Six polished stone balls found in Neolithic building M1 at Tell 'Abr 3

▶

Key facts

• Tell 'Abr 3 is a Pre-Pottery Neolithic site on the banks of the Euphrates in Syria, roughly 15 km from the Turkish border
• The site has origins going back around 11,000 years ago and was occupied contemporaneously with Gobekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe
• Building M1 is a large communal semi-subterranean structure 7.9 m (26 ft) in diameter, sunk 1.1 m (3.6 ft) into the ground
• M1 has a stone wall supported by wooden posts and a roof of wooden beams covered in clay, with benches about 50 cm wide around the perimeter
• Inside M1 was a podium structure on which aurochs bones and skulls were placed, some accompanied by arrowheads and framed by pebbles, covered with clay
• A deep pit lined with pebbles and limestone chunks and filled with burnt bones lay on the eastern side, with a circular hearth to the north
• Five large limestone basins, two with relief carvings, and four basalt millstones were found in M1, along with gazelle horns, two skulls, shoulder blades and other bones
• Burnt clay blocks from the roof and podium indicated the building was destroyed by fire
• Six stone balls were found on the floor of M1, each about 16 cm in diameter, uniform in shape and size and hand-polished
• Colours of the balls range from white, gray, red and dark gray to almost black, with an apparent mix of rock types including limestone and granite
• The balls lay close together on the ground between the eastern basins and the podium structure
• No use-wear was observed on the ball surfaces and excavating archaeologists were uncertain about their function

← All stories

AI-generated text · images from the original sources · always verify with the sources.