Dja'de el-Mughara is a

Pre-Pottery Neolithic The Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) represents the early Neolithic in the Near East, dating to years ago, (10000 – 6500 BCE).Richard, Suzanne ''Near Eastern archaeology'' Eisenbrauns; illustrated edition (1 Aug 2004) p.24/ref> It succeeds the ...

settlement in Northern

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

dating back to approximately 9000 BC. The settlement is located about 100 km northeast of the city of

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

and was being excavated from 1991 until 2011 when work on the site was forced to stop due to the Syrian civil war. Excavation of the site was led by Eric Coqueugniot of the

French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 engi ...

Archaeology

The first phase of the site was dated using a series of

radiocarbon Carbon-14, C-14, C or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with an atomic nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Its presence in organic matter is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and coll ...

dates to 9300 - 8200 BC. These deposits were found below the layer that makes up phase two which has been dated to the 7000's BC based on ceramic finds. Then in the early

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, at the start of phase three the

site Site most often refers to: * Archaeological site * Campsite, a place used for overnight stay in an outdoor area * Construction site * Location, a point or an area on the Earth's surface or elsewhere * Website, a set of related web pages, typical ...

was used as a

necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

and then abandoned completely. In 2007 French Archaeologists discovered a 2 square metre

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

on a wall inside the remains of a circular

mudbrick Mudbrick or mud-brick, also known as unfired brick, is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of mud (containing loam, clay, sand and water) mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE. From ...

building that was partially dug into the ground. The mural consisted of geometric shapes, mostly rectangles, colored in black and red on a white background. This building is thought to be a community building of some sort.

Archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

Eric Coqueugniot stated that the painting looks akin to a modernist painting like the works of

Paul Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...

. This mural belongs to phase one and has been dated to around 9000 BC making it the oldest known painting on a constructed wall. Other Pre-Pottery Neolithic finds from the site include animal bones, tools, a variety of figurines and ornaments, and human remains.

The Settlement

The villagers of Dja'de el-Mughara were

hunter-gatherer A hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living in a community, or according to an ancestrally derived Lifestyle, lifestyle, in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local naturally occurring sources, esp ...

s and their proximity to the

Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...

gave them access to a variety of plant resources as well as animals such as

gazelle A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . There are also seven species included in two further genera; '' Eudorcas'' and '' Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third former subgenus, ' ...

Aurochs The aurochs (''Bos primigenius''; or ; pl.: aurochs or aurochsen) is an extinct species of Bovini, bovine, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of t ...

, and

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

s. In the first phase the houses were large rectangular mudbrick buildings which were expanded in phase II while the large circular building that housed the mural was abandoned. Prior to phase III of the site, human remains were buried beneath the floor of the mudbrick buildings believed to be houses, similar to the site at Catalhoyuk. In phase three a building was used as a necropolis and the remains of more than 70 people were found inside. Some of the bones found in this necropolis exhibit signs of one of the earliest known cases of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

, the oldest being a 9000 year old case at the site of

Atlit Yam Atlit Yam (Hebrew language, Hebrew: עתלית ים) is a submerged Pre-Pottery Neolithic, Pre Pottery Neolithic C (PPNC) archaeological site located 300–400 meters off the coast of Atlit (modern town), Atlit, Israel. Dating from the late 7th to ...

References

{{Reflist Prehistoric Syria Pre-Pottery Neolithic Aleppo Archaeological sites in Aleppo Governorate

Archaeology

The Settlement

See also

References