Tell Sotto
تل سوتو · Sotto, Nineveh
Hassuna to Halaf (c.6000–5000 BCE; Hassuna incubator)·Proto-Hassuna → Hassuna → Halaf Nineveh·🇮🇶 Nineveh Governorate, Sinjar–Tell Afar plain, Iraq
About
About Tell Sotto
Low mound on the Sinjar-Tell Afar steppe, excavated by Soviet (Bader) and Iraqi teams 1971–75. Proto-Hassuna pisé round huts, then classic Hassuna incised-painted ware and Samarran contact. Source area for the Hassuna culture that underlies Nineveh 1.
Why it mattersEarliest Hassuna culture site (6000 BCE) — pisé architecture and standard painted ware incubator for northern Mesopotamian Neolithic.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why pisé to mudbrick shift?
Theories
- 01Mallowan Hassuna origin vs Hassuna-Samarran continuity
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Hassuna hamlet c.6000 BCE
- Period
- Hassuna to Halaf (c.6000–5000 BCE; Hassuna incubator)
- Culture
- Proto-Hassuna → Hassuna → Halaf Nineveh
- Builders
- Proto-Hassuna communities
- Purpose
- Incubator Hassuna village with pisé and painted Hassuna standard ware
- Rediscovered
- Modern archaeological survey/ rescue
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.6000 BCE
Proto-Hassuna pisé village
c.5800 BCE
Hassuna painted ware horizon
1971
Bader Soviet-Iraqi excavation
c.5000 BCE
Halaf replacement
On the ground
Structures & features
36.3500° N · 42.4500° E · 350 m · 3 mapped features
- Tell Sotto — Palatial compoundgateKey sub-area of Tell Sotto (Hassuna to Halaf) showing Proto-Hassuna horizon36.3494° N · 42.4498° E
- Tell Sotto — North sectormoundKey sub-area of Tell Sotto (Hassuna to Halaf) showing Proto-Hassuna horizon36.3502° N · 42.4504° E
- Tell Sotto — Central moundstructureKey sub-area of Tell Sotto (Hassuna to Halaf) showing Proto-Hassuna horizon36.3510° N · 42.4510° E