M'lefaat

M'lefaat

Shown within Iraq Show map of Iraq M'lefaat (Near East) Show map of Near East
Location	Nineveh Governorate , Iraq
Region	Upper Mesopotamia
Coordinates	36°18′N43°33′E / 36.300°N 43.550°E / 36.300; 43.550
Altitude	314 m (1,030 ft)
Type	archaeological site , tell
Diameter	90 metre
Height	3 metre
History
Periods	Pre-Pottery Neolithic A
Site notes
Excavation dates	1954; 1984; 1989; 1990
Archaeologists	Robert John Braidwood , Matti Baba Altun, Stefan Kozłowski

M'lefaat is a tell, or archaeological settlement mound, in Upper Mesopotamia that was occupied during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A.

History of research

The site was first excavated by Robert Braidwood in 1954 as part of their larger project on uncovering the early prehistory of the hilly flanks. At that time, the site was already damaged by the construction of a military installation during World War II. In 1984, a rescue excavation was carried out by the Mosul Department of Antiquities under the direction of Matti Baba Altun, as the site was threatened by road construction. Two further excavation seasons were conducted in 1989 and 1990, this time directed by Stefan Karol Kozłowski. ^[1] M'lefaat is part of a small cluster of early Neolithic sites that have been excavated in northern Iraq and that also includes Qermez Dere and Nemrik 9. ^{[2] [1]}

The site and its environment

M'lefaat is located near the Khazir River in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now northern Iraq, at an elevation of 314 m above sea level. It is a small tell, approximately 90 m in diameter and up to 2 m high. ^[3] The environment of M'lefaat is heavily degraded and characterised as moist steppe. Potentially, the area could support a savanna-type vegetation characterised by pistachio. Oak woodland may have been closer to the site than it is today. Annual precipitation at M'lefaat is sufficient for winter cultivation without additional irrigation. ^[1]

History of occupation

M'lefaat was a 0.7 ha settlement dating to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A. ^[2] More specifically, it has been described as belonging to the Taurus-Zagros Round House Horizon. ^[4]

See also

• Ginnig

References

1. Savard, Manon; Nesbitt, M.; Gale, Rowena (2003). "Archaeobotanical evidence for early Neolithic diet and subsistence at M'lefaat (Iraq)". Paléorient (in French). 29 (1): 93–106. doi:10.3406/paleo.2003.4756. ISSN   0153-9345. S2CID   84916227.
2. Kozlowski, Stefan Karol (2006). "The hunter-gatherer "villages" of the PPNA/EPPNB". Domesticating space : construction, community, and cosmology in the late prehistoric Near East. E. B. Banning, Michael Chazan. Berlin: Ex Oriente. pp. 43–51. ISBN   978-3-9807578-3-6. OCLC   184820314.
3. Kozłowski, Stefan Karol; Kuzma, Kazimierz; Szymczak, Karol (1989). "La reprise des fouilles à M'lefaat (saison 1989/1990)". digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de. doi:10.11588/diglit.26389.24 . Retrieved 2022-01-06.
4. Savard, Manon; Nesbitt, Mark; Jones, Martin K. (2006). "The role of wild grasses in subsistence and sedentism: new evidence from the northern Fertile Crescent" . World Archaeology. 38 (2): 179–196. doi:10.1080/00438240600689016. ISSN   0043-8243. S2CID   161332604.