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ON THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN SACRIFICE IN NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA IN THE PRE-POTTERY NEOLITHIC
ARCHAEOLOGY, ETHNOLOGY & ANTHROPOLOGY OF EURASIA Archaeology Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 43/3 (2015) 42–49 E-mail: [email protected]
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PALEOENVIRONMENT. THE STONE AGE
T.V. Kornienko Voronezh State Pedagogical University, Lenina 86, Voronezh, 394043, Russia E-mail: [email protected]
ON THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN SACRIFICE IN NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA IN THE PRE-POTTERY NEOLITHIC*
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. Keywords: Epipaleolithic, Pre-Pottery Neolithic, Northern Mesopotamia, Levant, Fertile Crescent area, cult practices, human sacri¿ce.
Introduction Since the end of the last century, the “revolution of symbols” theory by French archaeologist J. Cauvin has gained widespread scienti¿c recognition. According to this theory, the leading part in the neolithization of the Near East is assigned not to economic or technological mechanisms, but to the changes in public consciousness associated with new environmental conditions (biotope) and with sedentarization during the period of Pleistocene– Holocene transition, which has been embodied in abundant material evidence of the symbolic content. In general, sedentism and, respectively, establishment of human settlements, changes in social relations, and growth of population during this period preceded domestication of plants and animals and manufacture of ceramics. The traits of new religious beliefs and *Supported by the Russian Foundation for the Humanities, Project No. 15-51-00019ɚ(ɮ).
worldview attitudes were formed under conditions of the general upsurge in symbolic activities in Southwestern Asia during the Proto-Neolithic and Pre-Pottery Neolithic stages (Cauvin, 1994). At present, not only the most recent materials obtained from Epipaleolithic and Early Paleolithic sites of the Fertile Crescent area are introduced into scienti¿c use, but also many manifestations of the ritual practices of the said epoch are becoming objects of special research (Alekshin, 1994; Kuijt, 2000; Magic practices…, 2002; Dialogue…, 2005; Kuijt, 2008; Kornienko, 2009; Orrelle, 2011; Santana et al., 2012, 2015; Kanjou et al., 2013; Erdal, 2015; and others). Several reviews of the complicated system of beliefs and the cultural unity of Early Paleolithic communities in certain regions of the Near East have been published. In particular, on the basis of analysis of various evidence, Dutch archaeologist M. Verhoeven has identi¿ed four fundamental principles in the ritual practices and associated human perceptions in the Levant, Syria, and Southeastern Anatolia during
Copyright © 2015, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved doi:10.1016/j.aeae.2015.11.005
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the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB): collectivism; dominating symbolism; vitality including the idea of domestication, domesticity, fertility/reproductive ability, vital force; and the human-animal bond (Verhoeven, 2002ɚ, b). Generally, it can be noted that the initial steps have already been taken towards understanding of the spiritual and ideological foundations of the Southwestern Asian societies of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic and those ritual activities that strengthened and inspired these communities during the period of transition to a new way of life. However, the probability of human sacrifice in the Near East during the Early Neolithic (about 12– 10 ka BP, the dates are calibrated) still remains one of the understudied issues. Certain details, including indirect data, can be discovered by studying materials of speci¿c sites. Nevertheless, neither the established views nor special summary investigations on this subject exist thus far*. This article aims at ¿lling this gap to some extent by starting our consideration with the analysis of the available data on Northern Mesopotamia and the adjacent Levant. Analysis of paleoanthropological data and associated materials Identi¿cation of the remains of human sacri¿ce among the materials of common burials and other cult complexes is a rather challenging task, since the period and region under consideration are characterized by a great variety of burial rites, including the use of secondary burials, disarticulation of skeletons, and separate burial of their parts, and display of skulls and other manipulations with them (Kurth, Röhrer-Ertl, 1981; Bar-Yosef, Alon, 1988; Bienert, 1991; Alekshin, 1994; Kornienko, 2012; Santana et al., 2012, 2015; Erdal, 2015; and others). Speci¿cally, the tradition of displaying groups of human skulls modeled in a particular way, and/or their placement in special storage, is recorded in the Southern and Central Levant. The Near Eastern sites of this period are also characterized by accumulations of skulls without clay coating, stored either separately or together with other human remains, within housings. In rare instances, single skulls are encountered. Burials of beheaded bodies were commonly arranged under the Àoors of buildings. In all likelihood, skulls intended for subsequent treatment and use in ritual activities were recovered, at least in most cases, from these graves. *A recent collection of scienti¿c articles “Sacred Killing: The Archaeology of Sacri¿ce in the Ancient Near East” (Sacred Killing…, 2012) addresses individual subjects in the materials which are rather extensive in terms of chronology, geography, and content, and, at the same time, this publication shows a considerable current interest in this topic.
