Yarim Tepe II (Tell Afar)
يارم تبة · Yarim Tepe II · Yarim Tepe 2 · Tell Afar Yarim
Hassuna through Halaf and Ubaid (c.6000–5000 BCE); Hassuna, Samarra, Halaf early·Hassuna → Samarra–Hajji Muhammad → Halaf (Yarim Tepe facies)·🇮🇶 Nineveh Governorate, Tell Afar Plain, Sinjar–Mosul steppe, Iraq
About
About Yarim Tepe II (Tell Afar)
Hassuna–Halaf transition tell (c.6000–5000 BCE) in Sinjar plain — Soviet excavations (N.O. Bader 1969–76) revealed 9 levels with Hassuna–Samarra–Halaf sequence: Level VI kilns with updraft pottery kilns (earliest in north Mesopotamia), tholoi, clay tokens and copper. Yarim II is type-site bridging Hassuna (Tell Hassuna 25 km SE) to Halaf: Halaf painted wares appear over Hassuna coarse red. Shrine building with burnt plastered floor and infant burial inside jar. Buried Halaf tholos under Ubaid fill.
Why it mattersType-site Hassuna–Halaf transition with earliest kilns in northern Mesopotamia — anchors Halaf emergence from Hassuna–Samarra.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Who invented updraft kilns — Hassuna potters or Halaf immigrants?
- 02Jar infant burial — ritual or mortality custom?
Theories
- 01Bader autochthonous Halaf from Hassuna model vs Akkermans migration
- 02Merpert Halaf paint technology transfer via Yarim II debate
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.6000 BCE Hassuna Level VII houses; Halaf kilns 5600 BCE; Halaf tholoi 5400 BCE
- Period
- Hassuna through Halaf and Ubaid (c.6000–5000 BCE); Hassuna, Samarra, Halaf early
- Culture
- Hassuna → Samarra–Hajji Muhammad → Halaf (Yarim Tepe facies)
- Builders
- Hassuna → Samarra–Hajji Muhammad → Halaf (Yarim Tepe facies) builders
- Purpose
- Sinjar steppe village with kiln technology specializing Halaf painted pottery for Upper Khabur–Sinjar exchange
- Abandoned
- c.5000 BCE Halaf–Ubaid transition before Yarim III Ubaid town
- Rediscovered
- Excavated 1969–76 N.O. Bader (Soviet Expedition) & Iraqi DGA; 1980s R. M. Munchaev supplement
- Excavation
- Excavated
2000
Initial work at Yarim Tepe II (Tell Afar)
2015
Stratigraphy and geophysics synthesis for Yarim Tepe II (Tell Afar)
On the ground
Structures & features
36.3210° N · 42.3450° E · 340 m · 3 mapped features
Halaf tholoi quarter
settlementLevel VI circular tholoi
36.3212° N · 42.3452° EUpdraft kilns
industrialTwo-chamber kilns with domes
36.3208° N · 42.3448° EHassuna Level VII
settlementHassuna coarse houses under Halaf
36.3210° N · 42.3450° E