The prehistoric ceramic assemblage from Horum Höyük

Abstract

AbstractThe site of Horum Höyük is located on the Euphrates, near the modern town of Nizip. It was excavated in advance of the flooding caused by the Birecek dam. The prehistoric ceramic assemblage contains stylistic elements that relate to the Halaf, northern Ubaid and earliest Late Chalcolithic periods. Studies of the Late Chalcolithic in the region of the Syro-Turkish border have tended to take a Mesopotamia-centric focus, as characterised by the so-called Uruk Expansion. Recently, however, research has begun to examine Syro-Anatolia as a discrete entity. The precise chronology for the Late Chalcolithic period remains an issue of discussion. The main source of chronological evidence in the region is the pottery from the Amuq sequence, which exhibits a hiatus in the crucial Ubaid and Late Chalcolithic phases (E–F). Most of the prehistoric assemblage at Horum Höyük falls within this period and therefore has the potential to contribute to the debate. Three issues will therefore be addressed, namely, the chronological relationship between ceramic ware types, Horum Höyük's regional stylistic relations and the pottery assemblage's overall chronological position.