The practice of making individual and communal graves in the residential zone of a settlement, often directly under the Àoors of dwellings, which was spread during the Proto-Neolithic and Early Neolithic period, is noted by the majority of researchers as a characteristic feature of societies that had recently made the transition to sedentism. The awareness of their permanent residence at the same place was established and “consecrated” through relationships with the people who lived and were buried here (Rollefson, 1986; Antonova, Litvinsky, 1998; Kanjou et al., 2013; and others). Complicated multistage funeral rites and other joint cult activities were intended to strengthen social relations and to form communal identities. Turning to the topic of the Cult of the Head, owing to a high percentage of remains of children and young people and a special shape of modeled skulls, K. Schmidt, excavation director in Göbekli Tepe, raises the question as to whether Early Neolithic societies could practice human sacrifice (Schmidt, 2006b: 41–42, 245–246; Schmidt, 2011: 40–41, 240). In the Levant, single and grouped human skulls, which in certain cases (with the availability of preserved cervical vertebrae) provide rather convincing evidence of decapitation, have been found beneath the Àoor (under the foundation or at the threshold) of a number of buildings attributed to the PrePottery Neolithic (Kornienko, 2014). Skulls with cervical vertebrae separated from the skeleton have been found, in particular, at the sites of Ain Mallaha (Bienert, 1991) and Jericho (Kurth, Röhrer-Ertl, 1981). Some specimens dated to the PPNB bear cut-marks on the skull-bones. Traces of cuts have been detected on the left mandibular ramus of the jawbones from Kfar HaHoresh and Basta. A row of small cuts has also been noted on the rear surface of the mandibular ramus from Tell Qarassa. In the specialists’ opinion, these data point to the practice of decapitation (Santana et al., 2012; Erdal, 2015). Recent examination of materials obtained in Southwestern Asia has given the ¿rst systematized evidence of beheading, with the use of stone tools, in the period of transition to the Neolithic (Kanjou et al., 2013). Of no less interest are the data obtained in the synchronous sites containing the related material remains in Northern Mesopotamia, adjacent to the Levant. Among the public buildings of the Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPNA), ȿȺ 30 at Jerf el-Ahmar (Syria, the Middle Euphrates) is one of the well-preserved structures (Fig. 1, 1). It was destroyed by ¿re in a very short time. An apparent difference between ȿȺ 30 and the remains of other structures at the settlement can be observed on the plan and the photograph of the excavated site, level II/W at Jerf el-Ahmar (Stordeur et al., 2001: Fig. 12; Stordeur, 2000: Fig. 4; Kornienko, 2006: 32–44, ¿g. 7–9). This difference is reÀected not only in the dimensions, solidity, and detached position
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Fig. 1. ȿȺ 30 structure at the settlement of Jerf el-Ahmar (1) and a human skeleton on the Àoor of its central room (2) (after (Stordeur, 2000: Fig. 6.1, 2)).
of the public building, but in peculiarities of the layout, a greatly lowered Àoor level, and in related materials as well. In particular, a human skeleton lying in a supine position with the arms spread apart was found on a smooth and well cleaned Àoor of the central room (Fig. 1, 2). Note that this burial is atypical, and even exceptional, for Jerf el-Ahmar and for the Pre-Pottery Neolithic in general. The skull and four ¿rst cervical vertebrae were absent, while the remaining parts of the skeleton preserved the exact anatomical sequence. They were covered by charred fragments, and bore traces of ¿re. Signs of cadaveric rigidity were recorded. Crushinjury of the chest suggests that the body was damaged by the weight of the ruins. The above-mentioned characteristics indicate that the death of this individual, the ¿re, and the collapse of the building’s roof onto the dead body occurred within a short span of time (Stordeur et al., 2001: 36–37; Stordeur, Abbès, 2002). Based on the available data, it is reasonably safe to suggest that this was an extraordinary sacri¿ce, well thought-out and performed in a certain order, which was probably related to the “burial” rite of a specialpurpose public building. Apart from that, a human skull and a separate jawbone, inconsistent with the skeleton in the central room, were found in the corner between two walls of the ȿȺ 30 building. Human remains—two skulls buried at the bottom of the pit under one of two large load-bearing pillars—were discovered in the ȿȺ 7
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public building (like ȿȺ 30, dated to the PPNA period). The materials are consistent with the initial state of the building, which points to a high probability of making a construction sacri¿ce, which was laid in the semantically signi¿cant part of the footing during erection of this out-of-the-ordinary structure (Stordeur et al., 2001: 36– 37; Stordeur, Abbès, 2002; Kornienko, 2006: 32–39, ¿g. 7, 8). In this context, the evidence of the multi-room Skull Building or House of the Dead, which had been functioning, with some reconstructions, at the Çayönü Tepesi settlement (Southeastern Turkey, the upper reaches of the Tigris River) during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A and B periods, appears to be extremely impressive (Kornienko, 2006: 47–49, 51–54, map 1, ¿g. 14, 17, 19). The researchers share the view of this object as the place intended for the ritual ceremonies, which were particularly important for the community (Mellink, 1990: 127; Özbek, 1992: 374; Alekshin, 1994: 74; Özdo÷an, 1999: 51–52; Le Mort et al., 2000: 40). Taken together, remains of at least 400 people have been discovered within the House of the Dead, which came to approximately 70 % of the total number of buried individuals identi¿ed at the site. Pits ¿lled with human bones, crypts, and single burials were located under the floors of this structure and in the adjacent area. Some of them contained remains of beheaded bodies, more rarely those of complete skeletons; but most of them stored various fragments of human
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skeletons. Accordingly, primary and secondary burials are distinguished. Apart from skulls, preference was given to longitudinal bones that were laid down in a certain order, sometimes disturbed by the subsequent burials. Among the bones, stone beads, including those of malachite, have been encountered. Numerous fragments of skulls of at least 71 individuals (44 belonging to males and females aged from 18 to 29 years, 11 to children above 2.5 years) were collected in the ruins of the latest construction horizon. The skulls, arranged in rows, were predominantly stored in the upper rooms, while other parts of the skeletons were generally placed under the Àoors of the building, in pits, and in tombs. The majority of skulls have been found in the eastern part of the building, along with bones of various animals. One of the walls enclosing the yard on the inside was decorated with the horned skull of auroch. Like the ȿȺ 30 building at Jerf el-Ahmar, the House of the Dead was destroyed by ¿re, which severely damaged the skulls. A study has shown that jawbones and some vertebrae were reliably connected with the skulls in a number of instances. Consequently, the skulls for ritual use at the Çayönü Tepesi settlement were not always obtained by their removal from the graves, after ligaments had already decayed; in certain cases, they were prepared after separation of the head from the body. Study of the osteological materials from the House of the Dead has revealed cuts made at the point of near-death* on fragments of the frontal and parietal bones of three individuals. Cuts that possibly appeared in the course of treatment of the dead body have been revealed on ¿bulas. Furthermore, the second cervical vertebra with the traces of 12–15 cuts within the area of 15 × 5 mm has been found among the human remains, which corroborates the hypothesis of intentional beheading (Kanjou et al., 2013). A polished stone slab of 260 × 165 cm in plan was found in the yard near the west wall of the House of the Dead (Fig. 2). The pink stone from which it is made does not occur in the neighborhood of Çayönü, which, according to H. Çambel, implies its special symbolic destination (Çambel, 1985: 187). There is good reason to consider this object as the place for sacrifice or manipulations with the bodies of the recently deceased. Laboratory studies have revealed traces of human and animal (cattle and small ruminants) blood on the slab (Özbek, 1988; Wood, 1992). Traces of human blood have been identi¿ed within one more public building at Çayönü Tepesi, namely, the Terrazzo Floor Building, which was functioning during the middle PPNB period. A fragment of stone *Anthropologists distinguish injuries and cuts made before death (antemortem), after death (postmortem), and at the point of near-death (perimortem).
