Tell Abu Hureyra
تل أبو هريرة · Abu Hureyra · Tell Abu Hurayra · Abu Huraira
Late Epipalaeolithic/Natufian to Pre-Pottery Neolithic B·Natufian-derived Neolithic; Euphrates Levantine·🇸🇾 Raqqa Governorate, Syria
About
About Tell Abu Hureyra
Two-period tell on the Euphrates now submerged under Lake Assad: an Epipalaeolithic hunter-gatherer village (c.13,500–12,800 cal BP) and a Pre-Pottery Neolithic village (c.11,100–9,300 cal BP) famed for early rye cultivation, the earliest evidence of systematic cereal harvesting, and the controversial Younger Dryas impact layer (nanodiamonds, melt glass) proposed as a cosmic airburst. Occupation covers late Natufian to PPNB transition with pit-houses, then pisé rectangular architecture.
Why it mattersEarliest systematic wild rye and lentil cultivation; key to Neolithic transition and potential Y-D impact impact hypothesis. Over 157 species of seeds.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Did rye cultivation begin as Younger Dryas response to resource stress?
- 02Is the black mat/impact spherule layer truly extra-terrestrial?
Theories
- 01Hillman/Moore: climatic deterioration forced cultivation;
- 02Firestone impact hypothesis vs natural fire/settlement burning debate
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.13,500–9,300 cal BP (Epipalaeolithic to PPNB)
- Period
- Late Epipalaeolithic/Natufian to Pre-Pottery Neolithic B
- Culture
- Natufian-derived Neolithic; Euphrates Levantine
- Builders
- Epi-Natufian and early Neolithic villagers
- Purpose
- Seasonal forager settlement → sedentary cereal-forager village; type-site for origins of cultivation
- Abandoned
- c.9,300 BP
- Rediscovered
- Excavated 1972–73 by Andrew Moore before Tabqa Dam flooding
- Excavation
- Excavated
1972–73
Rescue excavation by Moore, Hillman & Legge before Lake Assad inundation
c.12,800 BP
Proposed Younger Dryas boundary layer (contested)
On the ground
Structures & features
35.8660° N · 38.4000° E · 310 m · 3 mapped features
Abu Hureyra 1 (Natufian trench)
habitationEpipaleolithic pit-house level
35.8659° N · 38.3998° EAbu Hureyra 2 (PPNB village)
settlementPPNB rectilinear pisé houses
35.8661° N · 38.4002° EYounger Dryas boundary layer
stratigraphic layerContested impact proxy horizon
35.8660° N · 38.4005° E