Population history of the middle Euphrates valleyResearch on dental non-metric traits at Tell Ashara, Tell Masaikhand Jebel Mashtale, Syria

Arkadiusz Sołtysiak*, Marta BialonDepartment of BioarchaeologyInstitute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Polandul. Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28, 00-927 Warszawa

Running title: Population history of the middle Euphrates valley

Corresponding author: Dr. Arkadiusz Sołtysiak, tel.: +48 22 5522837, fax: +48 22 5522801 e-mail: a.soltysiak@uw.edu.pl

1

Abstract: Fifty nine dental non-metric traits were scored using Arizona State University Dental

Anthropology System on a sample of teeth from 350 human skeletons excavated at three sites in the

lower middle Euphrates valley. The dataset was divided into six chronological subsets: Early

Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age, Early Iron Age with Neo-Assyrian period, Classical/Late

Antiquity, Early Islamic (Umayyad and Abbasid) period and Modern period. The matrix of Mean

Measure of Divergence values exhibited temporal homogeneity of the sample with only dental non-

metric trait scores in the Modern subset differing significantly from most other subsets. Such a

result suggests that no major gene flow occurred in the middle Euphrates valley between the 3rd

millennium BCE and the early 2nd millennium CE. Only after the Mongolian invasion and large

depopulation of northern Mesopotamia in the 13th century CE a major population change occurred

when the area was taken over in the 17th century by Bedouin tribes from the Arabian Peninsula.

Key words: biodistance research; phenetic affinity; northern Mesopotamia; migrations

Introduction

Political, economic and social history of ancient Mesopotamia is relatively well known, chiefly due

to intensive archaeological excavations and findings of public and private archives of cuneiform

documents. However, this knowledge is strongly biased, as spatial, chronological and topical

distribution of textual sources is uneven, with most documents retrieved from large cities of

southern alluvial Euphrates plain, and most economic sources dated to a few decades of later Ur III

period (second half of 21st century BCE; cf. Yoffee, 1988). For that reason the history of southern

and central Mesopotamia, especially in the Bronze Age, is better known than the history of the

northern plains and there are substantial gaps in our knowledge about the later periods, when clay

tablets were no longer used as writing material (cf. Postgate, 1992).

Historical and archaeological sources enable the rough reconstruction of the population history.

Changes in the population size may be estimated with the use of archaeological survey data (cf.

Adams, 1965, 1981; Adams and Nissen, 1972; Copeland, 1985; McClellan, 1992; Wilkinson, 1990;

Wright et al., 2007) and some migrations and/or ethnic changes were attested by written documents

(Van De Mieroop, 2004a). However, the picture obtained from these sources is quite superficial, as

the real impact of migrations on local population may be only loosely correlated with the change of

language or self-identification, not even mentioning the material culture (cf. Kramer, 1977).

2

In theory, research of ancient DNA polymorphisms would be the best source of knowledge about

population history, but the climatic conditions are not favourable for DNA preservation (cf.

Schutkowski, 2012) and only a few very preliminary regional studies were published so far (Baca

and Molak, 2008). For that reason, bioarchaeological methods of phenetic affinity reconstruction

are the only reliable alternative, especially the research on dental non-metric traits, which are less

subject to environmental stress and postmortem alterations than skeletal non-metric traits or metric

measurements (Irish, 2006, 2010; Scott and Turner, 1997).

The major issue related to this tool is the need for large and relatively homogenous samples, which

may be virtually impossible to obtain at ancient Mesopotamian sites (cf. Sołtysiak, 2006).

Fortunately, during large scale excavations in the region of Tell Ashara (ancient Terqa), lasting for

more than 15 years, almost a thousand human skeletons have been unearthed, most of them buried

at regular cemeteries (Sołtysiak and Tomczyk, 2008a, 2008b, 2008c). In spite of often poor

preservation and relatively high degree of dental wear, the sample is sufficient for rough estimation

of phenetic affinities between populations inhabiting the middle Euphrates valley in the Bronze

Age, in Classical/Late Antiquity and after Islamic conquest.

Historical and archaeological background

Middle Euphrates valley around Tell Ashara is located in an arid climatic zone with average annual

rainfall under 150 mm, which is not enough for dry farming (van Zeist, 2000). For that reason, plant

cultivation was possible only in a narrow strip of floodplain. However, the arable fields may have

been extended in a limited way using artificial irrigation, which was attested in historical sources

from the Middle Bronze Age (Durand, 1998; Heimpel, 2003; Viollet, 2004) to the Umayyad period

(Berthier, 2001; D'Hont, 2005; Genequand, 2009; Rousset, 2001) (cf. Table 1 for chronological

chart) and is now applied with use of mazut pumps (cf. Kolars, 2000). Alternative subsistence

strategy available in the region was nomadic or semi-nomadic herding of sheep and goats in the

large areas of dry steppes around the valley. In some periods, as e.g. Middle Bronze Age, this

economical duality led to the formation of the so-called dimorphic society with close links betweens

farmers and pastoralists (Hesse, 1995; Kirsch and Larsen, 1995; Rowton, 1967, 1974, 1980). In

others, as eg. the Late Roman period, the level of economical interactions was much lower (Parker,

1987). In spite of relatively low carrying capacity level and small potential for population growth as

3

compared with the alluvial plains of lower Euphrates, since the beginning of third millennium BCE

large cities (as Mari, Terqa and later Dura Europos) have been present in the region and

urbanisation has been usually correlated with the importance of the Euphrates valley as a major

trade route or as an imperial borderland (Butterlin, 2010; Dalley, 2002; Edwell and Edwell, 2008;

Margueron, 2004; Masetti-Rouault, 2008).

The earliest known human occupation in the middle Euphrates, near the Khabour confluence, is

dated to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (Akkermans et al., 1982), but the settlement size was very

small until the end of the Chalcolithic. Archaeological surveys in the region suggest dramatic

growth of human populations at the dawn of the Early Bronze Age, chiefly due to the establishment

of two urban centres in Terqa and Mari. The settlement size was relatively stable then until the

Middle Bronze Age. After its evident collapse from the Late Bronze Age until the Achaemenian

period, with some recovery in Neo-Assyrian period, another episode of population growth started in

the Hellenistic times and lasted until the 13th century CE, with its peak during the

Umayyad/Abbasid period (Geyer and Monchambert, 1987; Simpson, 1984). It is evident that the

periods of population growth in the middle Euphrates valley were correlated with urbanisation.

It is impossible to say anything about ethnic affinities of people living on Euphrates prior to mid-3rd

millennium BCE. Available documents from later 3rd millennium include exclusively Semitic

(chiefly Akkadian) names, which suggests that whole Mesopotamia, except for the alluvial plain in

the south was uniform in respect of ethnic affinity and language (Buccellati, 1992; cf. Oppenheim,

1977, 34). Akkadian continued to be the main Mesopotamian language through second to the first

half of the first millennium BCE, although divided into southern Babylonian and northern Akkadian

dialect since the early second millennium onwards (Deutscher, 2000). At the turn of the third

millennium BCE, Amorite names begun to dominate in records from Mari and Terqa (Anbar, 1991;

Buccellati, 1992) and—although Akkadian was still used as official language—the Amorites

seemed to be the main ethnic group in whole of Mesopotamia throughout whole first half of the 2nd

millennium BCE.

In early views of the Mesopotamian history, this rapid expansion of the Amorite ethnic affinity (but

not language, which had virtually not been attested in textual evidence) was explained in terms of

massive migrations of pastoralists from the western arid steppes (cf. Leemans, 1957). They were

viewed by early 20th century scholars as barbarians who politically dominated the farming

population of Sumerians and Akkadians, but quickly adopted the urban way of life and lost their

4

nomadic identity (cf. Buccellati, 1966). Some early authors proposed a theory of four migration

waves from the west: Akkadian in remote past, Amorite at the turn of the 3rd millennium, Aramean

at the turn of the 2nd millennium and Arabic in the first millennium CE (Clay, 1909; Kraeling, 1918;

Kupper, 1959). These groups of Semitic pastoralists were thought to rapidly assimilate the

civilisation based on agriculture, originally invented by Sumerians in the south and to some extent

by so-called Subarians in the north (Gelb, 1944; Ungnad, 1936; cf. Gragg, 1995).