0
5m
Fig. 2. Isometric reconstruction of the House of Skulls pertaining to the PPNB stage at the Çayönü Tepesi settlement (after (Schirmer, 1990: Fig. 12)).
slab (with the preserved length of 70 cm) has been found at the north-western corner of this structure. A relief representation of a human face/head “platesized” has survived on one of its narrow faces, while on the wide side, traces of human blood can be observed. A specially shaped rounded hollow (with an outer diameter of approximately 1.25 m) with traces of ¿re and human blood has been found at the north-eastern corner of the Terrazzo Floor Building. Further to the north and somewhat deeper, remains of a small stonepaved channel have been recorded (Schirmer, 1990: 384; Cauvin, 1994: 120). Interestingly, such hollows with the adjacent channels, sometimes with the traces of ¿re, are known from the materials of cult public buildings at Nevali Çori (Southeastern Turkey) (Hauptmann, 1993: 45) and Tell ‘Abr 3 (Syria, the Middle Euphrates) (Yartah, 2004: 144). Unfortunately, the available reports and publications on these sites do not contain any information about laboratory studies aimed at identifying the possible presence of blood. Decoration and selection of location for these structures at Nevali Çori, Tell ‘Abr 3, and Çayönü Tepesi are comparable. Their purpose remains somewhat unclear; however, it can be assumed that it was identical and associated with the special destination of the buildings themselves (Kornienko, 2009: 88). If this is the case, it is probable that these constructions were used for performing rituals where human blood was spilled. 23 burials of human remains, demonstrating various burial practices, have been discovered in horizon H3 at the settlement of Tell Qaramel (Northern Syria), which was recently excavated by a Syrian-Polish mission and attributed to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Ⱥ period (Kanjou et al., 2013). In the context of the topic under consideration, the burial of four skulls and two jawbones
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at the foot of the eastern wall of tower I is of greatest interest. This part of the structure, unlike others, was laid of larger stone blocks. Taken as a whole, these materials provide evidence of a possible founding sacri¿ce (Kanjou, 2009). Cuts at two places close to each other have been recorded on the male jawbone from this burial. Double track morphology of the damages and the “boundary effect” are indicative of the use of a stone cutting-tool. Living people usually have these two areas covered by mucous membrane, subcutaneous ¿brous tissue connected with the mylohyoid muscle and the vascular bundle of the stylomandibular ligament. Thus, the procedure of cutting could be aimed at separation of the jawbone and removal of soft tissues, including the tongue and surrounding ligaments that connect the jawbone with the base of the skull. Taking into account the variety of secondary burials of skulls with and without jawbones during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period, the researchers believe that separation of the jawbone from the skull was an indirect result of the beheading procedure, rather than its purpose (Kanjou et al., 2013). In their opinion, distinctive features of the damage to the specimens from the Tell Qaramel settlement allow for the conclusion that the actions were intentional, and the cuts result from repeated decapitation acts and not from removal of soft tissues or skin. The authors emphasize
Fig. 3. Pillar No. 43, building D at Göbekli Tepe (after (Schmidt, 2007: Fig. 109)).
that the arrangement of cuts on these specimens clearly demonstrates a thorough knowledge of human anatomy and its successful application for disarticulation of bodies (Ibid.). Considering the published results of the study of the male jawbone from the burial at the foot of tower I at Tell Qaramel, there is much to say for the hypothesis that the head was intentionally separated from the body to be used as a founding sacri¿ce. Results and discussion The human head is well known (from stone masks, relief and sculptural representations, separated and fashioned skulls) as one of the leading motifs in the cult practices and fine arts of the Near East Pre-Pottery Neolithic. Researchers of the Cult of the Head in Epipaleolithic and Neolithic societies of the Near East point to a wide semantic field of the related rites that differ in their orientation (Bienert, 1991; Alekshin, 1994; Kornienko, 2012; Santana et al., 2012, 2015; and others). Discovery of the representations of beheaded humans (not skeletons) at semantically signi¿cant objects in cult public buildings in Northern Mesopotamia has become an important event in the study of Early Neolithic sites during the last years. Among them, noteworthy is a scratched female (?) ¿gure on the massive slab of a bench found in the ȿȺ 100 structure of Jerf el-Ahmar* and a relief representation of a man on one of the Ɍ-shaped stelae of the intertribal ritual complex at Göbekli Tepe (Southeastern Turkey). This pillar No. 43, located in the south-east part of the circular wall of building D, is fully covered by intricate relief drawing composed of the ¿gures of snakes, birds, scorpions, other animals, and abstract symbols. In the lower right part of the stela’s rod, a slightly damaged representation of a beheaded man with an erect phallus has been revealed (Fig. 3). According to K. Schmidt, the absence of the head and an erect penis suggests just the violent death of the man depicted (the phenomenon of death erection is well known in forensic medicine) (Schmidt, 2006a: Fig. 2; Schmidt, 2007: 259–264, ¿g. 109). Having regard to other materials, studies of more than 1120 skeletons from the excavated Anatolian Early Neolithic sites pursued by Y.S. Erdal and O.D. Erdal have demonstrated that there is currently no information available on widespread organized violence within the region under consideration during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period. The identi¿ed traces of traumas are de¿ned by the authors of this article as a consequence *Two sculptural stelae (with a slight slope towards the centre) were erected on both sides of this outstanding slab (Stordeur, 2000; Stordeur et al., 2001: 40). See also (Kornienko, 2006: 41–42, ¿g. 12; Testart, 2008: Fig. 24).
