Tell Abada

Tell Abada
	Shown within Iraq
Location	Iraq
Region	Diyala Governorate
Coordinates	34°6′0″N 45°7′12″E
Type	tell
Length	190 metre
Width	150 metre
Height	3.5 metre
History
Periods	Ubaid period
Site notes
Excavation dates	1977–1978
Archaeologists	Sabah Abboud Jasim

Tell Abada is a tell, or archaeological settlement mound, in Diyala Governorate (Iraq). Abada was excavated as part of the archaeological salvage operation to excavate sites that would be flooded by the reservoir of the Hamrin Dam. Excavations revealed occupation levels dating to the Ubaid 1-3 periods. The site is important because it was one of the few where an Ubaid period settlement could be excavated in its entirety.

The site and its environment

The site lies in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains in the Hamrin region, east of the Diyala River and 12 km (7.5 mi) southeast of Sadiyah.[1] It measures 190 by 150 m and rises 3.5 m above the surrounding plain. Another nearby Ubaid period site is Tell Rashid, which is located 12 km (7.5 mi) north of Tell Abada.[2][3]

History of research

Tell Abada was excavated for a single season from December 1977 until July 1978 under the direction of Sabah Abboud Jasim.[4] The excavation was part of a large archaeological salvage operation to excavate sites in danger of being flooded by the reservoir of the Hemrin Dam, which was being constructed at the time. Some 80% of the site has been excavated and virgin soil (undisturbed by human activity) was reached in two locations.[2] The fact that Tell Abada was excavated almost in its entirety makes it an important site in the study of the Ubaid period.[5]

About ninety Proto-Literate clay tokens were found at the site, mainly in Building A (Levels I and II). Some of the tokens were in groups. As an example, in Building A Level I sixteen tokens were found in an "unpainted, carinated bowl of Hajji Muhammad type". The group consisted of "8 spheres, 4 cones, 2 discs, 1 rod, 1 plain 'tablet'".[6]

Occupation history

Three different 5th millennium BC occupation levels were recognised, dating to a transitional phase between the Samarra and Ubaid periods (level III), after a gap late Ubaid 2 (level II), and early Ubaid 3 (level I).[2]

The architectural remains of level III consisted of two houses with multiple rectangular rooms, with gypsum plastered walls. These buildings have been interpreted as a pottery production location based on the presence of large storage jars, red ochre and three nearby kilns. The kilns were located in an open area and were of different types and shapes. In one case, it has been suggested that it could have been used both for firing pottery as well as food production.[7] Large quantities of painted Samarra and Ubaid 1 were recovered with a wide array of different decorative geometric motifs, including ceramics with both Samarra and Ubaid 1 characteristics.[2] There seems to have been a clear break in the occupation history between levels III and II.[5]

Level II consisted of 11 buildings which were separated by streets and narrow lanes. The buildings share a distinct design with a tripartite plan with rooms arranged around a T-shaped courtyard. The walls were constructed of mudbricks. One of the largest buildings (building A), in the center of the site, had exterior walls decorated with buttresses, indicating that it may have had a special function. A large number of infant burials were found there. Designs on the painted pottery included geometric motifs as wells as more naturalistic depictions. Pottery decorated with incisions and impressions was also common. Other finds included animal and human clay figurines, stone tools such as querns, mortars, mace heads, and bone tools such as needles and spatulas.[2]

A certain degree of continuation existed between the architecture of level II and level I. Painted pottery was common and often wheel-thrown, and decorations shared characteristics with those observed on both Northern and Southern Ubaid sites. Decoration was both geometric as well as naturalistic.[2]

Burials

A large number of child burials (127) have been recovered from the upper 2 levels of the site. Most of these children were below the age of 2. The bodies were placed in a shallow bowl covered with a second bowl, which in turn was buried below the floors of the houses. Almost half of the burials came from building A, reinforcing the apparent importance of this building that is also evident from its wall decorations and size. The excavators have searched the environment of the site for evidence of a burial site for adults, but did not find any.[8]

References

Jasim, Sabah Abboud (1983). "Excavations at Tell Abada a Preliminary Report". Iraq. 45 (2): 165–185. doi:10.2307/4200200. ISSN 0021-0889. JSTOR 4200200. S2CID 161062411.
Jasim, Sabah Abboud (1981). "Excavation at Tell Abada, Iraq". Paléorient. 7 (2): 101–104. doi:10.3406/paleo.1981.4302.
Jasim, Sabah Abboud (1983). "Notes on the excavation at Tell Rashid, Iraq". Paléorient. 9 (1): 99–103. doi:10.3406/paleo.1983.4336.
Jasim, Sabah Abboud (2021). Tell Abada : an Ubaid village in Central Mesopotamia (PDF). Sebastian Payne, Bob Bewley. Chicago. ISBN 978-1-61491-069-5. OCLC 1303909590.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Dittmann, Reinhard (1992-05-01). "The Ubaid Period in Iraq. Recent Excavations in the Hamrin Region by S. A. Jasim". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 286: 91–94. doi:10.2307/1357122. ISSN 0003-097X. JSTOR 1357122.
Jasim, Sabah Abboud, and Joan Oates, "Early Tokens and Tablets in Mesopotamia: New Information from Tell Abada and Tell Brak", World Archaeology, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 348–62, 1986
Hansen Streily, Andrea (2000). "Early pottery kilns in the Middle East". Paléorient. 26 (2): 69–81. doi:10.3406/paleo.2000.4711.
Hole, Frank (1989). "Patterns of burial in the fifth millennium". Upon this foundation : the Ubaid reconsidered : proceedings from the U̜baid Symposium, Elsinore, May 30th-June 1st 1988. Elizabeth F. Henrickson, Ingolf Thuesen, Carsten Niebuhr Institut. [Copenhagen]: Carsten Niebuhr Institute of Ancient Near East Studies, University of Copenhagen. pp. 149–198. ISBN 87-7289-070-3. OCLC 23199920.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)