Actually, available evidence does not support the theory of a massive Amorite migration from the

west. Amorite names and ethnic designation (MAR.TU in Sumerian, Amurru in Akkadian) were

first attested by the cuneiform texts c. 2600 BCE in southern Mesopotamia (Gelb, 1961), but they

were rare before the 21st century BCE (Westenholz, 1999). It seems likely that Mesopotamia was

the original homeland of the Amorites who used marginal pastures for sheep and goat herding all

around the territories of farmers and their alleged migration was just a population movements inside

the dimorphic society (Lönnqvist, 2008; cf. Liverani, 1973).

In spite of the rise of new Amorite kingdoms in whole territory of Mesopotamia, and the kingdom

of Mari in particular, the material culture and social organisation did not substantially change in the

transitional period between Early and Middle Bronze Age (Stone, 2002; Yoffee, 1995). Abundant

archives found in Mari allow quite detailed insight into both political history, interactions between

farmers and herders and the daily life in this very important urban centre of northern Mesopotamia

at that time (Durand, 1997, 1998, 2000; Heimpel, 2003). Mari had been completely destroyed by

Hammurabi of Babylon in the 18th century BCE and has never recovered, while the political power

moved to Terqa some 50 km upstream Euphrates (Van De Mieroop, 2004b). The history of this

obviously less powerful kingdom of Terqa is less known. In the 18th century BCE it was controlled

by the Kassite dynasty, which then moved to Babylon after its pludering by the Hittites (Brinkman,

1972; Charpin, 1995). The original homeland of the Kassites is not known (Brinkman, 1972; De

Smet, 1990), and it is not very likely that they have ever migrated to Mesopotamia in great number

(Sommerfeld, 1995).

The kingdom of Khana with its capital city in Terqa lasted through later Middle Bronze Age and

early Late Bronze Age (Buccellati, 1988), and then became a part of the Mitanni and then Middle

Assyrian state (Chavalas, 1992). At that time, some migration of Hurrians from the north may have

reached the middle Euphrates valley (Rouault, 1992; cf. Burney, 1997; Kramer, 1977). In the

beginning of the Iron Age, whole Mesopotamia plunged into chaos and for three centuries farming

5

lands were flooded by nomadic pastoralists using Aramean language and divided into many tribes

(Sader, 1984, 1992). The origin of the Arameans is as disputable as the origin of Amorites (cf.

Schwartz, 1989), but it seems likely that they inhabited the steppes of northern Mesopotamia in the

Late Bronze Age and probably were forced by the climatic change to search for pastures in lands

previously cultivated by farmers (Brinkman, 1968; Neumann and Parpola, 1987). Terqa and other

major sites in its neighbourhood were virtually deserted in that time (Masetti-Rouault, 2007).

In the 9th/8th century BCE, the area was reconquested by the Assyrian state. Assyrian kings

developed the policy of mass deportations (Oded, 1979) and the middle Euphrates valley was

resettled by farmers (Masetti-Rouault, 2008, 2010), although the cultural continuity from earlier

period suggests that they may have been sedentarised local pastoralists rather than newcomers

(Masetti-Rouault, 2009). The capital of the region moved to the left bank of Euphrates, to Kar-

Assurnasirpal (modern Tell Masaikh) where rectangular city was established over the remains of

previous Chalcolithic and Middle Bronze Age villages (Masetti-Rouault, 2007; Masetti-Rouault and

Salmon, 2010). After the fall of the Assyrian Empire, the city was abandoned, and it is possible that

the population of farmers again decreased due to emigration or pastoralisation.

Throughout Classical and Late Antiquity, the middle Euphrates valley became unstable borderland

between Romans and Parthians / Sasanians, with a buffer kingdom of Osrhoene controlling steppes

on the left bank of the Euphrates (Bertinelli, 1976; Dillemann, 1962; Oates, 1968). Most important

urban centre in that time was Dura Europos, a stronghold established by Seleucos I, then rebuilt by

Parthians and Romans. Finally the city was completely destroyed by Shah Shapur I in 256

(MacDonald, 1986). In that time, the flow of peoples from outside northern Mesopotamia was

perhaps higher than previously due to the military importance of the area and also the activity of

mercenaries in more peaceful times (Goodblatt, 1987; Simpson, 2000). Moreover, both the Romans

and the Sasanians adopted the policy of deportations (Drijvers, 2009).

After the fall of Dura Europos, no major city south of Circesium at the Khabur confluence existed

in the region, but the area was still covered by a dense network of small farming villages. The

expansion of the Islamic Caliphate finished the period of military conflicts and it is possible that

due to large irrigation works attested in the sources (Genequand, 2009; Rousset, 2001), the region

experienced highest population growth in its history. Only in the 10th century the conflicts between

Abbasids and Hamdanids, as well as subsequent expansion of the Seljuq Turcs, contributed again to

the political unstability in northern Mesopotamia (Basan, 2010). The middle Euphates valley in that

6

time was controlled through the castle Rahba near modern town Mayadin (Rousset, 1996). Finally,

the whole area was heavily depopulated due to raids of Mongolians commanded by Hulagu Khan in

1250s and 1260s (Amitai-Preiss, 1995).

For the following centuries, the middle Euphrates valley was very sparsely populated. In the early

17th century CE, steppes around has been taken over by Northern Shammar and Bishr Aneze

Bedouin tribes, which migrated from the Arabian Peninsula (Chatty, 1990; Raswan, 1930). In the

early 20th century, when Syria was under French control, the fertile lands in the Euphrates valley

were resettled by sedentarized Bedouins and by farmers from south-eastern Anatolia and western

Syria (Velud, 2000). The population growth due to high fertility and immigration rate was continued

after World War II (Ababsa, 2009; Meyer, 1990) and the contemporary population of the Deir-ez

Zor governorate exceeds 1.2 million people (Central Bureau of Statistics, Syrian Arab Republic).

During the last hundred years, the interpretation of ethnic changes attested by the Mesopotamian

historical sources shifted from long-distance migrations to short-distance local exchange of people

between settled farmers and more mobile pastoralists, related to social re-organisation and forced by

climatic change or political circumstances. It is possible that both the Amorite and the Aramean

expansions during two "dark ages" of Mesopotamian history were movements of that kind and did

not affect the genetic polymorphism of the regional population in a considerable way. Migrations of

Hurrians and Kassites, which occured in later Early and Middle Bronze Age, likely had its initial

point in quite remote places, but the impact of both these ethnic groups on the large Mesopotamian

population, although attested in the sources, was rather small or even completely negligible. The

first large scale evident population movement in history took its place in the Neo-Asyrian period

when the policy of mass deportations forced millions of people to move sometimes to quite distant

places. The origin of colonists who were settled in that time in the middle Euphrates valley is not

known, but they might be local or originate whether in the Levant or in the Zagros mountains as

well.

When Northern Mesopotamia became a part of larger empires, the level of mobility related to troop

movements, long-distance trade and deportations obviously increased in comparison with the

Bronze Age. However, if the new settlers—as Greeks or Romans—retained their ethnic identity,

they were forced to move back when the region was conquered by Parthians and then by Sasanians.

Thus, it may be expected that the Classical and Late Antiquity was characterised not only by

political, but also for ethnic instability in the frontier region of the middle Euphrates. To some

7

extent this situation may have continued in the Islamic period. After the Mongolian invasion in the

13th century CE, Mesopotamia was depopulated and practically re-settled by Bedouins several

centuries later.

Research on dental non-metric traits

Biodistance analyses aiming at reconstruction of population histories are common in physical

anthropology and bioarchaeology (cf. Buikstra et al., 1990). In the early history of the discipline

they were based chiefly on skull metric measurements (Howells, 1973), which are still used albeit

less frequently than decades ago (cf. Buzon, 2011; Molleson and Rosas, 2012; Pinhasi and von

Cramon-Taubadel, 2012). The only major attempt to reconstruct the population history of the Near

East was based on average cranial measurements (Bernhard 1993).