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of interpersonal and, possibly, small local conflicts (Erdal Y.S., Erdal O.D., 2012)*. The results of recent research performed by B. Glencross and B. Boz (2014) also suggest that the traces of traumas on the skeletal remains could be caused by interpersonal and small-scale conÀicts, or bear a relation to ritual practices. In the researchers’ opinion, de¿nite conclusions with respect to the violence in the Near East in the period of transition to the Neolithic lifestyle can only be reached after detailed studies of these traces and the available context of evidence. In summary, the viewpoint should be accepted that organized violence obviously was not a typical, widespread phenomenon in Northern Mesopotamia during the Early Neolithic period. Nevertheless, the above data resulting from the studies of out-of-the-ordinary structures and human remains at the Jerf el-Ahmar, Çayönü Tepesi, Göbekli Tepe, and Tell Qaramel sites, as well as some other evidence, lead us to take seriously the hypothesis of human sacrifices that were probably performed at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic settlements in cases of special importance for the life of communities. This is supported by the data from ethnographic and culturological literature on pagan cults of early agricultural peoples and their echoes in religious traditions and folklore (see, e.g., (Mednikova, 2001: 136–175; 2004: 26–46)). Burial practices of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period included such customs as reburial, disarticulation of the skeletons and the bodies of the dead, special processing of bones to remove soft tissues, and their separate burial, which are compatible with the hypothesis of human sacri¿ces performed by these communities. M.B. Mednikova, who studies this problem on the basis of abundant anthropological material, notes that “it can be said with reasonable con¿dence that the motif of manipulations with the bodies of dead or living people is aligned with the idea of sacri¿ce for the sake of society, with efforts to ensure fertility, the stability of the universe, and with the myth of the eternal return” (2001: 142). The idea of sacri¿ce is the central and universal one for the long-lasting human communities. Obviously, it is rooted in the ancient practice of reciprocal gift exchange. Many agricultural societies practiced human sacri¿ces at early stages of their development as the most valuable and effective actions. Conclusions The period of transition to the Neolithic in the area of the Fertile Crescent, when the population started mastering *I am very grateful to professor Y.S. Erdal and doctor O.D. Erdal for their consultations and the access provided to certain anthropological publications on the topic of particular interest to me.
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new subsistence strategies, including ¿rst experiments in domestication of plants, was accompanied by the most important changes in the spiritual sphere. Touching upon the currently discussed issue as to whether spiritual or economic factors were the primary impetus in these processes, I consider the position of N.Y. Merpert to be the most correct one: “Agricultural practices and agricultural ideology were emerging and developing in constant interrelation” (2000: 60–67). It is very likely that human sacri¿ces, as well as creation of fashioned skulls, large-scale clay human ¿gures, and burials within residential buildings and/or special public buildings, which occurred with a high concentration in the Early Neolithic, were a powerful reflection of imitative magic and showed the relationship with the knowledge obtained from production agricultural experience. “The grain… is a very capacious symbol of death and revival. Dropping into the ground, dying and decaying there, it produces a sprout, an ear, and many new seeds” (Zubov, 2006: 162). The idea that life is impossible without death, which later took root in many world religions, is connected by many authoritative historians of religion, such as J. Frazer, M. Eliade, and S.A. Tokarev, just with the emergence of agriculture. It should be noted that the available evidence of probable human sacri¿ce during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic is in line with other elements of religious practices and beliefs of the time, which are currently being reconstructed step by step for the Fertile Crescent area.
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Schmidt K. 2006ɚ Animals and headless man at Göbekli Tepe. Neo-Lithics, vol. 2: 38–40. Schmidt K. 2006b Sie Bauten die Ersten Tempel: Das Rätselhafte Heiligtum der Steinzeitjäger: Die Archäologische Entdeckung am Göbekli Tepe. München: C.H. Beck. Schmidt K. 2007 Der Göbekli Tepe – zwei Jahre später: Wichtige Funde der Kampagnen 2005 und 2006. In Sie bauten die ersten Tempel: Das rätselhafte Heiligtum der Steinzeitjäger: Die archäologische Entdeckung am Göbekli Tepe. Erweiterte und aktualisierte AuÀ. München: C.H. Beck, pp. 259–266. Stordeur D. 2000 Jerf el Ahmar et l’émergence du Néolithique au ProcheOrient. In Premiers paysans du monde: Naissances des agricultures, Séminaire du Collège de France. J. Guilaine (ed.). Paris: Errance, pp. 33–60. Stordeur D., Abbès F. 2002 Du PPNA au PPNB: Mise en lumière d’une phase de transition à Jerf el Ahmar (Syrie). Bulletin de La Société Préhistorique Française, No. 99: 563–595. Stordeur D., Brenet M., Aprahamian G., der, Roux J.-C. 2001 Les bâtiments communautaires de Jerf el Ahmar et Mureybet horizon PPNA (Syria). Paléorient, vol. 26 (1): 29–44.
