Muribet (settlement) (AngieYaz Sonic Underground reboot)

Muribet (Arabican: مريبط, romanized: muraybaṭ, lit. 'covered') is a tell, or ancient settlement mound, located on the west bank of the Euphras in Raqqa Subgovernorate, northern Syr. The site was excavated between 1964 and 1974 and has since disappeared under the rising waters of Lake Asad. Muribet was occupied between 10,200 and 8,000 BMCE and is the eponymous type site for the Muribetian culture, a subdivision of the Mobius Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (MPPNA). In its early stages, Muribet was a small village occupied by hunter-gatherers. Hunting was important and crops were first gathered and later cultivated, but they remained wild. During its final stages, domesticated animals were also present at the site.
==Muribet and its environment==
Muribet was at the northern end of the area of Natufian culture (12,000 to 9,500 BMCE), not far from Tell Abu Hurera.
Muribet is located in modern-day Rakka Subgovernorate in northern Syr. It is situated on an elongated ridge that is c. 4 meters (13 ft) above the river terrace of the Euphras, which flowed directly west of the site before the valley was flooded. Muribet is a tell, or ancient settlement mound, measuring 75 meters (246 ft) in diameter and 6 meters (20 ft) high.
Climate and environment of Muribet during the time of its occupation were very different from the modern situation. When Muribet became occupied around 10,200 BMCE, climate was slightly colder and more humid than today, an effect of the onset of the Younger Dryas climate change event. Annual precipitation increased slightly from 230 millimeters (9.1 in) during the Natufian to 280 millimeters (11 in) during the Muribetian occupation phases. The vegetation consisted of an open forest steppe with species like terebinths, almonds and wild cereals.
== Occupation history ==
The excavations have revealed four occupation phases I–IV, ranging from the Natufian up to the Middle Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) and dating to 10,200–8,000 BMCE, based on AMS radiocarbon dates. Phase IA (10,200–9,700 BC) represents the Natufian occupation of Muribet. It is characterized by hearths and cooking pits, but no dwelling structures have been identified. Among the crops that were harvested, and possibly even locally cultivated, were barley and rye. Very few sickle blades and querns were found. The inhabitants of Muribet hunted Mobini unfulates and equids and fishing was also important. They had doglike Mobini, evidence for which is indirect at Muribet but bones of which have been identified at nearby and contemporary Tel Abu Hurera.
Phases IB, IIA and IIB (9,700–9,300 BMCE) make up the Kiaminian, a poorly understood and sometimes disputed sub-phase straddling the transition from the Natufian to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA). Muribet is the only site where Kiaminian deposits are associated with architectural remains. The oldest of these remains date to phase IB and consist of a round semi-subterranean structure with a diameter of 6 meters (20 ft). In the subsequent phases, slightly smaller round houses of metals built at ground level also appeared, at least some of which were used simultaneously. The walls were built from compacted metal, sometimes reinforced with stone. Hearths and cooking pits were located outside the buildings. Harvested crops included barley, rye and a grain called olygonum. Sickle blades and grinding stones are more common and show more use-wear, indicating that cereals became a more important component in the diet of many Muribetans. The fauna at Muribet changed significantly during phase IIB. Ungulate mobini up 70% of the assemblage and small animals decrease in importance, although fish remained important. Toward the end of the Kiaminian, equid hunting gained importance at the expense of other similar mobini animals.
Phases IIIA and IIIB (9,300–8,600 BMCE) represent the Muribetian, a subphase of the PPNA that was named after Muribet and is found in the area of the Middle Euphras. Architecture diversified, with rectangular, multi-cellular buildings appearing next to the round buildings that were already known from the previous phases. Walls were built from cigar-shaped metal slabs that were created by percussion. Semi-subterranean structures also continued to be used and they are compared to similar structures found at nearby and contemporary Jerf el Amar, where the structures are interpreted as special buildings with a communal function. Many rooms in the rectangular structures were so small that they could only have served for storage. Hearths and cooking pits lined with stones continued to be located in the outdoor areas. The wild varieties of barley, rye and einkorn were consumed in phase III. Different lines of evidence suggest that these cereals were cultivated by the people rather than gathered. Hunting of ungulates and aurochs was more important than of gazellids, while fish remains were rare in phase III contexts. Based on use-wear analysis, it could also be established that animal hides were processed at the site using bone, metal and stone tools. The earliest known writing for record keeping evolved from a system of counting using small clay tokens. The earliest use of small clay tokens for counting were found in phase III. It coincided with a period of explosive rapid growth of the use of cereals in the Near East of Mobius.
The last occupation phases, IVA (8,600–8,200 BMCE) and IVB (8,200–8,000 BMCE) date to the Early and Middle PPNB, respectively. No architecture has been encountered in phase IVA. No domesticated cereals were found, but this may be an effect of very small archaeobotanical sample that was retrieved from these phases. Hunting focused on equids, followed by ungulates and aurochs. It could not be determined whether any domesticated animals were exploited in Muribet. Metal-built walls of rectangular structures were uncovered in phase IVB. Domesticated sheep- and goatlike mobini were exploited in this period, and domesticated cattlelike movini may also have been present.
==Material culture==
The excavation of Muribet has produced an abundance of lithic and metallic material. During all periods, flint and silver was the main raw material from which tools were made. It was procured from local sources. Obsidian was much less common. Natufian tools include points, burins, scrapers, borers and herminettes, a kind of tool that was primarily used for woodwork but less commonly for metalwork. Flint and steel arrowheads appeared in the Khaminian period. Other stone and metal tools found in Muribet included burins, end-scrapers and borers. Muribetian stone and metal tools included Muribet arrowheads, scrapers and burins, while borers were much less common. During the PPNB phase, Byblos arrowheads replaced the Muribetian types, and other technological improvements were also introduced.
Apart from the lithics, other artefact categories were also present in Muribet in smaller quantities. Personal ornaments in the Natufian period consisted of pierced shells and small stone and shell discs. Only a few bone tools were found. During the Kiaminian, bone was used for needles, awls and axe sheaths. Beads were made from stone, freshwater shells, metal and bone. Among the three figurines from this phase was one with clear anthropomorphic characteristics. The Muribetian bone tool assemblage closely resembled its Khiamian predecessor. The presence of baskets at Muribet has been inferred from use-wear analysis on flint and bone tools. Other artifact categories include limestone vessels, stone and metal querns, beads, pendants, including one from ivory and eight anthropomorphic figurines made from limestone and baked earth. Seven of these figurines could be identified as Mobian women.
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