After the 1960s non-metric cranial (Hanihara et al., 2003; Hauser and De Stefano, 1989; Nagar,

2011; Rösing, 1982) and especially dental traits (Dahlberg, 1963) became more and more popular in

the research on phenetic affinities. Dental non-metric traits are superior to cranial non-metric traits

and metric measurements, as their heritability is relatively higher and more stable between

populations, they are sex-independent, and also independent from each other in most cases (Scott

and Turner, 1997). Moreover, tooth tissues are denser and thus less susceptible than bone to any

postmortem alterations.

Several scoring protocols for dental non-metric traits are available, including Zubov's (1968, 1977)

odontoglyphics and the system used by Alt and Vach (1991, 1998) for kinship studies. The most

popular protocol is the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System (ASUDAS) (Turner

et al., 1991). It includes only traits observed on permanent dentition, although deciduous teeth are

also occasionally studied (Kitagawa, 2000). Because many traits are scored in a rank scale, they

must be dichotomised prior to further analysis (Irish, 2010).

The two most common distance measures used in research on dental non-metric traits are

generalized Mahalanobis D2 distance and Smith's Mean Measure of Divergence (MMD) (Irish,

2010), although occasionally other methods—as Balakrishnan and Sanghvi B2 distance (Schillaci et

al., 2009) or R-matrix (Hanihara, 2008)—are also used. Because Mahalanobis D2 distance may be

counted only for complete or almost complete datasets, in case of a dataset with many missing cells

the MMD is the only remaining option (Irish, 2010).

8

Literature about population histories inferred from the study of dental non-metric traits is large and

especially North America (Haydenblit, 1996), Italy (Coppa et al., 1998, 2007), North Africa

(Guatelli-Steinberg et al., 2001) and Eastern Asia (Hanihara, 2010; Matsumura and Hudson, 2005)

are well covered. There is also a number of worldwide studies (Hanihara, 2008; Scott and Turner,

1997). Not only archaeological dental samples, but also living populations are occasionally studied

(Peiris et al., 2011).

Although some cranial non-metric traits were occasionally scored in more or less standardized way

at various Mesopotamian sites (Bolt, 1991; Burger-Heinrich, 1989; Ehrich, 1939; Rathbun, 1975;

Wittwer-Backofen, 1983; Molleson, 2000; Sołtysiak, 2009), available dental data are virtually

absent (cf. Anfruns et al., 1996; Özbek, 1979; Swindler, 1956). This is related to the general poor

state of preservation of human remains at Near Eastern archaeological sites and to the fact that the

number of excavated cemeteries is small and most human skeletons come from settlement sites

where chiefly subadult individuals were buried (Sołtysiak, 2006). For that reason it is very difficult

to gather a homogenous sample large enough for the research on phenetic affinities. Mesopotamia

differs completely in this respect from Egypt and Nubia where dental and cranial non-metric traits

were scored at many sites and used successfully in answering many questions concerning the

population history of the Nile valley (Godde, 2009; Irish, 1997, 2005, 2006; Irish and Konigsberg,

2007; Nikita et al., 2012; Prowse and Lovell, 1996; Schillaci et al., 2009).

Material

Human teeth studied in the present paper were found at three archaeological sites located in the

lower middle Euphrates valley, about 60 km south of Deir ez-Zor. They have been excavated since

1987 by a joint French-Syrian team directed by Olivier Rouault (Université Lumière Lyon 2) and

Maria Grazia Massetti-Rouault (École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris).

Tell Ashara (ancient names Terqa and Sirqu) is a major site located on the right bank of Euphrates

(Fig. 1). It had been inhabited at least since the beginning of the 3rd millennium BCE until the Late

Bronze Age, then it was occasionally re-settled in later periods and finally used as a cemetery in late

19th and early 20th century CE (Rouault, 2008). The maximum size of the site is not certain because

the modern village Ashara covers most part of the ancient settlement. So far, more than 250 human

skeletons were found at Tell Ashara, chiefly among Bronze Age houses and in the modern cemetery

9

(Sołtysiak and Tomczyk, 2008a).

Tell Masaikh (ancient name Kar-Assurnasirpal) is the second site about 5 km upstream Tell Ashara,

on the left bank of Euphrates. It was inhabited as early as in the Halaf period (5th millennium BCE)

and then in the Middle Bronze Age, but the time of its prosperity was the Neo-Assyrian period

when the city with local governor's palace was established and the settlement size reached at least

17 ha. Kar-Assurnasirpal was abandoned by the end of the Neo-Assyrian period, but some domestic

remains indicate that the site was occasionally inhabited in later periods. However, Tell Masaikh

was used as a cemetery from Hellenistic period to modern times, with most excavated burials dated

to Late Roman and Umayyad/Abbasid periods (Frank, 2006; Masetti-Rouault and Salmon, 2010).

This cemetery covered most part of the site and so far more than 500 human skeletons have been

retrieved, together with another c. 40 skeletons from the Middle Bronze Age strata (Sołtysiak and

Tomczyk, 2008b). Another Early Islamic cemetery was found at the third site Jebel Mashtale, some

6 km south to Tell Masaikh, with remains of c. 30 individuals excavated during two years of rescue

excavations (Sołtysiak and Tomczyk, 2008c).

Human remains from all three sites excavated between 1997 and 2006 had been studied by

Arkadiusz Sołtysiak in the dig house in Darnaj. Between 2006 and 2011, the fieldwork

bioarchaeological research was done by Jacek Tomczyk (Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in

Warsaw). Teeth and bone samples were imported to Poland and now are curated in the Department

of Bioarchaeology, Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw and in the Department of

Anthropology, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw.

In total, teeth of 350 individuals were suitable for dental non-metric traits scoring, including 111

from Tell Ashara, 229 from Tell Masaikh and 10 from Jebel Mashtale. They were divided into six

chronological subsets: Early Bronze Age (EBA, c. 2700-2100 BCE), Middle and Late Bronze Age

(MBA, c. 2000-1200 BCE), Early Iron Age and Neo-Assyrian period (INA, c. 1200-600 BCE),

Classical and Late Antiquity (CLA, c. 300 BCE – 600 CE), Early Islamic, i.e. Umayyad and

Abbasid period (ISL, c. 600-1200 CE) and modern Bedouin cemetery (MOD, c. 1800-1950 CE).

Because of the high rate of missing teeth, high dental wear rate and, occasionally, considerable

postmortem erosion, individual traits could have been scored for less than a half and sometimes

even for less than a quarter of individuals. For that reason the INA subset was completely unsuitable

for comparisons and not taken into account in further analysis, and the EBA, MBA and MOD

subsets were just above the lower acceptable sample size (see Table 2). It must be noted that the

10

Late Roman and Early Islamic cemeteries at Tell Masaikh were located in the same part of the site

and sometimes the dating of individual burials—often without any grave goods—was based on such

a weak criterion as body orientation or position (Frank, 2006).

Methods

A total number of 59 dental non-metric traits was scored using ASUDAS protocol, which is most

commonly used in the research on biodistances in the Near East. To avoid inter-observer error, all

the data were recorded by one observer (Marta Bialon). In case of bilateral trait asymmetry, higher

score was chosen (after Turner and Scott, 1977; see also Green et al., 1979). Correlations between

traits were checked with use of Kendall's tau correlation coefficient (Irish, 2005). Trait scores

expressed in rank scale were dichotomized at breakpoints, which produced highest inter-sample

variance for first tooth from a group (e.g., breakpoints for M2 and M3 are the same as for M1). Data

for all 350 individuals, separately for six chronological subsets, are presented in Table 2. Due to

many missing cells in individual scores, the differences between chronological subsets were

explored using Smith's MMD with Freeman and Tukey angular transformation and correction for

small sample size (all formulas after Harris and Sjøvold, 2003; cf. Green and Suchey, 1976;

Sjøvold, 1977). MMD values, their standard deviations (after Sjøvold, 1973) and statistical

significance were counted using a script written in the R language (Sołtysiak, 2011). The

differences between chronological subsets were visualised using a dendrogram for the MMD values

obtained with the Ward linkage method.

Results

Two matrices of MMD values were constructed for five chronological subsets. In first of them

(Table 3) all traits were used except these for which sample size was too low and these with no

inter-sample variability (marked with crosses in Table 2). Kendall's tau coefficients were

statistically significant for analogical traits in tooth groups (e.g., the shoveling in UI1 and UI2), but

the correlation was small to medium (τ<0.4), so no traits were rejected. Most MMD values in this

matrix are negative or close to zero and only the distance between CLA and MOD is relatively high.

