Studies on The Halaf Pottery Of The Kerküşti Höyük

ABSTRACT

Kerküşti Höyük, which was successively inhabitedfrom the Early Halaf until almost to the end of theMiddle Halaf is geographically located in the middleof the Halaf world (Fig. 1). Its location at thetransition point of zones of different environmentalsettings (mountainous area and steppe zone) notwere only suitable for different life styles (permanentlyand seasonally) and different subsistence strategies(agriculture and husbandry) but also enabled thepeople of Kerküşti to communicate with differentregions. The general character of the architecturereflects short-termed seasonal occupations withround and rectangular structures. The existence ofstructures with high stone foundations and wattle-and-daub superstructures as well as the ones withwell plastered earthen floors hints that the areamight have been used both permanently and sea-sonally. Pottery of Kerküşti demonstrates all thefeatures of the Halaf period and also reflects its re-lations with the other Halaf sites.

INTRODUCTION

Although we celebrate the 100th anniversary ofthe discovery of the Halaf pottery, and there aremany excavations and surveys at different politicallyestablished countries in SW Asia1 and even thoughthere is a particular interest in Halaf Culture bymany researchers and scholars and there are manytheories and interpretations; social organization andsubsistence economy of the Halaf culture cannotstill be well identified and beside this, the originand the breakdown of this distinctive culture is stillin dark.

Despite its broader homeland with several envi-ronmental settings, from Cilicia in west, to theZagros Mountain range in east, Elazığ-Muş plainand southeast of Lake Van in the north, and Mid-Mesopotamia in south, the existence of varioussocial organizations and different settlement typesas well as various subsistence strategies are reasonable.As a general, a major part of the Halaf economymainly depends on agriculture and animal herding2.

The threefold division of Halaf Culture (early,middle, late) which was established by Mallowanand Rose in 19353 was later developed in the late1970s by defining the Halaf-Ubeid transitionalphase4. Further development came through the evi-dences from Tell Sabi Abyad that demonstrated theidentification of earlier stages of Early Halaf5. Thissituation resulted as a division of Early Halaf intoHalaf Ia and Halaf Ib (the old Early Halaf, TraditionalEarly Halaf). Middle Halaf was renamed as HalafIIa6. Since the earliest Halaf occupation of Kerküştiyields Traditional Early Halaf elements, and thereis not any evidence of Halaf Ia which has beenidentified in Tell Sabi Abyad, and/or not a singletrace of Halaf IIb (Late Halaf), traditional threefolddivision of Halaf Culture has been preferred in thechronology of Kerküşti Höyük. Accordingly, thesite was successively occupied from the Early Halaf(phase Va) until more or less to the end of theMiddle Halaf (phase Vb1-3).

ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING, LOCATION,STRATIGRAPHY AND ARCHITECTURE

Kerküşti Höyük is located at the north of Şan-lıurfa/Viranşehir-Nusaybin highway, southwest toDerik and ca. 3 km north of Alanlı village in Mardin

*) Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi, Çanakkale.1) Campbell 1992a: 182.2) Watson 1983: 238-239; Campbell 1992b: 105-106.3) Mallowan and Rose 1935.4) Davidson 1977.5) Nieuwenhuyse 2007; Nieuwenhuyse - Cruells 2004: 50: Table 2.6) Nieuwenhuyse - Cruells 2004: 50: Table 2.

Anatolia Antiqua XIX (2011), p. 39-52

Savaş SARIALTUN* and Aslı ERİM-ÖZDOĞAN*

STUDIES ON THE HALAF POTTERY OF THE KERKÜŞTİ HÖYÜK

province (Fig. 2). Geographically, Kerküşti Höyükis in middle of the northernmost extent of the Syri-an-Arabian plain in front of Mardin-Midyat Threshold.The plain is cut by intermittent tributaries of theHabur (Euphrates). The southernmost limit of theKaracadağ basalt intrusions7 could have been seenin various parts of the plain as outcrops.

Kerküşti Höyük is a flat oval mound with thedimensions of ca.170 m N-S, 130 m E-W. The totaldeposit measures 4.90 meters. It was first excavatedas a salvage project in 1981 by the Mardin Museum.Some building remains and a mosaic of RomanPeriod, and basalt rock cut-tombs were exposed8.The operations took place in 2005-2006 within thelimit of the road construction area to north of theactual Viranşehir (Şanlıurfa)-Nusaybin (Mardin)highway which were also rescue excavations.

