In this second volume about Tell Sabi Abyad in northern Syria a detailed spatial analysis of one of the Later Neolithic settlements in the tell, the so-called Burnt Village (dated at c. 5200 B.C.), is presented. The aim of this analysis is to write an ‘archaeological ethnography’, by which is meant a comprehensive reconstruction of the life of the inhabitants of this settlement.
The book consists of seven chapters, which respectively deal with research objectives, theoretical perspectives on the study of space, architecture and finds, formation processes, functions of artefacts, distributions of artefacts and use of buildings, and social and economic structure and ritual practices.
In this well-illustrated and well-documented volume the author makes a substantial contribution to scholarship and the extraordinary potentials of the Near Eastern Neolithic archaeological record. In particular the innovative research presented has yielded new insights in human interactions in the Later Neolithic of northern Mesopotamia. Furthermore, the theoretical perspectives about material culture, space and rituals are of interest for all those interested in archaeological theory and methodology.
In the autumn of 1999 this book was given an academic award by the ‘Stichting Praemium Erasmianum’