For the second analysis, only traits with positive MMD values for at least 3 per 10 pairs of

chronological subsets were selected. From this set of traits, only one analogical trait for the group of

11

teeth was left, with highest average MMD value for all 10 pairs of subsets (e.g., the accessory

marginal tubercle of UM2 was selected, and this trait in UM1 was rejected, as it produced the same

number of positive inter-pair MMD values but lower average MMD value). Twenty-seven traits

passed such a selection, which aimed at highlighting any differences that may have been previously

blurred by small sample size. The second matrix (Table 4) again shows no differences between

earlier chronological subsets, but the difference between MOD and three out of four earlier subsets

become now clear (see Fig. 2).

Discussion and conclusion

Although the sample size is small, obtained results suggest that no major gene flow from other

regions occurred in the middle Euphrates valley between the Early Bronze Age and the

Umayyad/Abbasid period and dental trait proportions remained surprisingly stable. Such a

continuity was expected for the Bronze Age, assuming that both the Amorite and the Aramean

expansion was rather related to disequilibrium between farmers and local nomadic pastoralists than

to large-scale migrations. However, in the times of great empires, which had begun in the Neo-

Assyrian period, higher mobility and immigration of people from more distant regions was

suggested by historical sources. The present study, however, shows that this mobility must have

been quite superficial and did not affect the local population to such a degree that would change

dental trait proportions. It is interesting that the Bronze Age and Early Islamic subsets are closer to

each other than to the Classical/Late Antiquity subset, which would be expected as a sign of

migrations from more distant regions, as e.g. Greece and then the Roman Empire, to the region of

Tell Ashara. This difference is so small, however, that may be just an artifact of small sample size,

but it is possible that further studies on larger datasets may clarify the question of Greek and Roman

presence in the middle Euphrates valley.

On the other hand, the modern Bedouin population represented by skeletons from the recent

cemetery at Tell Ashara differs in respect of dental trait proportions from earlier populations, and

this difference may be quite easily observed in spite of small sample size. Such a result was

expected taking into account historical sources that recorded population discontinuity between the

Mongolian invasion in the 13th century AD and re-population of the region first by the Bedouin

tribes coming from northern part of the Arabian Peninsula in 17th century and then by farmers from

western Syria and southern Anatolia in early 20th century. Although these migrations were also quite

limited in distance (less than 800 km in a straight line), the heavy depopulation during late Middle

12

Ages probably affected local gene pools in whole Near East and also contributed to observed

discontinuity in the history of the middle Euphratean population.

Results of the present study may look rather disappointing, but still they throw some new light on

the history of northern Mesopotamia. First of all, the continuity of local populations was confirmed

not only for early periods, as it was suggested by textual and archaeological evidence, but also for

the imperial periods, when a much higher degree of mobility was expected. In spite of the presence

of such cosmopolitan cities as Dura Europos or Circesium, the local population did not change

substantially before the Mongolian invasion. There are no available estimates of the scale of 13th

century depopulation in northern Mesopotamia, except some anecdotal sources (Venegoni, 2006),

but the difference between dental trait proportions in Umayyad/Abbasid times and 19th/20th century

CE suggests that substantial population change occurred between these two periods.

Acknowledgements: Sołtysiak is most grateful to Professors Olivier Rouault and Maria Grazia

Masetti-Rouault, directors of the excavations at Tell Ashara and Tell Masaikh, for their constant

support of his studies of human remains from their sites. Thanks are also due to Dr. Jacek Tomczyk

for permission to study teeth stored at the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw and to

Prof. Friedrich Rösing and two anonymous reviewers for their comments. Grant sponsor: Polish

Ministry of Science and Higher Education, grant N109 013 31/0858.

References

Ababsa, M., 2009. La recomposition des allegeances tribales dans le Moyen-Euphrate syrien.

Etudes rurales 184, 65-78.

Adams, R.M., 1965. Land behind Baghdad. A history of settlement on the Diyala plains. The

University of Chicago Press, Chicago & London.

Adams, R.M., 1981. Heartland of cities. Surveys of ancient settlement and land use on the central

floodplain of the Euphrates. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago & London.

Adams, R.M., Nissen, H., 1972. The Uruk countryside: the natural setting of urban societies. The

University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Akkermans, P.A., Van Loon, M.N., Roodenberg, J.J., Waterbolk, H.T., 1982. The 1976-1977

excavations at Tell Bouqras. Annales Archéologiques Arabes Syriennes 32, 45-57.

Alt, K.W., Vach, W., 1991. The reconstruction of "genetic kinship" in prehistoric burial complexes ‒

13

problems and statistics. In: Bock, H.H., Ihm, P. (Eds.), Classification, data analysis, and

knowledge organization. Proceedings of the 14th annual conference of the Gesellschaft für

Klassifikation e.V. Springer, Berlin, pp. 299-310.

Alt, K.W., Vach, W., 1998. Kinship studies in skeletal remains ‒ concepts and examples. In: Alt

K.W., Rösing F.W., Teschler-Nicola M. (Eds.), Dental anthropology. Springer, Wien, pp. 537-

554.

Amitai-Preiss, R., 1995. Mongols and Mamluks: The Mamluk-Ilkhanid War, 1260-1281,

Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Anbar, M. 1991. Les tribus amurittes de Mari. Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 108, Freiburg &

Göttingen.

Anfruns, J., Majò, T., Oms, J.I., 1996. Los restos humanos del neolítico precerámico. In: Molist

Montaña, M. (Ed.), Tell Halula (Siria). Un yacimiento neolítico del valle medio del Éufrates.

Campańas de 1991 y 1992. Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, Madrid, pp. 161-173.

Baca, M., Molak, M., 2008. Research on ancient DNA in the Near East. Bioarchaeology of the Near

East 2, 39-61.

Basan, O.A., 2010. The Great Seljuqs: a history. Routledge, Abingdon & New York

Bernhard, W., 1993. Anthropologie von Südwestasien. Rassengeschichte der Menschheit 14, R.

Oldenbourg Verlag, München

Berthier, S., 2001. Le peuplement rural et les aménagements hydroagricoles dans la moyenne vallée

de l'Euphrate entre la fin du VIIe et le XIVe siècle. In: Berthier, S. (Ed.), Peuplement rural et

aménagements hydroagricoles dans la moyenne vallée de l’Euphrate, fin VIIe–XIXe siècle.

Institut Français de Damas, Damascus, pp. 25-264.

Bertinelli, M.G.A., 1976. I romani oltre l'Eufrate nel II secolo d.C. (le province di Assiria,

Mesopotamia e Osroene). In: Temporini, H. (Ed.), Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt,

vol. II.9.1: Politische Geschichte (Provizen und Randvölker: Mesopotamien, Armenien, Iran,

Südarabien, Rom und der Ferne Osten). Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin & New York, pp. 3-45.

Bolt, D.G., 1991. Burial in an ancient northern Mesopotamian town: the evidence from Tell

Mohammed ’Arab. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of California, Berkeley.

Brinkman, J.A., 1968. A political history of Post-Kassite Babylonia, 1158–722 B.C., Analecta

Orientalia 43, Rome.

Brinkman, J.A., 1972. Foreign relations of Babylonia from 1600 to 625 B.C.: the documentary

evidence. American Journal of Archeology 76, 271-281.

Buccellati, G., 1966. The Amorites of the Ur III period. Instituto Orientale di Napoli, Naples.

Buccellati, G., 1988. The kingdom and period of Khana. Bulletin of the American Schools of

14

Oriental Research 270, 43-61.

Buccellati, G., 1992. Ebla and the Amorites. In: Gordon, C.H. (Ed.), Eblaitica: essays on the Ebla

achives and Eblaite language, vol. 3. Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake, pp. 83-104.

Buikstra, J.E., Frankenberg, S.R., Konigsberg, L.W., 1990. Skeletal biological distance studies in

American physical anthropology: recent trends. Am J Phys Anthrop 82, 1-7.

Burger-Heinrich, E., 1989. Tell ed-Der: Sondage A und B. Anthropologische Befunde der

paläobabylonischen und neosumerischen Gräber. Northern Akkad Project Reports 3, 47-68.