Testart A. 2008 Des crâneset des vautours ou la guerre oubliée. Paléorient, vol. 34 (1): 33–58. Verhoeven M. 2002ɚ Ritual and ideology in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B of the Levant and Southeast Anatolia. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, vol. 12: 233–258. Verhoeven M. 2002b 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, vol. 28 (1): 5–13. Wood A.P. 1992 The detection, removal, storage, and species identi¿cation of prehistoric blood residues from Çayönü. American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 96 (2): 374. Yartah T. 2004 Tell ‘Abr 3, un village du néolithique précéramique (PPNA) sur le Moyen Euphrate. Premiࣉre approche. Paléorient, vol. 30 (2): 141–158. Zubov A.B. 2006 Istoriya religii. Moscow: MGIMO-Universitet. (Bk. 1: Doistoricheskiye i vneistoricheskiye religii).
Received January 30, 2015
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PALEOENVIRONMENT. THE STONE AGE
T.V. Kornienko Voronezh State Pedagogical University, Lenina 86, Voronezh, 394043, Russia E-mail: [email protected]
ON THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN SACRIFICE IN NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA IN THE PRE-POTTERY NEOLITHIC*
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. Keywords: Epipaleolithic, Pre-Pottery Neolithic, Northern Mesopotamia, Levant, Fertile Crescent area, cult practices, human sacri¿ce.
Introduction Since the end of the last century, the “revolution of symbols” theory by French archaeologist J. Cauvin has gained widespread scienti¿c recognition. According to this theory, the leading part in the neolithization of the Near East is assigned not to economic or technological mechanisms, but to the changes in public consciousness associated with new environmental conditions (biotope) and with sedentarization during the period of Pleistocene– Holocene transition, which has been embodied in abundant material evidence of the symbolic content. In general, sedentism and, respectively, establishment of human settlements, changes in social relations, and growth of population during this period preceded domestication of plants and animals and manufacture of ceramics. The traits of new religious beliefs and *Supported by the Russian Foundation for the Humanities, Project No. 15-51-00019ɚ(ɮ).
worldview attitudes were formed under conditions of the general upsurge in symbolic activities in Southwestern Asia during the Proto-Neolithic and Pre-Pottery Neolithic stages (Cauvin, 1994). At present, not only the most recent materials obtained from Epipaleolithic and Early Paleolithic sites of the Fertile Crescent area are introduced into scienti¿c use, but also many manifestations of the ritual practices of the said epoch are becoming objects of special research (Alekshin, 1994; Kuijt, 2000; Magic practices…, 2002; Dialogue…, 2005; Kuijt, 2008; Kornienko, 2009; Orrelle, 2011; Santana et al., 2012, 2015; Kanjou et al., 2013; Erdal, 2015; and others). Several reviews of the complicated system of beliefs and the cultural unity of Early Paleolithic communities in certain regions of the Near East have been published. In particular, on the basis of analysis of various evidence, Dutch archaeologist M. Verhoeven has identi¿ed four fundamental principles in the ritual practices and associated human perceptions in the Levant, Syria, and Southeastern Anatolia during
Copyright © 2015, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved doi:10.1016/j.aeae.2015.11.005
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the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB): collectivism; dominating symbolism; vitality including the idea of domestication, domesticity, fertility/reproductive ability, vital force; and the human-animal bond (Verhoeven, 2002ɚ, b). Generally, it can be noted that the initial steps have already been taken towards understanding of the spiritual and ideological foundations of the Southwestern Asian societies of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic and those ritual activities that strengthened and inspired these communities during the period of transition to a new way of life. However, the probability of human sacrifice in the Near East during the Early Neolithic (about 12– 10 ka BP, the dates are calibrated) still remains one of the understudied issues. Certain details, including indirect data, can be discovered by studying materials of speci¿c sites. Nevertheless, neither the established views nor special summary investigations on this subject exist thus far*. This article aims at ¿lling this gap to some extent by starting our consideration with the analysis of the available data on Northern Mesopotamia and the adjacent Levant. Analysis of paleoanthropological data and associated materials Identi¿cation of the remains of human sacri¿ce among the materials of common burials and other cult complexes is a rather challenging task, since the period and region under consideration are characterized by a great variety of burial rites, including the use of secondary burials, disarticulation of skeletons, and separate burial of their parts, and display of skulls and other manipulations with them (Kurth, Röhrer-Ertl, 1981; Bar-Yosef, Alon, 1988; Bienert, 1991; Alekshin, 1994; Kornienko, 2012; Santana et al., 2012, 2015; Erdal, 2015; and others). Speci¿cally, the tradition of displaying groups of human skulls modeled in a particular way, and/or their placement in special storage, is recorded in the Southern and Central Levant. The Near Eastern sites of this period are also characterized by accumulations of skulls without clay coating, stored either separately or together with other human remains, within housings. In rare instances, single skulls are encountered. Burials of beheaded bodies were commonly arranged under the Àoors of buildings. In all likelihood, skulls intended for subsequent treatment and use in ritual activities were recovered, at least in most cases, from these graves. *A recent collection of scienti¿c articles “Sacred Killing: The Archaeology of Sacri¿ce in the Ancient Near East” (Sacred Killing…, 2012) addresses individual subjects in the materials which are rather extensive in terms of chronology, geography, and content, and, at the same time, this publication shows a considerable current interest in this topic.
