Beschreibung:
In this paper we present the first, still preliminary, results of our study of the so-called cord-impressed pottery from the Late Neolithic of the Northern Levant. We focus on the Late Neolithic key site of Shir, Hama Province, Syria, a joint project of the Direction Générale des Antiquités et des Musées de la Syrie and the German Archaeological Institute at Damascus (DAI). The pottery is studied by Olivier Nieuwenhuyse on the behalf of the DAI. The textile imprints are being studied at the Textile Research Centre Leiden by Koen Berghuijs and Gillian Vogelsang. This joint effort makes it possible, for the fi rst time, to date the cord-impressed pottery securely, and to discuss the possible functions of cord-impressed pottery. The study of the imprints suggests that these may refl ect the presence of various types of textiles and fringes, making Shir the largest collection of Late Neolithic textile imprints currently known in the Near East. However, caution is due with regard to their identifi cation : experimental archaeology suggests the imprints may also come from cordages.