Zoomorphic clay figurines from Tell Arbid. Preliminary report

Abstract

The collection of clay zoomorphic figurines from Tell Arbid, a site in the Khabur riverbasin in northern Mesopotamia, comprises nearly 600 specimens, dated mainly to the 3rd andfirst half of the 2nd millennium BC. It consists of solid figurines and the much less numerouswheeled figurines and hollow figurines/zoomorphic vessels, as well as a single rattle in the form ofa zoomorphic figurine. The animals represented include chiefly equids, sheep, goats, cattle, dogs andbirds. The find context usually does not permit anything but a very broad dating, but an analysis ofdetails of execution makes it possible to establish the chronology of particular objects. Identifiedchronological assemblages illustrate the character of zoomorphic representations in particularperiods. A comparative analysis reveals, among others, diachronic changes in the popularity ofrepresentations of particular kinds of animals. These changes are considered in comparison withthe results of an examination of the osteological material in an effort to observe whether they couldreflect processes taking place in the animal economy of Tell Arbid.

Keywords

• Tell Arbid
• clay zoomorphic figurines
• Early/Middle Bronze Age
• Syria
• north Mesopotamia