Burney, C., 1997. Hurrians and Indo-Europeans in their historical and archaeological context. Al-

Rafidan 18, 175-193.

Butterlin, P., 2010. D’Uruk à Mari. Recherches récentes sur la première révolution urbaine en

Mésopotamie. Histoire urbaine 29, 133-159.

Buzon, M.R., 2011. Nubian identity in the Bronze Age. Patterns of cultural and biological variation.

Bioarchaeology of the Near East 5, 19-40.

Charpin, D., 1995. The history of ancient Mesopotamia: an overview. In: Sasson, J.M. (Ed.),

Civilizations of the ancient Near East, vol. II. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, pp. 807-829.

Chatty, D., 1990. The current situation of the Bedouin in Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia & their

prospects for the future. In: Salzman, P., Galaty, J. (Eds.), Nomads in a changing world. Istituto

Universitario Orientale, Naples, pp. 123-137.

Chavalas, M.W., 1992. Ancient Syria. A historical sketch. In: Chavalas, M.W., Hayes, J.L. (Ed.),

New horizons in the study of ancient Syria. Bibliotheca Mesopotamica 25, Malibu, pp. 1-12.

Clay, A.T., 1909. Amurru: the home of the Northern Semites. Sunday School Times, Philadelphia.

Copeland, L., 1985. The survey of RCP 438 in 1979. In: Sanlaville, P. (Ed.), Holocene settlement in

North Syria. BAR International Series 238, Oxford, pp. 67-98.

Coppa, A., Cucina, A., Mancinelli, D., Vargiu, R., Calcagno, J.M., 1998. Dental anthropology of

central-southern, Iron Age Italy: the evidence of metric versus nonmetric traits. Am J Phys

Anthrop 107, 371-386.

Coppa, A., Cucina, A., Lucci, M., Mancinelli, D., Vargiu, R., 2007. Origins and spread of

agriculture in Italy: a nonmetric dental analysis. Am J Phys Anthrop 133, 918-930.

Dahlberg, A.A., 1963. Analysis of the American Indian dentition. In: Brothwell, D.R. (Ed.), Dental

anthropology. Pergamon Press, London, pp. 149-177.

Dalley, S., 2002. Mari and Karana. Two Old Babylonian cities. 2nd edition. Gorgias Press,

Piscataway.

De Smet, W., 1990. Kashshû in Old Babylonian documents. Akkadica 68, 1-19.

Deutscher, G., 2000. Syntactic change in Akkadian: the evolution of sentential complementation.

15

Oxford University Press, Oxford.

D'Hont, O., 2005. Techniques et savoirs des communautés rurales: approche ethnographique du

développement. Karthala, Paris.

Dillemann, L., 1962. Haute Mésopotamie orientale et pays adjacents. Contribution à la géographie

historique de la région, du Ve s. avant l'ère chrétienne au VIe s. de cette ère. "Bibliotheque

archéologique et historique" 72, Paris.

Drijvers, J.W., 2009. Rome and the Sasanid Empire: confrontation and coexistence. In: Rousseau, P.

(Ed.), A companion to Late Antiquity, Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 441-454.

Durand, J.-M., 1997. Documents épistolaires du Palais de Mari, vol. I. Littératures anciennes du

Proche-Orient 16. CERF, Paris.

Durand, J.-M., 1998. Documents épistolaires du Palais de Mari, vol. II. Littératures anciennes du

Proche-Orient 17. CERF, Paris.

Durand, J.-M., 2000. Documents épistolaires du Palais de Mari, vol. III. Littératures anciennes du

Proche-Orient 18. CERF, Paris.

Edwell, P., Edwell, P.M., 2008. Between Rome and Persia: the middle Euphrates, Mesopotamia and

Palmyra under Roman control. Routledge, Abingdon & New York.

Ehrich, R.W., 1939. Late cemetery crania. In: Starr, R.F.S. (Ed.), Nuzi. Report on the excavations at

Yorgan Tepa near Kirkuk, Iraq, conducted by Harvard University in conjunction with the

American Schools of Oriental Research and the University Museum of Philadelphia, 1927–1931,

vol. I. Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA, pp. 570-589.

Frank, C., 2006. Funeral practices at Tell Masaikh (Syria): Late Roman and Islamic graves. Studies

in Historical Anthropology 3 [2003], 93-120.

Gelb, I.J., 1944. Hurrians and Subarians, The Oriental Institute, Chicago.

Gelb, I.J., 1961. The early history of the West Semitic peoples. Journal of Cuneiform Sources 15,

27-47.

Genequand, D., 2009. Économie de production, affirmation du pouvoir et dolce vita: aspects de la

politique de l’eau sous les Omeyyades au Bilad al-Sham. In: Al-Dbiyat, M., Mouton, M. (Eds.),

Stratégies d'acquisition de l'eau et société au Moyen-Orient depuis l'Antiquité. Presses de l'IFPO,

Beyrouth, pp. 157-177.

Geyer, B., Monchambert, J.-Y., 1987. Prospection de la moyenne vallée de l'Euphrate: rapport

préliminaire 1982-1985. Mari: Annales de Recherches Interdisciplinaires 5, 293-344.

Godde, K., 2009. An examination of Nubian and Egyptian biological distances: support for

biological diffusion or in situ development? HOMO – J Comp Human Biol 60, 389-404.

Goodblatt, D., 1987. Josephus on Parthian Babylonia: Antiquities XVIII, 310-379. Journal of the

16

American Oriental Society 107, 605-622.

Gragg, G.B., 1995. Less-understood languages of ancient Western Asia. In: Sasson, J.M. (Ed.),

Civilizations of the ancient Near East, vol. III. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, pp. 2161-

2179.

Green, R., Suchey, J., 1976. The use of inverse sine transformation in the analysis of non-metrical

data. Am J Phys Anthropol 45, 61-68.

Green, R., Suchey, J., Gokhale, D., 1979. The statistical treatment of correlated bilateral traits in the

analysis of cranial material. Am J Phys Anthropol 50, 629-634.

Guatelli-Steinberg, D., Irish, J.D., Lukacs, J.R., 2001. Canary islands-north African population

affinities: measures of divergence based on dental morphology. Homo 52, 173-188.

Hanihara, T., 2008. Morphological variation of major human populations based on nonmetric dental

traits. Am J Phys Anthrop 136, 169-182.

Hanihara, T., 2010. Metric and nonmetric dental variation and the population structure of the Ainu.

Am J Human Biol 22, 163-171.

Hanihara, T., Ishida, H., Dodo, Y., 2003. Characterization of biological divrsity through analysis of

discrete cranial traits. Am J Phys Anthrop 121, 241-251.

Harris, E.F., Sjøvold, T., 2003. Calculation of Smith’s Mean Measure of Divergence for intergroup

comparisons using nonmetric data. Dental Anthropology 17, 83-93.

Hauser, G., De Stefano, G.F., 1989. Epigenetic variants of the human skull. Schweizerbart,

Stuttgart.

Haydenblit, R., 1996. Dental variation among four Prehispanic Mexican populations. Am J Phys

Anthrop 100, 225-246.

Heimpel, W., 2003. Letters to the king of Mari: a new translation, with historical introduction,

notes, and commentary. Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake.

Hesse, B., 1995. Animal husbandry and human diet in the ancient Near East. In: Sasson, J.M. et al.

(Eds.), Civilizations of the ancient Near East, vol. I. Hendrickson Publishers, New York, pp. 203-

222.

Howells, W.W., 1973. Cranial variation in man. A study by multivariate analysis of patterns of

difference among recent human populations. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and

Ethnology 67, New Haven.

Irish, J.D., 1997. Characteristic high- and low-frequency dental traits in Sub-Saharan African

populations. Am J Phys Anthropol 102, 455-467.

Irish, J.D., 2005. Population continuity vs. discontinuity revisited: dental affinities among Late

Paleolithic through Christian-Era Nubians. Am J Phys Anthrop 128, 520-535.

17

Irish, J.D., 2006. Who were the ancient Egyptians? Dental affinities among Neolithic through

Postdynastic peoples. Am J Phys Anthrop 129, 529-534.