The practice of making individual and communal graves in the residential zone of a settlement, often directly under the Àoors of dwellings, which was spread during the Proto-Neolithic and Early Neolithic period, is noted by the majority of researchers as a characteristic feature of societies that had recently made the transition to sedentism. The awareness of their permanent residence at the same place was established and “consecrated” through relationships with the people who lived and were buried here (Rollefson, 1986; Antonova, Litvinsky, 1998; Kanjou et al., 2013; and others). Complicated multistage funeral rites and other joint cult activities were intended to strengthen social relations and to form communal identities. Turning to the topic of the Cult of the Head, owing to a high percentage of remains of children and young people and a special shape of modeled skulls, K. Schmidt, excavation director in Göbekli Tepe, raises the question as to whether Early Neolithic societies could practice human sacrifice (Schmidt, 2006b: 41–42, 245–246; Schmidt, 2011: 40–41, 240). In the Levant, single and grouped human skulls, which in certain cases (with the availability of preserved cervical vertebrae) provide rather convincing evidence of decapitation, have been found beneath the Àoor (under the foundation or at the threshold) of a number of buildings attributed to the PrePottery Neolithic (Kornienko, 2014). Skulls with cervical vertebrae separated from the skeleton have been found, in particular, at the sites of Ain Mallaha (Bienert, 1991) and Jericho (Kurth, Röhrer-Ertl, 1981). Some specimens dated to the PPNB bear cut-marks on the skull-bones. Traces of cuts have been detected on the left mandibular ramus of the jawbones from Kfar HaHoresh and Basta. A row of small cuts has also been noted on the rear surface of the mandibular ramus from Tell Qarassa. In the specialists’ opinion, these data point to the practice of decapitation (Santana et al., 2012; Erdal, 2015). Recent examination of materials obtained in Southwestern Asia has given the ¿rst systematized evidence of beheading, with the use of stone tools, in the period of transition to the Neolithic (Kanjou et al., 2013). Of no less interest are the data obtained in the synchronous sites containing the related material remains in Northern Mesopotamia, adjacent to the Levant. Among the public buildings of the Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPNA), ȿȺ 30 at Jerf el-Ahmar (Syria, the Middle Euphrates) is one of the well-preserved structures (Fig. 1, 1). It was destroyed by ¿re in a very short time. An apparent difference between ȿȺ 30 and the remains of other structures at the settlement can be observed on the plan and the photograph of the excavated site, level II/W at Jerf el-Ahmar (Stordeur et al., 2001: Fig. 12; Stordeur, 2000: Fig. 4; Kornienko, 2006: 32–44, ¿g. 7–9). This difference is reÀected not only in the dimensions, solidity, and detached position
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1
Fig. 1. ȿȺ 30 structure at the settlement of Jerf el-Ahmar (1) and a human skeleton on the Àoor of its central room (2) (after (Stordeur, 2000: Fig. 6.1, 2)).
of the public building, but in peculiarities of the layout, a greatly lowered Àoor level, and in related materials as well. In particular, a human skeleton lying in a supine position with the arms spread apart was found on a smooth and well cleaned Àoor of the central room (Fig. 1, 2). Note that this burial is atypical, and even exceptional, for Jerf el-Ahmar and for the Pre-Pottery Neolithic in general. The skull and four ¿rst cervical vertebrae were absent, while the remaining parts of the skeleton preserved the exact anatomical sequence. They were covered by charred fragments, and bore traces of ¿re. Signs of cadaveric rigidity were recorded. Crushinjury of the chest suggests that the body was damaged by the weight of the ruins. The above-mentioned characteristics indicate that the death of this individual, the ¿re, and the collapse of the building’s roof onto the dead body occurred within a short span of time (Stordeur et al., 2001: 36–37; Stordeur, Abbès, 2002). Based on the available data, it is reasonably safe to suggest that this was an extraordinary sacri¿ce, well thought-out and performed in a certain order, which was probably related to the “burial” rite of a specialpurpose public building. Apart from that, a human skull and a separate jawbone, inconsistent with the skeleton in the central room, were found in the corner between two walls of the ȿȺ 30 building. Human remains—two skulls buried at the bottom of the pit under one of two large load-bearing pillars—were discovered in the ȿȺ 7
2
public building (like ȿȺ 30, dated to the PPNA period). The materials are consistent with the initial state of the building, which points to a high probability of making a construction sacri¿ce, which was laid in the semantically signi¿cant part of the footing during erection of this out-of-the-ordinary structure (Stordeur et al., 2001: 36– 37; Stordeur, Abbès, 2002; Kornienko, 2006: 32–39, ¿g. 7, 8). In this context, the evidence of the multi-room Skull Building or House of the Dead, which had been functioning, with some reconstructions, at the Çayönü Tepesi settlement (Southeastern Turkey, the upper reaches of the Tigris River) during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A and B periods, appears to be extremely impressive (Kornienko, 2006: 47–49, 51–54, map 1, ¿g. 14, 17, 19). The researchers share the view of this object as the place intended for the ritual ceremonies, which were particularly important for the community (Mellink, 1990: 127; Özbek, 1992: 374; Alekshin, 1994: 74; Özdo÷an, 1999: 51–52; Le Mort et al., 2000: 40). Taken together, remains of at least 400 people have been discovered within the House of the Dead, which came to approximately 70 % of the total number of buried individuals identi¿ed at the site. Pits ¿lled with human bones, crypts, and single burials were located under the floors of this structure and in the adjacent area. Some of them contained remains of beheaded bodies, more rarely those of complete skeletons; but most of them stored various fragments of human
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skeletons. Accordingly, primary and secondary burials are distinguished. Apart from skulls, preference was given to longitudinal bones that were laid down in a certain order, sometimes disturbed by the subsequent burials. Among the bones, stone beads, including those of malachite, have been encountered. Numerous fragments of skulls of at least 71 individuals (44 belonging to males and females aged from 18 to 29 years, 11 to children above 2.5 years) were collected in the ruins of the latest construction horizon. The skulls, arranged in rows, were predominantly stored in the upper rooms, while other parts of the skeletons were generally placed under the Àoors of the building, in pits, and in tombs. The majority of skulls have been found in the eastern part of the building, along with bones of various animals. One of the walls enclosing the yard on the inside was decorated with the horned skull of auroch. Like the ȿȺ 30 building at Jerf el-Ahmar, the House of the Dead was destroyed by ¿re, which severely damaged the skulls. A study has shown that jawbones and some vertebrae were reliably connected with the skulls in a number of instances. Consequently, the skulls for ritual use at the Çayönü Tepesi settlement were not always obtained by their removal from the graves, after ligaments had already decayed; in certain cases, they were prepared after separation of the head from the body. Study of the osteological materials from the House of the Dead has revealed cuts made at the point of near-death* on fragments of the frontal and parietal bones of three individuals. Cuts that possibly appeared in the course of treatment of the dead body have been revealed on ¿bulas. Furthermore, the second cervical vertebra with the traces of 12–15 cuts within the area of 15 × 5 mm has been found among the human remains, which corroborates the hypothesis of intentional beheading (Kanjou et al., 2013). A polished stone slab of 260 × 165 cm in plan was found in the yard near the west wall of the House of the Dead (Fig. 2). The pink stone from which it is made does not occur in the neighborhood of Çayönü, which, according to H. Çambel, implies its special symbolic destination (Çambel, 1985: 187). There is good reason to consider this object as the place for sacrifice or manipulations with the bodies of the recently deceased. Laboratory studies have revealed traces of human and animal (cattle and small ruminants) blood on the slab (Özbek, 1988; Wood, 1992). Traces of human blood have been identi¿ed within one more public building at Çayönü Tepesi, namely, the Terrazzo Floor Building, which was functioning during the middle PPNB period. A fragment of stone *Anthropologists distinguish injuries and cuts made before death (antemortem), after death (postmortem), and at the point of near-death (perimortem).