According to the intensive surface surveys andthe rescue operations, the site yields five periods:Middle Age and later, Roman Period (Local), Middle

Bronze Age, Late Chalcolithic Age (Local) andHalaf Period. The first two periods are representedby a few finds and scattered pottery in the operationareas. Garbage pits are the only remains of MiddleBronze Age. The stone architecture of Late Chal-colithic Age was badly disturbed by several means.The Late Chalcolithic and the Halaf Periods areseparated by a compact, homogeneous clayey/alluviallayer, ca. 0.25-0.30 m thick (flood deposit). TheHalaf settlement within the deposit of 1.70 m yieldstwo phases: Va and Vb (Fig. 3). Vb have three welldefined sub-phases: Vb1, Vb2 and Vb3, whereas Vahas no sub-phases9. Although a very limited part ofthe Kerküşti Höyük could have been excavated10,illicit diggings in different parts of the site as wellas the intensive survey showed that the Halaf settle-ment covered an area of app. 8000 m2.

Phase Va is represented by five round structureswith diameters ranging from 1.70 to 4.52 m thatwere constructed rather close to each other. Their

7) Yıldırım - Karadoğan 2010: 121.8) Ekmen 1983: 313-314.9) In the sounding, below the phase Va, a part of a semi-subterranean structure dug in natural soil was uncovered. This may be the

successor of the phase Va.10) The total exposure is 700 m2. The Halaf layers could only be exposed within 300 m2. The exposures of the phase and

subphases are different: Va ca. 200 m2, Vb1 ca. 200 m2, Vb2 ca. 240 m2 and Vb3 ca. 280 m2.

40 SAVAŞ SARIALTUN and ASLI ERİM-ÖZDOĞAN

Fig. 1 : The Location of Kerküşti Höyük and the other Halaf Sites.

STUDIES ON THE HALAF POTTERY OF THE KERKÜŞTİ HÖYÜK 41

Fig. 2 : Kerküşti Höyük From Northcast.

Fig. 3 : The general layout of the Phases Va-Vb.

simple stone footings – single or double courses –were directly erected on the ground. Even there isno evidence for their superstructures, the weak con-structions of the stone footings might resemblestructures which were made of perishable materials.The inner living surfaces of the dwellings can onlybe identified by the distribution of objects. Settlementpattern cannot be determined due to limited exposurebut according to basic features of the structures.Phase Va seems to be a seasonal settlement. Rectilinearplan first appeared in sub-phase Vb1 and continued

to be constructed in the following sub-phase, Vb2.The stone footings of the rectangular buildings andthe round structures were directly erected on theground as they were in the previous phase. One ofthe rectangular room seems to be extraordinary withits size (2.60 x 3.50 m) and well plastered earthenfloor renewed twice.

Subphase Vb2 is represented by five round struc-tures in different degrees of preservations, a rectangularlarge-room building and a kiln. The general layoutof sub-phases Vb1 and Vb2 are almost identical

11) Von Oppenhein 1939.12) Mallowan - Rose 1935.13) Dabbagh 1966: 24.14) 5469 sherd fragments and 17 whole pots are examined. Numerous pottery fragments, which were rounded or smoothed on the

side are excluded.


with a large communal open area ca. 70 m2 in themiddle surrounded by group of structures. The openarea yields great amount of animal bones and largefragments of pottery as well as ashy areas.

In the sub-phase Vb3 some changes occurrednot only in construction techniques, but also in set-tlement organization and usage of space. The roundplan became predominant, rectilinear plan was outof use. The settlement was composed of two sectionsseparated by a large open area (ca. 100 m2). In theeastern section, four round structures were uncovered,two of them with their high stone foundations andtheir identical dimensions (2.70 m in diameter) aredifferent than the others. One of them was used rel-atively a longer period, carries a permanent character.Thick wattle-and daub fragments in its interior fillgives us an opportunity for superstructures. Hardplastered earthen floors only exist in the two rounddwellings. The floors which are roundish with thediameters of 1.27 and 1.50 m, partly covered the in-terior spaces. Their sides which were curved upwardto unpreserved architectural elements suggested thatthere were some specific areas inside the structuresseparated by perishable materials. Two structuresyield grinding slabs fixed in the ground. All the

structures are almost empty with scattered potteryfragments. In the western part, there are partly pre-served two round structures with simple stonefootings erected on the ground. These structureswere used in the early part of the sub-phase Vb3and seem to carry seasonal character. In the secondhalf of the sub-phase, western part was reserved forcooking by constructing two large kilns and also forburials. Graves are distributed over an area of120 m2 with six burials in different age and sexwithout any defined pit or burial gift.