Irish, J.D., 2010. The Mean Measure of Divergence: its utility in model-free and model-bound

analyses relative to the Mahalanobis D2 distance for nonmetric traits. Am J Hum Biol 22, 378-

395.

Irish, J.D., Konigsberg, L., 2007. The ancient inhabitants of Jebel Moya Redux: measures of

population affinity based on dental morphology. Int J Osteoarchaeol 17, 138-156.

Kirsch, E., Larsen, P., 1995. Das Verhältnis zwischen Sesshaften und Nichtsesshaften in

Mesopotamien am Ende des 3. und Beginn des 2. Jt. v. Chr.. In: Bartl, K. et al. (Eds.), Zwischen

Euphrat und Indus. Aktuelle Forschungsprobleme in der Vorderasiatischen Archäologie. Georg

Olms, Hildesheim, pp. 148-164.

Kitagawa, Y., 2000. Nonmetric morphological characters of deciduous teeth in Japan: diachronic

evidence of the past 4000 years. Int J Osteoarchaeol 10, 242-253.

Kolars, J., 2000. Defining the political/ecological threshold for the Euphrates and Tigris river. Arab

Studies Quarterly 22, 101-112.

Kraeling, E., 1918. Aram and Israel or the Arameans in Syria and Mesopotamia. Columbia

University Oriental Studies 13, New York.

Kramer, C., 1977. Pots and peoples. In: Levine, L.D., Young, T.C. (Eds.), Mountains and lowlands:

essays in the archaeology of greater Mesopotamia. Undena Publications, Malibu, pp. 91-112.

Kupper, J.-R., 1959. Le rôle des nomades dans l'histoire de la Mésopotamie ancienne. Journal of the

Economic and Social History of the Orient 2, 113-127.

Leemans, W.F., 1957. The contribution of the nomads to the Babylonian population. Journal of the

Economic and Social History of the Orient 1, 138-145.

Liverani, M., 1973. The Amorites. In: Wiseman, D.J. (Ed.), Peoples of Old Testament times, Oxford

University Press, Oxford, pp. 100-133.

Lönnqvist, M.A., 2008. Were nomadic Amorites on the move? Migration, invasion and gradual

infiltration as mechanisms for cultural transitions. In: Kühne, H. et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of the

4th International Congress of the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, vol. 2. Harrassowitz,

Wiesbaden, pp. 195-214.

MacDonald, D., 1986. Dating the fall of Dura-Europos. Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 35,

45-68.

Margueron, J.-C., 2004. Mari, métropole de l’Euphrate au IIIe et au début du IIe millénaire av. J.-C.

A. & J. Picard, Paris.

Masetti-Rouault, M.G., 2007. Mari et le moyen-Euphrate au bronze récent et à l'âge du fer:

18

problèmes historiques. Akh Purattim 1, 281-300.

Masetti-Rouault, M.G., 2008. Living in the valley: State, irrigation and colonization in the middle

Euphrates valley. In: Kühne, H. et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 4th International Congress of the

Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, vol. 1. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, pp. 129-141.

Masetti-Rouault, M.G., 2009. Cultures in contact in the Syrian lower middle Euphrates valley:

Aspects of the local cults in the Iron Age II. Syria 86, 141-147.

Masetti-Rouault, M.G., 2010. Rural economy and steppe management in an Assyrian colony in the

west. A view from Tell Masaikh, Lower Middle Euphrates, Syria. In: Kühne, H. (Ed.), Dūr-

Katlimmu 2008 and beyond. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, pp. 129-149.

Masetti-Rouault, M.G., Salmon, S. 2010. The Neo-Assyrian colony of Tell Masaikh in the region of

the Syrian lower middle Euphrates valley: report on the latest excavations. In: Matthiae, P. et al.

(Eds.), Proceedings of the 6th International Congress of the Archaeology of the Ancient Near

East. Volume 2: Excavations, surveys and restorations: reports on recent field archaeology in the

Near East. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, pp. 385-395.

Matsumura, H., Hudson, M.J., 2005. Dental perspectives on the population history of Southeast

Asia. Am J Phys Anthrop 127, 182-209.

McClellan, T.L., 1992. 12th century B.C. Syria: comments on Sader's paper. In: Ward, W.A., Sharp

Joukowsky, M. (Eds.), The Crisis Years: the 12th century B.C. from beyond the Danube to the

Tigris. Kendall Hunt, Dubuque, pp. 164-173.

Meyer, G., 1990. Rural development and migration in northeast Syria. In: Salem-Murdock, M. et al.

(Eds.), Anthropology and development in North Africa and the Middle East. Westview Press,

Boulder & Oxford, pp. 245-278.

Molleson, T., 2000. The human remains. In: Moore, A.M.T. et al. (Eds.), Village on the Euphrates.

From foraging to farming at Abu Hureyra. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 533-544.

Molleson, T., Rosas, A., 2012. Origins of the Neolithic people of Abu Hureyra, northern Syria. An

attempt to address an archaeological question through a study of the mandibles. Bioarchaeology

of the Near East 6, 3-20.

Nagar, Y., 2011. Human osteological database at the Israel Antiquities Authority. Overview and

some examples of use. Bioarchaeology of the Near East 5, 1-18.

Neumann, J., Parpola, S., 1987. Climatic change and the 11th–10th century eclipse of Assyria and

Babylonia. Journal of Near Eastern Studies 46, 161-182.

Nikita, E., Mattingly, D., Mirazón Lahr, M., 2012. Sahara: barrier or corridor? Nonmetric cranial

traits and biological affinities of North African Late Holocene populations. Am J Phys Anthrop

147, 280-292.

19

Oates, D., 1968. Studies in the ancient history of Northern Iraq. British Academy, London.

Oded, B., 1979. Mass deportations and deportees in the Neo-Assyrian empire. Dr Ludwig Reichert

Verlag, Wiesbaden.

Oppenheim, A.L., 1977. Ancient Mesopotamia. Portrait of a dead civilization. University Of

Chicago Press, Chicago & London.

Özbek, M., 1979. Étude odontologique des habitants préhistoriques du village de Mureybet (Syrie).

Cahiers de l'Euphrate 2, 120-128.

Parker, S.T., 1987. Peasants, pastoralists, and Pax Romana: a different view. Bulletin of the

American Schools of Oriental Research 265, 35-51.

Peiris, H.R.D., Arambawatta, A.K.S., Hewapathirana, T.N., Nanayakkara, C.D., Chandrasekara, M.,

Wickramanayake, E., 2011. Nonmetric tooth crown traits in a Sri Lankan aboriginal Vedda

population. HOMO – J Comp Hum Biol 62, 466-477.

Pinhasi, R., von Cramon-Taubadel, N. (2012). A craniometric perspective on the transition to

agriculture in Europe. Hum Biol 84, 45-66.

Postgate, J.N., 1992. Early Mesopotamia: society and economy at the dawn of history. Routledge,

London.

Prowse, T.L., Lovell, N.C., 1996. Concordance of cranial and dental morphological traits and

evidence for endogamy in ancient Egypt. Am J Phys Anthrop 101, 237-246.

Raswan, C.R., 1930. Tribal areas and migration lines of the North Arabian Bedouins. Geographical

Review 20, 494-502.

Rathbun, T.A., 1975. A study of the physical characteristics of the ancient inhabitants of Kish, Iraq.

Field Research Projects, Miami.

Rösing, F.W., 1982. Discreta des menschlichen Skeletts – ein kritischer Überblick. Homo 33, 100-

125.

Rouault, O., 1992. Cultures locales et influences extérieures: le cas de Terqa. Studi Micenei ed

Egeo-Anatolici 30, 247-256.

Rouault, O., 2008. Recent excavations in Terqa and Masaikh (2001-2003). In: Kühne, H. et al.

(Eds.), Proceedings of the 4th International Congress of the Archaeology of the Ancient Near

East, vol. 2. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, pp. 399-410.

Rousset, M.-O., 1996. Contribution à l'étude de la céramique islamique: analyse du matériel

archéologique de Rahba-Mayadin (Syrie, vallée de l'Euphrate). Unpublished PhD dissertation,

Université Lumière Lyon 2.

Rousset, M.-O., 2001. La moyenne vallée de l’Euphrate d’après les sources arabes. In: Berthier, S.

