M'lefaat is a

tell Tell may refer to: *Tell (archaeology), a type of archaeological site *Tell (name), a name used as a given name and a surname *Tell (poker), a subconscious behavior that can betray information to an observant opponent Arts, entertainment, and m ...

, or archaeological settlement mound, in

Upper Mesopotamia Upper Mesopotamia is the name used for the uplands and great outwash plain of northwestern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey, in the northern Middle East. Since the early Muslim conquests of the mid-7th century, the region has be ...

that was occupied during the

Pre-Pottery Neolithic A Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) denotes the first stage of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, in early Levantine and Anatolian Neolithic culture, dating to years ago, that is, 10,000–8,800 BCE. Archaeological remains are located in the Levantine and ...

History of research

The site was first excavated by

Robert Braidwood Robert John Braidwood (29 July 1907 – 15 January 2003) was an American archaeologist and anthropologist, one of the founders of scientific archaeology, and a leader in the field of Near Eastern Prehistory. Life Braidwood was born July 29, ...

in 1954 as part of their larger project on uncovering the early prehistory of the

hilly flanks The Hilly Flanks are the upland areas surrounding the Fertile Crescent of Southwest Asia, including the foothills of the Zagros Mountains, the Taurus Mountains, and the highland parts of the Levant. The Hilly Flanks foothill chain spans over 1000 ...

. At that time, the site was already damaged by the construction of a military installation during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In 1984, a rescue excavation was carried out by the Mosul Department of Antiquities under the direction of Matti Baba Altun, as the site was threatened by road construction. Two further excavation seasons were conducted in 1989 and 1990, this time directed by Stefan Karol Kozłowski. M'lefaat is part of a small cluster of early Neolithic sites that have been excavated in northern Iraq and that also includes

Qermez Dere Qermez Dere is an early Neolithic settlement in the northwestern edges of Tal Afar in Nineveh Governorate, Iraq. This archaeological site was discovered in the 1980s during a rescue operation. It covers an area of about x and forms a tall tell ...

and

Nemrik 9 Nemrik 9 is an early Neolithic archeological site in the Dohuk Governorate in the north of modern-day Iraq. The site covers an area of approximately and was excavated between 1985 and 1989 on behalf of the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeo ...

The site and its environment

M'lefaat is located near the

Khazir River The Khazir River ( ar, الخازر) is a river of northern Iraq, a tributary of the Great Zab river, joining its right bank. Geomorphology The area around the Khazir River is geologically active and crosses three anticlines from the north to th ...

, in what is now northern

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, at an elevation of 314 m above sea level. It is a small

, approximately 90 m in diameter and up to 2 m high. The environment of M'lefaat is heavily degraded and characterised as moist

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslan ...

. Potentially, the area could support a

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

-type vegetation characterised by

pistachio The pistachio (, ''Pistacia vera''), a member of the cashew family, is a small tree originating from Central Asia and the Middle East. The tree produces seeds that are widely consumed as food. ''Pistacia vera'' is often confused with other spe ...

Oak woodland An oak woodland is a plant community with a tree canopy dominated by oaks (''Quercus spp.''). In terms of canopy closure, oak woodlands are intermediate between oak savanna, which is more open, and oak forest, which is more closed. Although the ...

may have been closer to the site than it is today.

Annual precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

at M'lefaat is sufficient for winter cultivation without additional

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been dev ...

History of occupation

M'lefaat was a 0.7 ha settlement dating to the

. More specifically, it has been described as belonging to the Taurus-Zagros Round House Horizon.

References

{{Neolithic Southwest Asia 1954 archaeological discoveries Archaeological sites in Iraq Neolithic sites of Asia Pre-Pottery Neolithic A Nineveh Governorate

History of research

The site and its environment

History of occupation

See also

References