HALAF POTTERY OFKERKÜŞTİ HÖYÜK

Halaf painted pottery was first introduced bythe Tell Halaf excavations11, and the features of theculture have later been defined after the excavationsin Tell Arpaçiyah12. The Halaf pottery has threebasic forms: jars, bowls and plates13. Pedestal bowlsand spouted jars are rarely found forms.

The Halaf pottery of Kerküşti is not different infabric and decoration from the other Halaf sites14.There are only four pieces of none local character(Fig. 4). All were made of pure clay. Two of them,

Fig. 4 : None local pottery of Kerküşti Höyük.

found in the sub-phases Vb1 and Vb2, are thin-walled (2-3 mm) with geometric painted decorations,well-burnished and well-fired. The decoration onthe fragments of a bowl (in sub-phase Vb1) with arow of seated deer is similar to a sherd that was ex-posed in Tell Halaf15. The last one found in the sub-phase Vb2 has an incised geometric decoration ongray surface (Fig. 4: D). Its close parallels are inSakçegözü16.

The pottery of Kerküşti Höyük has seven waretypes. Standard Painted Ware (Fig. 5: 1) and StandardPlain Ware (Fig. 5: 2) that are represented in all theforms are fine wares in fabric, paste and surfacetreatments. The inclusions in their paste which aremainly calcium carbonate particles and sand wereeither added intentionally or they are the elements

of its natural combination. Chamotte tempers arerarely seen. Standard Painted and Standard PlainWares are medium-thick walled (4-10 mm) potsand mainly handmade. Moulded technique was usedin the manufacture of carinated bowls and occasionally,of conical bowls. All are well fired. The decorationsare composed of geometric, naturalistic and stylizeddesigns or combination of all. Standard wares arepredominant in all the phases of Kerküşti Höyük(Fig. 6).

Orange Painted and Orange Plain Ware are thecharacteristic wares of the phase Va (Fig. 5: 3).They are mainly in the form of thick-walled (10-20mm) handmade jars and conical bowls. OrangePainted and Plain Wares were made of coarse claywith rough calcium carbonate, chamotte and grit in-

15) Schmidt 1943: Tafel V: 2.16) Mellaart 1975: 232, Fig. 149: a.


Fig. 5 : Ware types of Kerküşti Höyük Halaf Phases.

2 : Standard Plain Wares. 4 : Dark Face Burnished Wares.

1 : Standard Painted Wares. 3 : Orange Painted and Plain Wares.

clusions. Some of them have pitted surfaces. Thedecorations of the Orange Painted Ware are thickbands, cross-hatching and zigzags. They are quitesimilar to the “Orange Fine Ware” of Tell SabiAbyad17.

Dark Faced Burnished Painted Ware and DarkFaced Burnished Ware (DFBW) are made of gritand calcium carbonate and/or rarely sand and micatempered coarse clay (Fig. 5: 4). Their outer surfacesare slipped and burnished, interior parts of the rimsare also burnished. They are mainly medium-thick walled (4-10 mm) handmade pots. The formsof DFBW are horizontal necked globular body jarsand hole-mouth vessels. The decorations are thickbands and triangles. Although the Dark Faced Bur-nished Painted Ware is only represented in the phaseVa, Dark Faced Burnished Ware (DFBW) is foundin every phases. The ones in the phases Va and sub-phase Vb1 are more qualified.

Course Ware is vegetal tempered, plain andmoderately or badly fired. They are found in everyphases and have no characteristic form. The ones inVa are very fragmentary but the ones in Vb arebigger in size.

There are three basic forms (bowls, jars, plates)and miscellaneous forms like spouted jars (Fig. 7).Bowls have ten variations (1A-1K) (Fig. 8). Jarshave six forms (2A-2F) (Fig. 9) and plates are infive different forms (3A-3E) (Fig. 10). Almost allthe forms are represented in every phases. Forms1A, 1B, 1H and 2A are basic forms of phase Va.Forms 1E, 1F, 1G, 2D, 2E and 2F are mainly foundin phase Vb. Plates are dominant in Vb. Vessels aremainly handmade but molding and coiling/slab man-ufacture are also observed.

