ON THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN SACRIFICE IN NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA IN THE PRE-POTTERY NEOLITHIC
Abstract
Paleoanthropological materials, along with the art and architectural evidence, are analyzed. Data on the general trend of ritual practices in Northern Mesopotamia and adjacent regions of the Fertile Crescent area in the period of transition to the sedentary way of life, and the new subsistence strategies in the Early Holocene, are considered. Ethnographic data on the stadially related cultures are used as supplemental material.
About the Author
T. V. Kornienko
Voronezh State Pedagogical University,
Lenina 86, Voronezh, 394043, Russia
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
References
1. Алёкшин В.А. Черепа людей в обрядах неолитических земледельцев Юго-Западной Азии // Памятники древнего и средневекового искусства: Проблемы археологии. – 1994. – Вып. 3. – С. 59–78.
2. Антонова Е.В., Литвинский Б.А. К вопросу об истоках древней культуры Переднего Востока (раскопки Невали Чори) // ВДИ. – 1998. – № 1. – С. 36–47.
3. Зубов А.Б. История религий. – М.: МГИМО-Университет, 2006. – Кн. 1: Доисторические и внеисторические религии. – 436 с.
4. Корниенко Т.В. Первые храмы Месопотамии: Формирование традиции культового строительства на территории Месопотамии в дописьменную эпоху. – СПб.: Алетейя, 2006. – 312 с.
5. Корниенко Т.В. Моделирование черепов на территории Леванта в период докерамического неолита Б // РА. – 2012. – № 4. – С. 80–89.
6. Корниенко Т.В. К вопросу о человеческих жертвоприношениях в ближневосточных обществах эпохи докерамического неолита // Древние культуры Юго-Восточной Европы и Западной Азии: сб. к 90-летию и памяти Н.Я. Мерперта / отв. ред. Р.М. Мунчаев. – М.: ИА РАН, 2014. – С. 324–330.
7. Медникова М.Б. Трепанации у древних народов Евразии. – М.: Науч. мир, 2001. – 304 с.
8. Медникова М.Б. Трепанации в древнем мире и культ головы. – М.: Алетейа, 2004. – 208 с.
9. Мерперт Н.Я. Очерки археологии библейских стран. – М.: Библейско-богословский ин-т св. апостола Андрея, 2000. – 341 с.
10. Шмидт К. Они строили первые храмы: Таинственное святилище охотников каменного века: Археологические открытия в Гёбекли Тепе. – СПб.: Алетейя, 2011. – 320 с.
11. Bar-Yosef O., Alon D. Nahal Hemar Cave: the excavations // Atiqot. – 1988. – Vol. 18. – Р. 1–30.
12. Bienert H.D. Skull cult in the prehistoric Near East // J. of Prehistoric Religion. – 1991. – Vol. 5. – Р. 9–23.
13. Cauvin J. Naissance des divinités, naissance de l’agriculture. – P.: CNRS Editions, 1994. – 304 p.
14. Çambel H. Çayönü, 1984 // Anatolian Studies. – 1985. – Vol. 35. – Р. 186–188.
15. Dialogue on the Early Neolithic Origin of Ritual Centers // Neo-Lithics. – 2005. – Vol. 2. – Р. 3–53.
16. Erdal Y.S. Bone or Flesh: Defl eshing and Post-Depositional Treatments at Körtik Tepe (Southeastern Anatolia, PPNA Period) // Europ. J. of Archaeology. – 2015. – Vol. 18, N 1. – P. 4–32.
17. Erdal Y.S., Erdal O.D. Organized violence in Anatolia: A retrospective research on the injuries from the Neolithic to Early Bronze Age // Intern. J. of Paleopathology. – 2012. – Vol. 2. – Р. 78–92.
18. Glencross B., Boz В. Representing Violence in Anatolia and the Near East during the Transition to Agriculture: Readings from Contextualized Human Skeletal Remains // The Routledge handbook of the bioarchaeology of human confl ict / eds. C. Knüsel, M. Smith. – L., N. Y.: Routledge, Taylor and Francis, 2014. – Р. 90–108.
19. Hauptmann H. Ein Kultgebäude in Nevali Çori // Between the rivers and over the mountains: Archaeologica Anatolica et Mesopotamica Alba Palmieri Dedicata. – Roma: Dipartimento di Scienze storiche archeologiche e antropologiche dell’Antichità, Universita di Roma “La Sapienza”, 1993. – Р. 37–69.
20. Kanjou Y. Study of Neolithic human graves from Tell Qaramel in north Syria // Intern. J. of Modern Anthropology. – 2009. – Vol. 2. – Р. 25–37.
21. Kanjou Y., Kuijt I., Erdal Y.S., Kondo O. Early Human Decapitation, 11,700–10,700 cal BP, within the PrePottery Neolithic Village of Tell Qaramel, North Syria // Intern. J. of Osteoarchaeology. – 2013. – DOI: 10.1002/oa.2341.
22. Kornienko T.V. Notes on the Cult Buildings of Northern Mesopotamia in the Aceramic Neolithic Period // J. of Near Eastern Studies. – 2009. – Vol. 68, N 2. – Р. 81–101.
23. Kuijt I. Keeping the Peace: Ritual, Skull Caching, and Community Integration in the Levantine Neolithic // Life in Neolithic Farming Communities: social organization, identity, and differentiation / ed. by I. Kuijt. – N. Y.: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000. – P. 127–164.
24. Kuijt I. The regeneration of life: Neolithic structures of symbolic remembering and forgetting // Current Anthropology. – 2008. – Vol. 49. – Р. 171–197.
25. Kurth G., Röhrer-Ertl O. On the Anthropology of the Mesolithic to Chalcolithic Human Remains from Tell es-Sultan in Jericho, Jordan // Excavations at Jericho / eds. K.M. Kenyon, T.A. Holland. – Jerusalem; L., 1981. – Vol. 3. – P. 407–499.
