Proceedings

of the 6th International Congress

on the Archaeology
of the Ancient Near East
May, 5th-10th 2009, “Sapienza” - Università di Roma

Volume 3
Islamic Session

Poster Session

The Ceremonial Precinct of Canaanite Hazor

Edited by
Paolo Matthiae, Frances Pinnock, Lorenzo Nigro
and Nicolò Marchetti
with the collaboration of Licia Romano

2010
Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden
 MEZRAA-TELEILAT SETTLEMENT ‘IMPRESSED’ WARE
AND TRANSFERRING NEOLITHIC LIFE STYLE?

EMRE GÜLDOĞAN

ABSTRACT

The contexts and attributes indicating village life vary in time and space as this new
Neolithic “way of living” spread to the Mediterranean coast, to Europe and to Asia.
Specifically, one of the basic properties of the Mediterranean Neolithic is a kind of
pottery known for its specialized decoration called “Impresso”. Although this type
of pottery is prevalent in Western Mediterranean regions, it is rare elsewhere except
for some parts of the East Mediterranean coast and certain parts of Anatolia. The
geographical expansion of “Impresso” pottery has been used for a long time as a
tool for discussions on the origin and the spread of the Mediterranean Neolithic.
Discovering a type of pottery that is technically, aesthetically similar to “Impresso”
pottery will help to answer some of the issues mentioned previously. This poster
discusses the properties of this ware, both generally around the Mediterranean and
specifically within the site of Mezraa-Teleilat, in South-East Anatolia. As mentioned
previously, “Impresso” pottery can be simply defined as pottery with a special kind of
decoration made by pressing an object, such as bamboo, a comb, a nail, a shell onto
the wet surface of a vessel.

INTRODUCTION
One of the most important problems in Near Eastern Archaeology is under standing
how village life, beginning in the PPN and depending entirely on agriculture, spread
to new regions after the transition to the PN. After the PPN period, which lasted
from 12.000 – to the 6th millenium BC, developed in a small area, village life spread
rapidly along the Mediterranean coast to Portugal, through Continental Europe to the
Netherlands, and to inner Asia. In all of these regions the evolution of pottery can be
diagnostic of chronology. The reasons for the spread of village life- via migration or
knowledge or technology-are important hyphotheses in need of answers. The contexts
and attributes that indicate village life vary in time and space as this new Neolithic ‘way
of living’ spread to the Mediterranean coast, to Europe and to Asia. Specifically, one of
the basic properties of the Mediterranean Neolithic is a kind of pottery known for its
specialized decoration called ‘Impressed’. Although this type of pottery is prevalent
in Western Mediterranean regions, it is rare elsewhere except for some parts of the
East Mediterranean coast and certain parts of Anatolia. The geographical expansion
376 Emre Güldoğan

of Impressed pottery has been used for a long time as a tool for discussions on the
origin and the spread of the Mediterranean Neolithic. Discovering a type of pottery
that is technically or aesthetically similar to Impressed pottery will help answer some
of the issues mentioned previously. We believe it is useful to introduce this ware group
at this subject in order to assist our colleagues in uncovering the origin and spread
of Neolithic Culture. This paper discusses the properties of this ware, both generally
around the Mediterranean and specifically within the site of Mezraa-Teleilat (Fig.1).

THE GEOGRAPHICAL EXPANSION OF COMB-PRESSED IMPRESSED POTTERY

These decorations, made by pressing into the pottery a sharp instrument that has one
or more points, cover the surface of the vessel. This technique has many different
cultural names across various regions.1 Despite all of these names, ‘Impressed’ is
the most common designation and is used for the pottery of Early Neolithic Culture
on the Adriatic coast, especially Palmatia and North Italy. A variation of Impressed
decoration is ‘Cardium Impressed’. This variant, created by pressing the cardium shell
into the vessel, occurs on the Liguria coast in Italy, South France, Corsica, South
Spain and Portugal. Except these regions, on the several parts of the Aegean and
Anatolia and especially within the several culture communities which are dated to
Early Neolithic, the potteries with similar decoration technique, appears Southeast
Anatolia and Çukurova. Generally this pottery is called in these regions, pressed,
nail-pressed or impressed. It appears in Near East, around North Syria and Palestine,
in North Africa at Tunus-Redeyef. In the decoration, especially more intensely on the
part of the Mediterranean, continues their presence by whole the Neolithic Period as
the most common group of pottery. In the Levant, impressed pottery has been found
in Mersin, The Amik Plain, The Lebanon Coast and The Kerkh Valley. At this time
The Levantine Early Neolithic is more clearly defined and greater in density than The
Anatolian Early Neolithic. Thus, we find Impressed pottery with other vessel types
such as dark faced burnished ware, straw wares, red-slip ware and Hassuna ware.

THE DEFINITION OF COMB-PRESSED POTTERY

As mentioned previously, Impressed pottery can be simply defined as pottery with a
special kind of decoration made by pressing an object, such as bamboo, a comb, a nail
or a shell onto the wet surface of a vessel.
Different types of impressed decorations are designated based on the type of
object that is used as the instrument of pressure; for example ‘comb-pressed’, ‘finger
pressed’, or ‘notched’. Specifically, ‘notched’ or ‘jagged decoration’ are made by
stabbing or cutting small notches or cavities into the wet surface of the vessel with a
sharp pointed instrument. If these decorations are made when the surface of the vessel
is wet, they become clay traces around decoration; if they are made when the surface

1 For details see: Braidwood, Braidwood 1960; Binder 1994; Müller 1994; Whittle 1996.
Mezraa-Teleilat Settlement ‘Impressed’ Ware 377

of the vessel is dry they become smooth-edged.2

When looked on the forms of potteries which the impressed decoration seems
intensely, global jars, big vessels with narrowing mouths and bowls which are not
in a big variation appears. These vessels are simple and plain. The surface can be
burnished or not.