57% of the sherds in Kerküşti Höyük havepainted decorations. Monochrome decoration isalways predominant in all of the phases. Bichromedecoration which appears in sub-phase Vb1 becomescommon in sub-phase Vb2, decreases in Vb3. Poly-chrome decoration are rare only found on a fewsherds of (only 3 fragments) sub-phase Vb3(Fig. 11).

Painted decoration is rich. There are mainly twotypes of decoration, geometric and naturalistic-stylized. Sometimes combinations of the two typesof designs (Multi-design) are seen on one pot(Fig.13: 4). Geometric patterns are thick and thin

17) Le Miere - Nieuwenhuyse 1996; Nieuwenhuyse - Cruells 2004: 61.


Fig. 6 : Distribution of Wares.


Fig. 7 : Pottery of Kerküşti Halaf site.

Fig. 8 : Bowls in various shapes.


Fig. 9 : Jars and Hole-mouth vessel.

Fig. 10 : Plates in various shapes.


Fig. 11 : Distribution of Monochrome, bichrome andpolychrome pottery in Kerküşti Höyük.

Fig. 12 : Various examples of geometric designs.

3 : Zigzag decoration. 4 : Band decoration.

1 : Cross-hatching decoration. 2 : Cross-hatching decoration.

bands, broken line, wavy lines, zigzag, chain, crosshatching, checker board pattern, triangles, lozenges,circles and dots (Fig. 12, 13: 1-3). Naturalistic-stylized patterns are human, bucranium, gazelle,bird, scorpion, herring-bone pattern, tree, flower,sun and malta-cross (Fig. 14).

Motifs of the phase Va are mainly geometricand displayed limited variations like simple bands,cross hatchings, lozenges, triangles and zigzags.Wavy lines, dots and chains first appeared in sub-phase Vb1. Stylized and naturalistic motifs (Bucra-nium, deer, bird) which are rarely seen in phase Va,become widespread in phase Vb. Multi-design andincised decorations are rare. Multi-design is firstseen in Vb1 but is getting increased in Vb3(Fig. 15).

The distribution of designs on vessels mainlydepends on forms and size, but also varies in thephases. The painted decoration was sometimes fullyapplied on vessels. Except the bottoms, usually theouter surfaces of the bowls are decorated, sometimesleft plain and only a thick band was added on rim.The upper parts of the jars are heavily decorated,

rarely left plain. The design pattern on the inner sur-faces change according to the forms. For jars, athick band – usually 2-3 cm thick – encircled theinner part of the rim. Generally the inner surfaces ofthe plates are fully decorated, sometimes the deco-rations were only applied on their upper halves, oroccasionally a single band on the rim.

Pottery is rather fragmentary in the exposedarea. There are very a few whole pots and most ofthem are broken. They are mainly uncovered in theaccumulation of the open areas but there are nospecific concentrations even near the kilns. Just around structure in Va and the large-room rectangularbuilding in Vb2 yield some pottery remains. Thegraves are also not rich in pottery as burial gifts.Two of the eleven graves have pots: an infant hastwo different type of bowls, the smaller one isplaced inside the larger one. The large pot has beenplaced lying on its side near the chest with theflexed knees partly inside, and the remains of fingerbones of left hand near the rim of the larger bowland the position of the right hand being under thelarger bowl suggested that the infant had been buried


Fig. 13 : Various examples of geometric designs.

3 : Lozenge decoration. 4 : Multi-design decoration.

1 : Chain decoration. 2 : Triangle decoration.

by holding the bowls. A mature individual wasburied together with two pots near the face standingand a rounded sherd near the pelvis. The brokensherds have been turned into rounded objects and/oroval or round clay scrapers (clay chipped-discs).

CONCLUSION

Kerküşti Höyük, which was successively inhabitedfrom the Early Halaf until almost to the end of theMiddle Halaf is geographically located in the middleof the Halaf world. The site was abandoned probablyafter being subject to flood and was not reoccupieduntil the Late Chalcolithic Age. Although a limitedpart of Kerküşti could have been excavated, theillicit diggings in different part of the site as well asthe intensive survey pointed out that the Halaf set-tlement covers an area of app. 8000 m2.

The general character of the architecture reflectsshort-termed seasonal occupations with round and

rectangular structures, simply made of perishablematerials, supported by rows of stones on the groundlevel. The existence of structures with high stonefoundations and wattle-and-daub superstructures aswell as the ones with well plastered earthen floorsrenewed twice hints that the area might have beenused both permanently and seasonally. Not only ar-chitecture but the distribution of pottery and otheritems as well as the condition of pottery, being frag-mentary as have been left over material reflects theseasonal character of the site.

