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The Samarra culture developed in southern Mesopotamia during the second half of the seventh millennium BCE. It is believed to have developed out of the more southern parts of the Proto-Hassuna culture, which in these more southern parts of Mesopotamia changed differently to the Hassuna culture of northern and central Mesopotamia. We can see thisContinue reading “Episode 26: Samarra”

The Southern Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia, sits to the north of northern Mesopotamia and is made up of the modern countries of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as northeastern part of modern Turkey and the northwestern tip of modern Iran. The region is made up of mountains and wide river valleys for theContinue reading “Episode 25: Transcaucasia Goes Neolithic”

The sixth millennium in the Southern Levant – the Wadi Rabah culture – is the source of many arguments as to whether we are talking about the end of the Neolithic or the beginning of the Chalcolithic (copper stone age). When we look at the sixth millennium in Anatolia – at least the first halfContinue reading “Episode 24: Early Chalcolithic Anatolia”

In the southern Levant, the first part of the Pottery/Late Neolithic is known for the 7th millennium BCE Yarmukian Culture. The Yarmukian culture has a lot of variation within it, such as in the shapes of houses (rectangular houses, rectuangular and round houses, rectangular, round and curvilinear houses, all curvilinear houses, etc.) and also inContinue reading “Episode 23: Wadi Rabah”

Now that we have had a look at the seventh millennium BCE in Anatolia, the Levant and Mesopotamia (the Ceramic Neolithic, Pottery Neolithic or late Neolithic, depending on where you are) there are a few common things which we can see happening across these regions. While this time period is best known for the breakupContinue reading “Episode 20: Mine! Advances in the Seventh Millennium BCE”

The Halaf culture develops in northern Mesopotamia at the beginning of the sixth millennium cal BCE from its origins in the Pre-Halaf culture of the seventh millennium. At the same time, the Proto-Hassuna culture to the east also looses its prequel name, changing into the Hassuna culture in eastern Syria and into the Standard HassunaContinue reading “Episode 22: Halaf”

After the end of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B in the Levant, Mesopotamia and Anatolia, we can see many changes to daily life happening across these regions. Pottery becomes a part of everyday life in villages across these regions of the Near East, although when it appears and when it becomes commonplace is not necessarily theContinue reading “Episode 21: Cyprus and the Khirokitia Culture”

We have looked thus far at the transition to the Pottery Neolithic over the seven millennium BCE in Anatolia and the Levant. This time I wanted to look at the third major central area of the Near East – Mesopotamia, or the land between the rivers. Mesopotamia is a big region, and includes not onlyContinue reading “Episode 19: The Many Faces of Late Neolithic Mesopotamia”

Anatolia, or rather the bulge of Asia Minor, is the westernmost part of the Near East. If we move south of Asia Minor we get the Levant, which is the region of the Near East along the Mediterranean coast. At the end of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB), around 7000 cal BCE, the Levant seesContinue reading “Episode 18: a Tale of Two Pottery Neolithic Levants”

Now that we have finished off the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, we can start to look at how the different regions of the Near East changed afterwards during the Pottery or Ceramic Neolithic. Today we can have a look at central and western Anatolia (mostly modern-day Turkey). Contrary to the idea of a ‘Pre-Pottery Neolithic Collapse’, AnatoliaContinue reading “Episode 17: Ceramic Neolithic Anatolia”