0
5m
Fig. 2. Isometric reconstruction of the House of Skulls pertaining to the PPNB stage at the Çayönü Tepesi settlement (after (Schirmer, 1990: Fig. 12)).
slab (with the preserved length of 70 cm) has been found at the north-western corner of this structure. A relief representation of a human face/head “platesized” has survived on one of its narrow faces, while on the wide side, traces of human blood can be observed. A specially shaped rounded hollow (with an outer diameter of approximately 1.25 m) with traces of ¿re and human blood has been found at the north-eastern corner of the Terrazzo Floor Building. Further to the north and somewhat deeper, remains of a small stonepaved channel have been recorded (Schirmer, 1990: 384; Cauvin, 1994: 120). Interestingly, such hollows with the adjacent channels, sometimes with the traces of ¿re, are known from the materials of cult public buildings at Nevali Çori (Southeastern Turkey) (Hauptmann, 1993: 45) and Tell ‘Abr 3 (Syria, the Middle Euphrates) (Yartah, 2004: 144). Unfortunately, the available reports and publications on these sites do not contain any information about laboratory studies aimed at identifying the possible presence of blood. Decoration and selection of location for these structures at Nevali Çori, Tell ‘Abr 3, and Çayönü Tepesi are comparable. Their purpose remains somewhat unclear; however, it can be assumed that it was identical and associated with the special destination of the buildings themselves (Kornienko, 2009: 88). If this is the case, it is probable that these constructions were used for performing rituals where human blood was spilled. 23 burials of human remains, demonstrating various burial practices, have been discovered in horizon H3 at the settlement of Tell Qaramel (Northern Syria), which was recently excavated by a Syrian-Polish mission and attributed to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Ⱥ period (Kanjou et al., 2013). In the context of the topic under consideration, the burial of four skulls and two jawbones
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at the foot of the eastern wall of tower I is of greatest interest. This part of the structure, unlike others, was laid of larger stone blocks. Taken as a whole, these materials provide evidence of a possible founding sacri¿ce (Kanjou, 2009). Cuts at two places close to each other have been recorded on the male jawbone from this burial. Double track morphology of the damages and the “boundary effect” are indicative of the use of a stone cutting-tool. Living people usually have these two areas covered by mucous membrane, subcutaneous ¿brous tissue connected with the mylohyoid muscle and the vascular bundle of the stylomandibular ligament. Thus, the procedure of cutting could be aimed at separation of the jawbone and removal of soft tissues, including the tongue and surrounding ligaments that connect the jawbone with the base of the skull. Taking into account the variety of secondary burials of skulls with and without jawbones during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period, the researchers believe that separation of the jawbone from the skull was an indirect result of the beheading procedure, rather than its purpose (Kanjou et al., 2013). In their opinion, distinctive features of the damage to the specimens from the Tell Qaramel settlement allow for the conclusion that the actions were intentional, and the cuts result from repeated decapitation acts and not from removal of soft tissues or skin. The authors emphasize
Fig. 3. Pillar No. 43, building D at Göbekli Tepe (after (Schmidt, 2007: Fig. 109)).
that the arrangement of cuts on these specimens clearly demonstrates a thorough knowledge of human anatomy and its successful application for disarticulation of bodies (Ibid.). Considering the published results of the study of the male jawbone from the burial at the foot of tower I at Tell Qaramel, there is much to say for the hypothesis that the head was intentionally separated from the body to be used as a founding sacri¿ce. Results and discussion The human head is well known (from stone masks, relief and sculptural representations, separated and fashioned skulls) as one of the leading motifs in the cult practices and fine arts of the Near East Pre-Pottery Neolithic. Researchers of the Cult of the Head in Epipaleolithic and Neolithic societies of the Near East point to a wide semantic field of the related rites that differ in their orientation (Bienert, 1991; Alekshin, 1994; Kornienko, 2012; Santana et al., 2012, 2015; and others). Discovery of the representations of beheaded humans (not skeletons) at semantically signi¿cant objects in cult public buildings in Northern Mesopotamia has become an important event in the study of Early Neolithic sites during the last years. Among them, noteworthy is a scratched female (?) ¿gure on the massive slab of a bench found in the ȿȺ 100 structure of Jerf el-Ahmar* and a relief representation of a man on one of the Ɍ-shaped stelae of the intertribal ritual complex at Göbekli Tepe (Southeastern Turkey). This pillar No. 43, located in the south-east part of the circular wall of building D, is fully covered by intricate relief drawing composed of the ¿gures of snakes, birds, scorpions, other animals, and abstract symbols. In the lower right part of the stela’s rod, a slightly damaged representation of a beheaded man with an erect phallus has been revealed (Fig. 3). According to K. Schmidt, the absence of the head and an erect penis suggests just the violent death of the man depicted (the phenomenon of death erection is well known in forensic medicine) (Schmidt, 2006a: Fig. 2; Schmidt, 2007: 259–264, ¿g. 109). Having regard to other materials, studies of more than 1120 skeletons from the excavated Anatolian Early Neolithic sites pursued by Y.S. Erdal and O.D. Erdal have demonstrated that there is currently no information available on widespread organized violence within the region under consideration during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period. The identi¿ed traces of traumas are de¿ned by the authors of this article as a consequence *Two sculptural stelae (with a slight slope towards the centre) were erected on both sides of this outstanding slab (Stordeur, 2000; Stordeur et al., 2001: 40). See also (Kornienko, 2006: 41–42, ¿g. 12; Testart, 2008: Fig. 24).
