The ASPRO chronology is a nine-period dating system of the ancient
Near East
The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...
used by the
Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée
The Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée (or MOM) is a research body in Lyon, France, that specialises in the Mediterranean and the Middle East and the first steps of humanity. It is dedicated to its founder, historian Jean Pouilloux.
Staf ...
for
archaeological
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, ...
sites aged between 14,000 and 5,700
BP.
First published in 1994, ASPRO stands for the "Atlas des sites du Proche-Orient" (Atlas of Near East archaeological sites), a French publication pioneered by
Francis Hours and developed by other scholars such as
Olivier Aurenche.
The periods,
cultures
Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...
, features and date ranges of the original ASPRO chronology are shown below:
In 2001, the institute revised the chronology of the first six periods based on newer carbon data and calibration curves.
In Period 3 an early and late phase could be distinguished, but Periods 4 and 5 were merged. Overall they found more overlap in time between different cultural phases between different sites.
See also
*
Ancient Near East
The ancient Near East was home to many cradles of civilization, spanning Mesopotamia, Egypt, Iran (or Persia), Anatolia and the Armenian highlands, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula. As such, the fields of ancient Near East studies and Nea ...
*
Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
References
External links
Website of MOM
{{Chronology
1994 introductions
Ancient Near East
Neolithic
Chronology