(Ed.), Peuplement rural et aménagements hydroagricoles dans la moyenne vallée de l’Euphrate,

20

fin VIIe–XIXe siècle. Institut Français de Damas, Damascus, pp. 555-571.

Rowton, M.B., 1967. The physical environment and the problem of the nomads. In: Kupper, J.-R.

(Ed.), La civilisation de Mari, XV rencontre assyriologique internationale. Les belles lettres,

Paris, pp. 109-121.

Rowton, M.B., 1974. Enclosed nomadism. J. Econ. Soc. Hist. Orie. 17, 1-30.

Rowton, M.B., 1980. Pastoralism and the periphery in evolutionary perspective. In: Barrelet, T.

(Ed.), L'archéologie de l'Iraq du début de l'époque néolithique à 333 avant notre ère, Paris 13-15

juin 1978. Colloques Internationaux du CNRS 580, Paris, pp. 291-302.

Sader, H., 1984. Les etats araméens de Syrie depuis leur fondation jusqu'à leur transformation en

provinces assyriennes. Unpublished PhD thesis, Universität Tübingen.

Sader, H., 1992. The 12th century B.C. in Syria: the problem of the rise of the Aramaeans. In: Ward,

W.A., Sharp Joukowsky, M. (Eds.), The Crisis Years: the 12th century B.C. from beyond the

Danube to the Tigris. Kendall Hunt, Dubuque, pp. 157-163.

Schillaci, M.A., Irish, J.D., Wood, C.C.E., 2009. Further analysis of the population history of

ancient Egyptians. Am J Phys Anthrop 139, 235-243.

Schutkowski, H., 2012. Technical Note: Light stable isotope analysis of human remains from

Nemrik 9, Iraq. Bioarchaeology of the Near East 6, 53-59.

Schwartz, G.M., 1989. The origins of the Arameans in Syria and Northern Mesopotamia: research

problems and potential strategies. In: Haex, O.M.C. et al. (Eds.), To the Euphrates and beyond.

Archaeological studies in honour of Maurits N. van Loon. Balkema, Rotterdam, pp. 275-291.

Scott, G.R., Turner, C.G., 1997. The anthropology of modern human teeth: dental morphology and

its variation in recent human populations. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Simpson, K. 1984. Archaeological survey in the vicinity of Tall al ‘Asharah. Archiv für

Orientforschung 31, 185-188.

Simpson, S.J. 2000. Mesopotamia in the Sasanian period: settlement patterns, arts and crafts. In:

Curtis, J. (Ed.), Mesopotamia and Iran in the Parthian and Sasanian periods: rejection and revival

c. 238 BC – AD 642. British Museum Press, London, pp. 57-66.

Sjøvold, T., 1973. The occurrence of minor non-metrical variants in the skeleton and their

quantitative treatment for population comparisons. Homo 24, 204-233.

Sjøvold, T., 1977. Non-metrical divergence between skeletal populations: the theoretical foundation

and biological importance of C.A.B. Smith’s mean measure of divergence. Ossa [Supplement] 4,

1-133.

Sołtysiak, A., 2006. Physical anthropology and the "Sumerian problem". Studies in Historical

Anthropology 4 [2004], 145-158.

21

Sołtysiak, A., 2009. Human bones from Chagar Bazar: scientific analyses. In: McMahon, A. (Ed.),

Once There Was a Place. Settlement Archaeology at Chagar Bazar, 1999-2002. British Institute

for the Study of Iraq, London, pp. 129-159.

Sołtysiak, A., 2011. An R script for Smith's Mean Measure of Divergence. Bioarchaeology of the

Near East 5, 41-44.

Sołtysiak, A., Tomczyk, J. 2008a. Short Fieldwork Report: Tell Ashara (Syria), seasons 1999-2007.

Bioarchaeology of the Near East 2, 63-66.

Sołtysiak, A., Tomczyk, J. 2008b. Short Fieldwork Report: Tell Masaikh (Syria), seasons 1998-

2007. Bioarchaeology of the Near East 2, 94-97.

Sołtysiak, A., Tomczyk, J. 2008c. Short Fieldwork Report: Jebel Mashtale and Tell Marwaniye

(Syria), seasons 2005-2006. Bioarchaeology of the Near East 2, 97-99.

Sommerfeld, W., 1995. The Kassites of ancient Mesopotamia: origins, politics and culture. In:

Sasson, J.M. (Ed.), Civilizations of the ancient Near East, vol. II. Charles Scribner's Sons, New

York, pp. 917-930.

Stone, E.C., 2002. The Ur III – Old Babylonian transition: an archaeological perspective. Iraq 64,

79-84.

Swindler, D.R., 1956. A study on the cranial and skeletal material excavated at Nippur. University

of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Turner, C.G., Nichol, C.R., Scott, G.R., 1991. Scoring procedures for key morphological traits of

the permanent dentition: the Arizona State University dental anthropological system. In: Kelley,

M.A., Larson, C.S. (Eds.), Advances in dental anthropology. Wiley-Liss, New York, pp. 13-31.

Turner, C.G., Scott, G.R., 1977. Dentition of Easter Islanders. In: Dahlberg, A.A., Graber, T.M.

(Eds.), Orofacial growth and development. Mouton Publishers, The Hague, pp. 229-249.

Ungnad, A., 1936. Subartu. Beiträge zur Kulturgeschichte und Völkerkunde Vorderasiens. W. de

Gruyter, Berlin & Leipzig.

Van De Mieroop, M., 2004a. A history of the ancient Near East ca. 3000-323 BC. Blackwell,

Oxford.

Van De Mieroop, M., 2004b. King Hammurabi of Babylon: a biography. Blackwell, Oxford.

van Zeist, W., 2000. Third to first millennium BC plant cultivation on the Khabur, north-eastern

Syria. Palaeohistoria 41/42 [1999/2000], 111-125.

Velud, C., 2000. French Mandate policy in the Syrian steppe. In: Mundy, M., Musallam, B. (Eds.),

The transformation of nomadic society in the Arab East. Cambridge University Press,

Cambridge, pp. 63-81.

Venegoni, L., 2006. Hülägü's campaign in the West (1256-1260). In: Compareti, M. et al. (Eds.),

22

Eran ud Aneran. Studies presented to Boris Il'ic Marsak on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Ca

´Foscarina, Venice, pp. 366-375.

Viollet, P.-L., 2004. L'hydraulique dans les civilisations anciennes. Presses de l'École Nationale des

Ponts and Chaussées, Paris.

Westenholz, A., 1999. The Old Akkadian period: history and culture. In: Sallaberger, W.,

Westenholz, A., Mesopotamien. Akkade-Zeit und Ur III-Zeit. Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 160/3,

Göttingen, pp. 17-117.

Wilkinson, T.J., 1990. The development of settlement in the North Jazira between the 7th and 1st

millennia BC. Iraq 52, 49-62.

Wittwer-Backofen U., 1983. Einige Neubabylonische Skelette aus Uruk. Baghdader Mitteilungen

14, 71-99.

Wright, H.T., Rupley, E.S.A., Ur, J.A., Oates, J., Ganem, E., 2007. Preliminary report on the 2002

and 2003 seasons of the Tell Brak Sustaining Area Survey. Les annales archéologiques arabes

syriennes 49/50 [2006/2007], 7-21.

Yoffee, N., 1988. The collapse of ancient Mesopotamian states and civilizations. In: Yoffee, N.,

Cowgill, G.L. (Eds.), The collapse of ancient states and civilizations. University of Arizona

Press, Tucson, pp. 44-66.

Yoffee, N., 1995. Political economy in early Mesopotamian states. Annual Review of Anthropology

24, 281-311.

Zubov, A.A., 1968. Odontologiya. Metodika antropologicheskikh issledovaniy. Nauka, Moskva.

Zubov, A.A., 1977. Odontoglyphics: The laws of variation of the human molar crown. In: Dahlberg,

A.A., Graber, T.M. (Eds.), Orofacial growth and development. Mouton, The Hague, pp. 270-282.

