Hassuna Pottery: Clay and Firing at Yarim Tepe I

Yarim Tepe I lies in the Sinjar region of northern Iraq, near Tell Afar. Excavations between 1969 and 1976 identified twelve construction horizons, providing a sequence for comparing earlier and later Hassuna practices. Pottery was among the most abundant excavated materials.

Natalia Petrova’s study, published in 2012, examined sherds from fifty vessels, drawn from the lowest horizon, XII, and the later horizon VII. The sample included bowls, jars and basins. Clay selection, paste preparation, surface finishing and firing were examined separately, allowing a sherd to reveal several stages of production.

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Sand, limestone inclusions and iron content show that potters used different clay resources. Some fabrics found in the earlier sample continued into later deposits, while new combinations also appeared. Raw-material selection involved both continuity and change.

Many sherds preserve traces of organic temper. Researchers made experimental samples with grass, straw and cattle or sheep dung, then compared their microscopic structures with archaeological pottery. Some temper was consistent with herbivore dung. Its fine plant fibres could reduce shrinkage during drying and firing and improved the strength of experimental clay bodies.

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Potters smoothed or polished surfaces and sometimes applied a fine clay coating or slip. Some vessels carried red paint, incisions or raised decoration. Between the two horizons, smoothing directions, painting practices and amounts of temper changed, linking changes in appearance with changes in manufacture.

Sherd cross-sections and experimental refiring led researchers to infer that most vessels underwent sustained heating and slow cooling with an adequate oxygen supply. Small updraft kilns were also found at the settlement. Firing arrangements and paste recipes worked together to produce the desired vessel walls.

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In the later sample, some bowls had fabrics and decoration unlike the predominant local combination. Petrova proposes that the settlement encountered pottery traditions from elsewhere. Mixed clays and changes in temper and decoration suggest a gradual combination of practices through contact.

The study moves beyond classifying Hassuna pottery by its designs to examine how it was made. Vessels embody experience in collecting materials, organizing work and repeated experimentation. Connections between villages could leave traces in these materials, offering a way to study changes in early crafts.

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