26. Le Mort F., Erim-Özdoğan A., Özbek M., Yilmaz Y. Feu et archéoantropologie au Proche-Orient (épipaléolithique et néolithique). Le lien avec les pratiques funéraires. Données nouvelles de Çayönü (Turquie) // Paléorient. – 2000. – Vol. 26, N 2. – Р. 37–50.
27. Magic practices and Ritual in the Near Eastern Neolithic: Proceedings of a Workshop held at the 2 ICAANE, CopenhagenUniversity, May 2000 / eds. H.G.K. Gebel, B.D. Hermansen, C.H. Jensen. – B.: Ex Oriente, 2002. – 173 р.
28. Mellink M.J. Archaeology in Anatolia // Am. J. of Archaeology. – 1990. – Vol. 94, N 1. – Р. 125–151.
29. Orrelle Е. Material Images of Humans from the Natufi an to Pottery Neolithic Periods in the Levant: A thesis of the University of East London for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. – L., 2011. – Vol. I: Text. – 283 p.; Vol. II: Figures. – 135 p.
30. Özbek M. Culte des cranes humains a Çayönü // Anatolica. – 1988. – N 15. – Р. 127–137.
31. Özbek M. The Human Remains at Çayönü // Am. J. of Archaeology. – 1992. – Vol. 96, N 2. – Р. 374.
32. Özdoğan A. Çayönü // Neolithic in Turkey: the cradle of civilizations. – Istanbul: Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayinlari, 1999. – Р. 35–64. – (Ancient Anatolian civilizations. Ser. 3).
33. Rollefson G.O. Neolithic ’Ain Ghazal (Jordan): Ritual and ceremony, II // Paléorient. – 1986. – Vol. 12, N. 1. – Р. 45–52.
34. Sacred Killing: The Archaeology of Sacrifi ce in the Ancient Near East / eds. А.М. Porter, G.M. Schwartz. – Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 2012. – 328 р.
35. Santana J., Velasco J., Ibáñez J.J., Braemer F. Crania With Mutilated Facial Skeletons: A New Ritual Treatment in an Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Cranial Cache at Tell Qarassa North (South Syria) // Am. J. Physic. Anthropol. – 2012. – Vol. 149. – Р. 205–216.
36. Santana J., Velasco J., Balbo A., Iriarte E., Zapata L., Teira L., Nicolle C., Braemer F., Ibáñez J.J. Interpreting a ritual funerary area at the Early Neolithic site of Tell Qarassa North (South Syria, late 9th millennium BC) // J. Anthropol. Archaeol. – 2015. – URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2014.12.003
37. Schirmer W. Some aspects of building at the “aceramic-neolithic” settlement of Çayönü Tepesi // World Archaeology. – 1990. – Vol. 21, N 3. – P. 363–387.
38. Schmidt K. Animals and Headless Man at Göbekli Tepe // Neo-Lithics. – 2006а. – Vol. 2. – Р. 38–40.
39. Schmidt K. Sie bauten die ersten Tempel: das rätselhafte Heiligtum der Steinzeitjäger: die archäologische Entdeckung am Göbekli Tepe. – München: C.H. Beck, 2006b. – 282 S.
40. Schmidt K. Der Göbekli Tepe – zwei Jahre später: Wichtige Funde der Kampagnen 2005 und 2006 // Sie bauten die ersten Tempel: das rätselhafte Heiligtum der Steinzeitjäger: die archäologische Entdeckung am Göbekli Tepe. – Erweiterte und aktualisierte Aufl . – München: C.H. Beck, 2007. – S. 259–266.
41. Stordeur D. Jerf el Ahmar et l’émergence du Néolithique au Proche-Orient // Premiers paysans du monde: Naissances des agricultures, Séminaire du Collège de France / ed. by J. Guilaine. – P.: Errance, 2000. – Р. 33–60.
42. Stordeur D., Abbès F. Du PPNA au PPNB: Mise en lumière d’une phase de transition à Jerf el Ahmar (Syrie) // Bull. de La Société Préhistorique Française. – 2002. – N 99. – Р. 563–595.
43. Stordeur D., Brenet M., Aprahamian G., der, Roux J.-C. Les bâtiments communautaires de Jerf el Ahmar et Mureybet horizon PPNA (Syria) // Paléorient. – 2001. – Vol. 26, N 1. – Р. 29–44.
44. Testart A. Des crâneset des vautours ou la guerre oubliée // Paléorient. – 2008. – Vol. 34, N 1. – Р. 33–58.
45. Verhoeven M. Ritual and Ideology in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B of the Levant and Southeast Anatolia // Cambridge Archaeology J. – 2002а. – Vol. 12. – Р. 233–258.
46. Verhoeven M. Transformations of Society: the Changing Role of Ritual and Symbolism in the PPNB and the PN in the Levant, Syria and South-East Anatolia // Paléorient. – 2002b. – Vol. 28, N 1. – Р. 5–13.
47. Wood A.P. The Detection, Removal, Storage, and Species Identifi cation of Prehistoric Blood Residues from Çayönü // Am. J. of Archaeology. – 1992. – Vol. 96, N 2. – Р. 374.
48. Yartah T. Tell ‘Abr 3, un village du néolithique précéramique (PPNA) sur le Moyen Euphrate. Premiѐre approche // Paléorient. – 2004. – Vol. 30, N 2. – Р. 141–158.
Review
For citations:
Kornienko T.V. ON THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN SACRIFICE IN NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA IN THE PRE-POTTERY NEOLITHIC. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia. 2015;43(3):42-49. (In Russ.)
Views:
660
Email this article 