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AnnaSmogorzewska
deposits(Deckers2016:27).AtTellArbid,inthe
Ninevite5layers,afragmentofanoak(Quercussp.)
acornwasidentified(Mueller-Bienieketal.2015).
Thepresenceofdeciduousoak,aswellasash(Fraxi-
nussp.),elm(Ulmussp.),plane(Platanussp.),and
poplar(Populussp.),wasdocumentedatTellCha-
garBazar(Deckers,Riehl2008:175).AtTellMozan,
thereisapredominanceofoakinarchaeological
depositsintheEarlyBronzeAge,likeatTellLeilan
where1comparedtoTellMozan1alargerquantity
oforientalterebinth(Pistacia)andalmond(Amyg-
dalus)wasalsoidentified,whichwouldmeanthat
theterebinth-almondwoodlandsteppewasclos-
ertoTellLeilanthantoTellMozan(Deckers,Riehl
2008:174-175).
Mostlikely,thewoodlandcoverinthedecidu-
ousoakparkwoodlandswasnotdenseinthe3rd
millenniumBCandmayhavesometimestakenon
ashrub-likeappearance,especiallyduetohuman
impactandanintensivegrowthofsettlementsas-
sociatedwiththeprocessofurbanization(Deckers
2016).Themostdenselypopulatedareasofthe
Jezirah,wherefarmlandcoveredsignificantar-
easbetweensettlements,musthavelostalarge
partoftheirwoodlandcoverbythemid-3rdmil-
lenniumBC,asdemonstratedbyarchaeological
surveys(Wilkinson,Tucker1995;Ur2002;2010).
Nevertheless,intheEarlyBronzeAgetherewere
stillsignificantstandsofoakontheKhabur,which
insomeplacescouldbeencounteredevenuntil
theByzantineperiod(Rosen1997;Deckers,Riehl
2007b).
TheJezirahlandscapeintheBronzeAgewas
diverseandpatchyandconsistedofdenselypopu-
latedareaswithmanytownsandcitiesandextensive
farmlandaroundsettlementswithzonesofpastures
beyond(Wilkinson2003).Lesspopulatedregions
hadextensivegrazingareas,whereasintheinten-
sivelyfarmedareas,wherecultivatedzoneswere
almostadjacent,grazingareasweresmallerand
decreasedinsizeasthecultivatedareasincreased.
AroundtheUpperKhabursites,forexample
aroundTellArbid,linearhollowshavebeeniden-
tified,extendingradiallyfromthesites(Wilkinson
2003:111).Theyareusuallyinterpretedas“hol-
lowways”—roadwayswhichdevelopedasaresult
ofacontinuousmovementofpeopleandanimals
alongspecificroutes(Wilkinson1990;1993;2003;
Wilkinson,Tucker1995;Ur2003).Thelimitsofthe
“hollowways,”whichusuallyfadeout3-5kmfrom
asettlement,woulddesignatetheendofacultivat-
edareaandthebeginningofagrazingarea.
1.2OCCUPATIONHISTORY
ThesiteofTellArbidconsistsofthemaintellandsev-
eralsmallertellssituatedontheoutskirtsofthesite,
mainlyinitsnorthernandwesternpart[Figs1.4,
1.5].Themaintell,withanareaofca.12ha,risesto
aheightofover30mabovethesurroundingterrain.
ItconsistsoftheUpperCity(orcitadel)andLower
City.Takingintoaccountallthecomponentsofthe
site,itmayhavecoveredatotalareaofca.40ha(the
outerlimitsofsettlementhavenotbeenfullyde-
termined).Noremainsoffortificationshavebeen
discoveredsothesettlementmayhavebeenanopen
one.1Thepresent-daysettlementatthissiteconsists
oftwoKurdishvillages,onesituatedinthenorth-
western,theotherinthesouthernpartofthesite.
TheTellArbidsettlementwasinhabitedwith
noevidentinterruptionsthroughouttheentire
BronzeAge,intheNinevite5(EJZ1-EJZ2),EJZ3,
EJZ4andEJZ5periodsalike,aswellasintheKha-
burWareandMitanniperiods.Thelatesttraces
ofsettlementgobacktotheNeo-Babylonianand
Hellenisticperiods.Theearliestoccupationalstra-
taatTellArbidaredatedtoNinevite5(EJZ1-EJZ2)
period.Evidenceofanyearlierhistoryofthesettle-
mentisscant,withjustseveralChalcolithic/Uruk
andNeolithic/Halafsherdsrecordedatthesite
(Koliński2007:84-85,94;Lyonnet2000:36,site
42).Settlementfromtheseperiodshasnotbeen
confirmedbyexcavations.Perhapsanyminorset-
tlementfromtheChalcolithicperiod,whichmay
haveexistedatTellArbid,wassealedupbythe
extensiveNinevite5settlementwithahighaccu-
mulationofstrata.Neolithicsettlement,inturn,is
knownfromtheregionslocatedimmediatelyeast
ofthemaintell.TheLateNeolithic(Halaf)site
ofTellArbidAbyadwasuncoveredhere,located
700meastofthemaintell(Mateiciucová2010;
Mateiciucováetal.2012).
TellArbidhaditsmostprosperousperiodinthe
EJZ2andEJZ3periods,whenitgrewtobeone
ofthemostsignificanttownsintheUpperKhabur
region.Ninevite5(EJZ1-EJZ2)wasaparticularly
dynamicperiodintermsofgrowthandsocio-eco-
nomicdevelopmentforTellArbid.InthelateEJZ2,
thesettlementexperienceditsgreatestterritori-
algrowth.Settlementfromthisperiodhasbeen
identifiedinalmostalltheareasunderinvestiga-
tion(AreasW,D,SS,SD,A),inboththeUpperCity
andtheLowerCity.Inthisperiod,thesettlement
1
ThepresenceofadefensivewallatTellArbidwassuggestedbyM.E.L.Mallowan,whomentionsacitywallwithawidthofupto
45m.SubsequentexcavationsbythePolish-SyrianArchaeologicalMissiondidnotconfirmitsexistence(Koliński2007:84).
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PAMMonographSeries9
