.) and Abu Hureyra 2 (c. 10,600–7,500 CalB.P.) with an Intermediate episode of occupation (c. 11,500–10,600 CalB.P.) (Moore et al. 2000: Fig. 14.1). The site was thus continuously inhabited for 6,000 years. Culturally, Abu Hureyra 1 had late Epipalaeolithic affinities while the Intermediate Period and Abu Hureyra 2 fell within the Neolithic of Western Asia.
Key Issues
The site was excavated in 1972 and 1973 as part of an international salvage campaign that preceded the completion of a dam across the Euphrates. The site was flooded in 1974. Seven trenches were dug across the site to establish the sequence of occupation. These demonstrated that the initial settlement of Abu Hureyra 1 was confined to the north-west sector...
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References
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Moore, A.M.T. (2014). Abu Hureyra: Agriculture and Domestication. In: Smith, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_278
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