THE IMPRESSED POTTERY OF MEZRAA-TELEILAT

When looking at the PN sites in Southeast Turkey, we see that Mezraa-Teleilat is
important for determining the chronological position of impressed pottery. There is
no gap occupation during the PPN-PN transition at Mezraa-Teleilat. However, in the
earliest periods that contain pottery, The pottery is found in small amounts. On this
duration, the pottery is coarse, not burnished, straw and light-buff colored.3 There is
a greater volume of a pottery in the following upper level; the surface of this pottery
is light-colored and finely smoothed. In the same level, impressed pottery is seen in
small amounts. But it is only in the third level that we find the high quality impressed
pottery in large quantities.
There are three main impressed decoration techniques at Mezraa-Teleilat. The first
is rare and is made with a nail or a tool that makes nail-like marks. These decoration
are mutual with the ones that are seen dark faced burnished ware. The second type of
impressed decoration technique is seen more rarely and is made by pressing a dagger-
like triangular pointed instrument into the surface of vessel, nearly covering the whole
surface. The third and the most common technique is made by pressing a comb-like
instrument into the vessel. The paste of this third technique has its own particular
structure with wares which as plants in its structure (Figs 2-3).
The impressed imprints are generally organized as a paralel bands of zigzags and
chevrons (Figs 4-5). Besides, there are rocker type sherds with significant amounts
and some of them have complex motives. Nearly all the types of pottery found at
Mezraa-Teleilat are known from Northern Syria, especially Northwest. Despite this
fact, the amount of impressed pottery uncovered in Syria is relatively little in amount.
Pottery samples from Mezraa-Teleilat will have important role in understanding
The East Mediterranean wares, at it can now be said that the impressed pottery from
Mezraa-Teleilat is contemporary with The East Mediterranean wares.4

CONCLUSIONS
The subject of the Neolithic cultural expansion has been researched for a long time,
but is still debated due to the scarcity of sites that reflect this time period and to
the deficiency of finds. Remembering this when the concept of Neolithisation is

2 Ökse 1993: 29.

3 Özdoğan 1999: 204.
4 Karul, Ayhan, Özdoğan 2001: 4.
378 Emre Güldoğan

discussed, elements of this new sedentary way of life can be seen as being part of
‘The Neolithic Package’. Comb-Pressed pottery is a group of pottery seen within the
‘Neolithic Package’ of the period discussed in this paper, in both the Western and
Eastern Mediterranean, as well as in North Africa.
After the excavations of Mezraa-Teleilat, attempts to make cultural/regional
definitions about the origin and expansion of this pottery group will be undertaken.
There has been new dimensions? One of the research discussions will be what role
the Euphrates basin had on this subject. The reason for this focus is that comb-pressed
pottery is found in very intense concentrations in excavations in the Euphrates basin.
Here, talking about two different cultural regions or talking about an expansion whose
origin is here, throws fresh light on the questions to be answered.
It is also possible, and my hope, that the problem of expansion of the Neolithic
way of life can be in some part ascertained when the intensive study of pottery from
Mezraa-Teleilat is concluded. My goal is to attempt to solve problems of origins
and expansions of the Neolithic and to answer The question: ‘Did elements of the
Neolithic Package expand [to! or from !] the west or did similar features of pottery
develop independently in particular regions?’.

Bibliography
Binder, B.
1994 Mesolithic and Neolithic Interaction in Southern France and Northern Italy:
New Data and Current Hypotheses: in T. Douglas (ed.), Europe’s First
Farmers, Cambridge, pp. 117-143.
Braidwood, R.J., Braidwood, L.
1960 Excavations at the Plain of Antioch, Chicago.
Karul, N., Ayhan, A., Özdoğan, M.
2001 The 1999 Season at Mezraa Teleilat: in N. Tuna, J. Velibeyoğlu (eds), Ilısu
Carchemish Dam Reservoir Activities in 1999 (METU-TAÇDAM), Ankara,
pp. 133-174.
Müller, J.
1994 Das Ostadriatische Frühneolithikum, Band 9, Berlin.
Ökse, T.
1993 Ön Asya Arkeolojisi Seramik Terimleri, Istanbul.
Özdoğan, M.,
1999 Northwestern Turkey: Neolithic Cultures in between the Balkans and
Anatolia: in M. Özdoğan (ed.), Neolithic in Turkey, Istanbul, pp. 203-224.
Whittle, A.
1996 Europe in the Neolithic, Cambridge.
Mezraa-Teleilat Settlement ‘Impressed’ Ware 379

Fig. 1: Mezraa-Teleilat.

Fig. 2: Mezraa-Teleilat simple

points samples.
380 Emre Güldoğan

Fig 4: Mezraa-Teleilat rocker type samples.

Fig. 3: Mezraa-Teleilat nail pressed

samples.

Fig. 5: Mezraa-Telei-
latcomb pressed
samples.