AbstractsHistory

The Neolithic witnessed the inception of dedicated trade networks which encompassed vast distances, over 3000 years prior to the invention of the wheel and before the domestication of traditional beasts of burden such as horses, donkeys and camels. Communities were able to transport large quantities of material by land and water through use of a mixture of purposely created equipment and techniques. Strangely, few attempts have been made to retrace these networks of transport and attempt to postulate how material was moved from one place to another. Theoretical models of exchange are well attested, but this does not extend into practical application. This thesis will attempt to perform this application through the case study of Tell Sabi Abyad, a Late Neolithic settlement in northern Syria. The presence of bitumen and obsidian at the site have been determined to have arrived from over 300km in distance. As such, this body of research will attempt to break down such journeys and establish how they eventually arrived at a site, either by direct acquisition or otherwise. It will attempt to establish – assuming groups were indeed undertaking expeditions directly to the source – how long such a journey would have taken and by what means material was transported. The tracing of such networks of exchange provides an intriguing insight into the interconnectedness of Late Neolithic communities, and what levels of organisation existed in the facilitation of this activity.