I. Neolit v Mezopotámii

Neolithic village in Mezopotámi

The territory of the near east was inhabited already in the stone age, and it kind of Homo Sapiens Neandretalis (cave Šanídár - SAINT-Iraq - 50 - 40 thousand years b.c.) Paleolitičtí you opatřovali subsistence collection rostliné and živočišní food (grains, fruits, a collection of small animals) and hunting (gazelles, deer, boars).

More archaeological sources comes only from the younger stone age (neolithic). There were major changes to the ways of life. People are starting to live in permanent settlements (villages) and gradually people changing in the farmer or the shepherd, and cease to rely on hunting, which remains only a supplementary source of livelihood.

The emergence of agriculture was a long and very complicated process, which cannot be přeně to reconstruct, and is also not quite clear, why so happened (are considerations of population growth, changing climatic conditions after the times of the ice). This process dates back to the mezolitu (10000 - 8000 b.c.).
In the first stage, it was probably primarily on the intensive collection of plant foods (seeds of wild cereals) and the hunting of animals. After that apparently started the effort to zintezivňování proceeds so, but it started also vysévání of wild plants and catching wild animals to the corrals. Znich were later developed domestikovaná animals.
To established agriculture occurred in the area called the fertile crescent (today's Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel). In this whole area now, there are still the original roztliné species. The oldest domesticated hounds plants that can be archaeologically documented are: cereals (wheat, barley), lušteniny (peas, lentils) and also flax. A person can no longer demonstrate that they are already developed and which are not. Also have been archaeologically documented domestication of animals, the first was a dog, later the goats and sheep and later cattle and pigs. Still, however, this was only one of the methods of obtaining a livelihood. For example, in the village of Tell Magzajíla (7500 - 7000 bc - NW Iraq) archeologists have found that 58% of the bones come from domesticated animals (mainly goats). In other locations, however, it is completely ratio of completely the opposite. Eg. předkeramická location of the storage complex for Oren (south of Haifa), where up to 80% of the bones in the of wild gazelles. However, the general tendency has been for the weakening of the importance of collecting and hunting (long-term, sometimes even regestivní process).
The emergence of agriculture have greatly changed the way of life. For the agricultural population is manifested by the binding to a specific, often small territory, which would not authorise longer shifts than among hunters and gatherers.
Neolitičtí farmers lived in the villages, where they had permanent houses (living, storage, economic). Began to emerge and the first fortifications (e.g. Jericho or Tell Mazalíja). The oldest building had a circular or oval floor plan with a single room with a floor at the level of the surrounding terrain. The walls were of upěchovány of clay, or of bricks dried in the sun. In mesopotamia are the oldest evidence of the basin of the Upper Zábu (Záví Čemi, 10000 b.c.) and from the area around Mosul (9.-8. century bc). Later neolithic buildings had a rather rectangular in nature with more rooms (Umm Dabagíja - Hasunská culture).
In the neolithic villages were also the tombs of the ancestors, which were often under the floors of the residential houses (probably due to the magical ties). In the graves were the burial equipment (tools, containers, ornaments). Sometimes they were from the bodies of the separated skull, domodelovány clay or plaster, painted in ochre and decorated with sea shells and stored on the vzláštní places.
Around permanent villages mean more science, several transitional sites (napa. due to the better use of food sources). A settled way of life had resulted in higher population growth, which resulted in the strengthening of agriculture at the expense of hunters/gatherers. The increase in the stock should these result in intezivnější mutual contacts between the populations. In the later part of the neolithic period and in the following chalkolitické stage on the large territory of the spread of the individual crop (halafská or obejdská).
The increase of population has led to the need for new resources. There were dlašímu improvement and increase in the volume of agricultural production, first, the way extensivní (expansion of the areas) and intensive (increase in revenues). Appear the first experiments on the processing of metals and the manufacture of metal objects (needles, posts, bracelets), there has been an improvement of the processing of the stone (flint and obsidian) and begins production of woven fabrics. An important ingredient is still clay, which sloužá in the construction industry, the manufacture of statues and also the manufacture of pottery (divided also according to the archaeologists the time předkeramická and ceramic - dividing point is around the year 6000 b.c.). Pottery was shaped by hand, dried in the sun, and sometimes fired.
Of crucial importance for the further economic development had the discovery of artificial irrigation, which is documented for the first time in the localities of the time sámarrské, which allowed to populate the south of mesopotamia. In southern mesopotamia we find the first settlement until the following time has spread the culture of obejdská. Obejdské agriculture was based on artificial irrigation. This led to a further increase in the density of settlement.

an Overview of the ceramic neolithic cultures of Mesopotamia

Archaeologically in mesopotamia distinguishes several neolithic cultures, which are classified mainly according to the preserved pottery, but also according to other criteria (the means of livelihood, technology for the production, appearance and arrangement of buildings). The most famous of the culture are:

Culture hassúnská (6500 – 5500 b.c.)

Its center was located in northern Mesopotamia, but its influence extends from the lake Urmija (in the Iran – Hádždíd Firúz Tepe)in the east after the mountain range Sindžár in the west. The main locations of its extension, vnichž is documented to are Nineveh, Tell Hasúna, Umm Dagabíja. In 1, Polish 6. century bc was hassúnská culture being squeezed culture halafskou and sármárrskou (both developed in quite different geographical conditions, which had an impact mainly on the way to make a living.

Culture samárská (6000 – 5000 b.c.)

Its center was in the middle of mesopotamia, in an area with a lack of natural precipitation. For the first time is here documented the artificial watering of land (e.g. in Čóga Mom were discovered the remains of a large, 10m wide zavodňovacího of the channel and smaller channels, wide 2m). Appear residential construction broken down into three parts (central hall and two rows of smaller rooms – Tell Abada). Manufacture of ceramics is newly enriched with figural motifs with human figures (Sámarrá, Tell as-Sauván, Čóga Mom).

Culture halafská (5500 – 4000 bc)

The main hub of halafské culture was northern mesopotamia and northeastern syria. Therefore this is an area with plenty of natural rainfall, in which it is not necessary to use artificial irrigation.. Culture halafská affected the extensive territory, including Syria, south-eastern anatolia,the Mountain range Zargoz and central mesopotamia. For předevšímskvostními containers with color-painted decoration (motifs of geometric, plant and figurative). This culture is named according to the hill of Tell Halaf in northern Syria.

The mutual relations between these cultures are not very clear, but all have partially overlapping. For the further development of pointing in the direction to civilization was probably the decisive Sámarrská culture, using artificial irrigation, which in the following phase (obejdská culture) allow to repopulate the south of mesopotamia and to develop a there intensive agricultural production. Unknown) system zavodňovacích and drainage channels could ancient farmers fully make use of the fertile land in this area that teems with abundant resources (the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, the numerous water areas and underground water sources), but total water precipitation reaching the minimum values (about 240 mm per year).

Source:
Nováková, Nea, Pecha, Lukáš. Furat, Rahman: The History Of Mezpotámie
Praha, Karolinum 1998 ISBN 80-7184-416-0.
URL : https://www.valka.cz/I-Neolit-v-Mezopotamii-t66937#236726 Version : 0
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