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of interpersonal and, possibly, small local conflicts (Erdal Y.S., Erdal O.D., 2012)*. The results of recent research performed by B. Glencross and B. Boz (2014) also suggest that the traces of traumas on the skeletal remains could be caused by interpersonal and small-scale conÀicts, or bear a relation to ritual practices. In the researchers’ opinion, de¿nite conclusions with respect to the violence in the Near East in the period of transition to the Neolithic lifestyle can only be reached after detailed studies of these traces and the available context of evidence. In summary, the viewpoint should be accepted that organized violence obviously was not a typical, widespread phenomenon in Northern Mesopotamia during the Early Neolithic period. Nevertheless, the above data resulting from the studies of out-of-the-ordinary structures and human remains at the Jerf el-Ahmar, Çayönü Tepesi, Göbekli Tepe, and Tell Qaramel sites, as well as some other evidence, lead us to take seriously the hypothesis of human sacrifices that were probably performed at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic settlements in cases of special importance for the life of communities. This is supported by the data from ethnographic and culturological literature on pagan cults of early agricultural peoples and their echoes in religious traditions and folklore (see, e.g., (Mednikova, 2001: 136–175; 2004: 26–46)). Burial practices of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period included such customs as reburial, disarticulation of the skeletons and the bodies of the dead, special processing of bones to remove soft tissues, and their separate burial, which are compatible with the hypothesis of human sacri¿ces performed by these communities. M.B. Mednikova, who studies this problem on the basis of abundant anthropological material, notes that “it can be said with reasonable con¿dence that the motif of manipulations with the bodies of dead or living people is aligned with the idea of sacri¿ce for the sake of society, with efforts to ensure fertility, the stability of the universe, and with the myth of the eternal return” (2001: 142). The idea of sacri¿ce is the central and universal one for the long-lasting human communities. Obviously, it is rooted in the ancient practice of reciprocal gift exchange. Many agricultural societies practiced human sacri¿ces at early stages of their development as the most valuable and effective actions. Conclusions The period of transition to the Neolithic in the area of the Fertile Crescent, when the population started mastering *I am very grateful to professor Y.S. Erdal and doctor O.D. Erdal for their consultations and the access provided to certain anthropological publications on the topic of particular interest to me.
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new subsistence strategies, including ¿rst experiments in domestication of plants, was accompanied by the most important changes in the spiritual sphere. Touching upon the currently discussed issue as to whether spiritual or economic factors were the primary impetus in these processes, I consider the position of N.Y. Merpert to be the most correct one: “Agricultural practices and agricultural ideology were emerging and developing in constant interrelation” (2000: 60–67). It is very likely that human sacri¿ces, as well as creation of fashioned skulls, large-scale clay human ¿gures, and burials within residential buildings and/or special public buildings, which occurred with a high concentration in the Early Neolithic, were a powerful reflection of imitative magic and showed the relationship with the knowledge obtained from production agricultural experience. “The grain… is a very capacious symbol of death and revival. Dropping into the ground, dying and decaying there, it produces a sprout, an ear, and many new seeds” (Zubov, 2006: 162). The idea that life is impossible without death, which later took root in many world religions, is connected by many authoritative historians of religion, such as J. Frazer, M. Eliade, and S.A. Tokarev, just with the emergence of agriculture. It should be noted that the available evidence of probable human sacri¿ce during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic is in line with other elements of religious practices and beliefs of the time, which are currently being reconstructed step by step for the Fertile Crescent area.
References Alekshin V.A. 1994 Cherepa lyudei v obryadakh neoliticheskikh zemledeltsev Yugo-Zapadnoi Azii. Pamyatniki drevnego i srednevekovogo iskusstva: Problemy arkheologii, iss. 3: 59–78. Antonova E.V., Litvinsky B.A. 1998 K voprosu ob istokakh drevnei kultury Perednego Vostoka (raskopki Nevali Chori). Vestnik drevnei istorii, No. 1: 36–47. Bar-Yosef O., Alon D. 1988 Nahal Hemar Cave: The excavations. Atiqot, vol. 18: 1–30. Bienert H.D. 1991 Skull cult in the prehistoric Near East. Journal of Prehistoric Religion, vol. 5: 9–23. Çambel H. 1985 Çayönü, 1984. Anatolian Studies, vol. 35: 186–188. Cauvin J. 1994 Naissance des divinités, naissance de l’agriculture. Paris: CNRS Editions. Dialogue on the Early Neolithic Origin of Ritual Centers. 2005 Neo-Lithics, vol. 2: 3–53. Erdal Y.S. 2015 Bone or Àesh: DeÀeshing and post-depositional treatments at Körtik Tepe (Southeastern Anatolia, PPNA Period). European Journal of Archaeology, vol. 18 (1): 4–32.
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Received January 30, 2015
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