23

Table 1: Simplified chronological chart of the lower middle Euphrates valley.Chronological unit Absolute dates Tell Ashara Tell Masaikh Jebel Mashtale

Arc

haeo

logi

cal

Early Bronze Age (EBA) c. 3300-2100 BCE medium site

Middle Bronze Age (MBA) c. 2100-1550 BCE major site small site ?

Late Bronze Age (LBA) c. 1550-1200 BCE major site small site

Iron Age 1/2 (IA) c. 1200-850 BCE small site

His

tori

cal

Neo-Assyrian period c. 850-609 BCE small site major site

Neo-Babylonian period 609-539 BCE ? ?

Achaemenian period 539-331 BCE ? ?

Hellenistic period 331-64 BCE small site ?

Early Roman period 64 BCE – 284 CE small site

Late Roman period 284-636 CE small site/cemetery

Umayyad/Abbasid period 636-1258 CE cemetery cemetery

Modern re-settlement since c. 1650 CE cemetery small site

24

Table 2: Dental trait frequencies in six chronological subsets (abbreviations explained in the text).T

ooth

TraitBreakpoint

EBAN=39

MBAN=48

INAN=18

CLAN=92

ISLN=122

MODN=31

– + n % n % n % n % n % n %

UI1 shoveling 0-1 2-6 11 36 13 31 3 0 24 37 47 34 15 47

tuberculum dentale* 0-1 2-6 10 0 13 0 3 0 24 0 47 11 14 7

interruption grooves 0 1 11 18 13 0 3 0 25 4 47 2 14 0

UI2 shoveling* 0-1 2-6 12 33 17 18 4 50 36 17 56 21 14 7

tuberculum dentale 0-1 2-6 13 24 19 26 4 25 37 32 60 33 15 20

interruption grooves* 0 1 13 15 17 18 3 0 42 24 56 4 14 0

peg-reduced* 0 + 20 5 22 5 6 0 53 2 71 3 19 11

UC shoveling* 0 1-2 14 0 19 5 4 0 40 5 58 2 16 13

tuberculum dentale* 0-1 2-6 15 7 19 26 5 40 40 5 60 7 16 19

mesial canine ridge 0 1-3 14 0 19 0 4 0 40 5 58 2 17 0

distal accessory ridge* 0 1-5 14 21 20 20 4 0 39 13 58 9 17 35

UP1 paracone accessory ridge 0 + 8 0 15 7 3 33 22 9 29 3 9 11

accessory marginal tubercle* 0 + 8 37 15 33 3 0 22 14 30 20 10 40

root number 1 2+ 10 60 11 27 7 29 39 41 44 41 8 50

UP2 paracone accessory ridge* 0 + 9 0 9 0 3 0 25 12 27 11 7 14

accessory marginal tubercle 0 + 9 22 9 22 3 0 25 12 27 22 7 29

root number* 1 2+ 15 13 9 11 6 17 38 13 45 13 7 43

UM1 hypocone* 0-3 4-5 20 85 21 95 8 100 49 94 77 91 15 100

Carabelli's trait 0-1 2-7 18 44 17 35 7 43 46 41 60 43 14 43

cusp 5 0 1-5 13 8 17 6 6 0 40 17 52 15 10 10

accessory marginal tubercle 0 1-3 13 15 17 18 6 0 39 21 52 27 10 20

root number* 3-4 1-2 16 13 10 0 5 0 40 15 46 7 8 0

UM2 hypocone 0-3 4-5 16 44 22 36 7 100 44 23 54 31 13 46

Carabelli's trait 0-1 2-7 14 7 18 6 7 29 35 9 40 7 13 8

cusp 5 0 1-5 13 8 18 11 5 20 31 6 38 5 12 8

accessory marginal tubercle* 0 1-3 13 15 18 11 5 0 31 3 38 5 11 9

root number 3-4 1-2 13 39 11 9 4 25 45 24 36 31 8 13

UM3 hypocone† 0-3 4-5 6 0 7 0 1 0 24 0 29 0 6 17

Carabelli's trait† 0-1 2-7 5 20 6 0 1 0 19 5 24 0 7 14

cusp 5† 0 1-5 6 17 6 33 1 0 20 55 24 4 6 0

accessory marginal tubercle† 0 1-3 6 0 6 0 1 0 18 0 24 0 6 0

root number† 3-4 1-2 5 60 8 50 1 100 24 33 20 85 5 40

LC distal accessory ridge* 0 + 13 0 16 6 2 0 35 0 50 6 18 22

root number† 1 2+ 9 0 9 0 5 0 43 0 43 0 7 0

LP1 protoconid accessory ridge 0 + 7 0 12 0 2 0 29 0 33 0 9 11

multiple lingual cusp 0 1-5 7 29 12 33 2 50 29 3 33 15 9 22

LP2 protoconid accessory ridge* 0 + 9 0 11 0 2 0 26 0 30 0 8 13

25

Too

thTrait

BreakpointEBAN=39

MBAN=48

INAN=18

CLAN=92

ISLN=122

MODN=31

– + n % n % n % n % n % n %

multiple lingual cusp* 0 1-5 9 55 11 82 2 50 27 63 30 57 8 87

LM1 hypoconulid* 0-3 4-5 14 50 14 86 6 67 53 66 57 82 17 88

groove pattern* + X Y 11 64 13 46 6 33 46 57 44 52 14 36

cusp 6* 0 1-5 11 0 12 17 3 0 43 0 43 2 16 13

cusp 7* 0-1 2-4 11 0 12 8 3 0 44 7 45 11 15 13

protostylid* 0 1-6 12 50 13 54 5 80 50 56 54 50 18 72

anterior fovea* 0 1 11 64 14 71 3 67 44 70 45 62 15 40

root number* 1-2 3-4 13 8 13 0 5 20 50 2 45 4 9 0

LM2 hypoconulid 0-3 4-5 12 8 15 0 1 0 40 5 48 4 14 0

groove pattern + X Y 12 8 18 6 4 0 49 6 62 16 14 7

cusp 6 0 1-5 11 0 15 0 1 0 39 5 44 0 14 0

cusp 7 0-1 2-4 11 0 15 0 1 0 38 0 44 2 14 0

protostylid 0 1-6 11 45 16 56 3 67 43 56 53 47 14 71

anterior fovea 0 1 11 36 15 60 3 100 41 66 44 52 14 50

root number 1-2 3-4 13 0 11 0 4 0 45 2 42 7 9 0

LM3 hypoconulid† 0-3 4-5 2 50 3 0 21 19 26 12 6 17

groove pattern† + X Y 2 50 3 0 21 5 29 24 5 40

cusp 6† 0 1-5 2 0 3 0 19 0 25 8 6 17

cusp 7† 0-1 2-4 2 0 3 0 19 0 25 4 6 0

protostylid† 0 1-6 2 0 3 0 19 26 28 21 6 17

anterior fovea† 0 1 2 0 3 0 20 70 24 29 6 33

root number† 1-2 3-4 3 0 3 33 1 0 21 14 27 4 6 33

* – traits selected for the second analysis; † – traits with no diversity or too low number of teeth

26

Table 3: MMD matrix for all traits except these scored for M3 and LC root number.EBA MBA CLA ISL MOD

EBA -- 0.033 0.024 0.023 0.037

MBA 0.000 -- 0.021 0.020 0.034

CLA 0.000 0.000 -- 0.011 0.025

ISL 0.000 0.000 0.000 -- 0.024

MOD 0.001 0.000 0.048* 0.007 --MMD values are given below and standard deviations above the diagonal. Negative MMD values were replaced by 0.* – MMD values statistically significant at p<0.1; ** – MMD values significant at p<0.001

27

Table 4: MMD matrix for selected 27 traits.EBA MBA CLA ISL MOD

EBA -- 0.047 0.033 0.032 0.050

MBA 0.000 -- 0.030 0.029 0.048

CLA 0.000 0.005 -- 0.015 0.034

ISL 0.000 0.000 0.001 -- 0.033

MOD 0.094* 0.000 0.130** 0.059* --MMD values are given below and standard deviations above the diagonal. Negative MMD values were replaced by 0.* – MMD values statistically significant at p<0.1; ** – MMD values significant at p<0.001

28

Legends to Figures

Figure 1: Map showing the location of sites discussed in the paper.

29

Figure 2: Dendrogram for the MMD values; Ward linkage method.

30