Its location at the transition point of zones ofdifferent environmental settings (mountainous areaand the steppe zone) not were only suitable for dif-ferent life styles (permanently and seasonally) anddifferent subsistence strategies (agriculture and hus-bandry) but also enable the people of Kerküşti tocommunicate different regions. The existence oflong distance socio-economic relation among the


Fig. 14 : Various examples of naturalistic and stylized designs.

3 : Dancing figures “halay”. 4 : Bucranium.

1 : Human and Dancing Ladies. 2 : Deer.


Fig. 16 : Thin section microphotograph (50x) of pottery from phases Va-Vb and their content.

Fig. 15 : Distribution of design types via phase and subphases.

Example of Vb2 Subphase. Example of Vb3 Subphase.

Example of Va Phase. Example of Vb1 Subphase.

Halaf settlements has been known for a long time18.Pottery of Kerküşti in general is not different infabric, decoration and form from the other contem-porary Halaf sites. Accordingly, this standardizationreflects long distance socio-economic relation. Thelimited data from Kerküşti emphasized closer relationswith its neighborhoods like Yunus, Sakçegözü, TellHalaf and Tell Sabi Abyad. The presence of nonlocal vessel fragments and a stone seal-pendantwhich is almost identical to one of the seals of TellArpaciyah are the indicators of long distance con-tacts.

Great amount of large calcium carbonate (CaCO3)particles can be detected in the paste of the potteryof phases Va and Vb1 whereas the paste used duringthe sub-phases Vb2 and Vb3 has less amount of tinycalcium carbonate particles (Fig. 16, 17). Thisstriking difference in the combination of paste/claymay have been explained as a choice of differentclay sources or of different techniques come throughvarious contacts.

S.S. and A.E.-Ö.

18) Davidson 1977; Mellaart 1975.


Fig. 17 : SEM images and EDX analysis results of pottery from phase Va.

Campbell, S., 1992a : “The Halaf Period Iraq : OldSites and New”, The Biblical Archaeologist, Vol. 55-4 :182-187.

– 1992b : Culture, Chronology and Change in theLater Neolithic of North Mesopotamia, (unpublished PhDthesis) Edinburgh University.

Dabbagh, T., 1966 : “Halaf Pottery”, Sumer 22 : 23-43.

Davidson, T.E., 1977 : Regional Variation Within theHalaf Ceramic Tradition, (unpublished Ph thesis) Universityof Edinburgh.

Ekmen, A., 1983 : “Kerküşti 1981 Yılı Çalışmaları”,IV. Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı : 313-314.

Le Mière, M. and Nieuwenhuyse, O., 1996 : “ThePrehistoric Pottery”, in P.M.M.G. Akkermans (ed), TellSabi Abyad The Late Neolithic Settlement : 119-284.

Mallowan, M. and Rose, C., 1935 : “Excavations atTell Arpachiyah”, Iraq II : 1-178.

Mellaart, J., 1975 : The Neolithic of the Near East,Thames and Hudson.

Nieuwenhuyse, O., 2007 : Plain and Painted Pottery(The rise of Late Neolithic ceramic styles on the Syriaplains), Palma III, Brepols Publishers.

Nieuwenhuyse, O. and Cruells, W., 2004 : “The Pro-to-Halaf period in Syria : New Sites, new data”, PaléorientVol.30 N 1 : 47-68.

Schmidt, H., 1943 : Tell Halaf, Walter De Gruyter &Co.

Von Oppenheim, M.F., 1939 : Tell Halaf (UneCivilisation Retrouvée en Mésopotamie), Payot.

Watson, P. J., 1983 : “The Halafian Culture : AReview and Synthesis”, in T. Cuyler Young, P. E. L.Smith and P.Mortensen, R. J. (eds), Braidwood (Festschrift),The Hilly Flanks (Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization26), The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago :231-250.

Yıldırım, A. and Karadoğan, S., 2010 : “Derik(Mardin) Güneyinde Korunması Gereken Jeolojik-Jeo-morfolojik Bir Doğal Miras : Kuşçu Krateri”, DicleÜniversitesi Ziya Gökalp Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi 14 :119-133.


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Studies on The Halaf Pottery Of The Kerküşti Höyük

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