Excavations at Ginnig. The Aceramic to Early Ceramic Neolithic Sequence in North Iraq.

Ginnig is a small prehistoric site in the north Jazira of Iraq, the uppermost level of which was the subject of rescue excavation. Although the excavations were limited, most of one building of unusual architecture was discovered, with possible ritual "opening" and "closing" deposits although the rest of its contents seem domestic in nature. Along with it, a corpus of material was recovered which is of great interest. The ceramic material is related to early Ceramic Neolithic sites of the Umm Dabaghiyah type but appears likely to predate them while the chipped stone assemblage finds its best parallels in Aceramic Neolithic sites. This raises questions regarding the possibility of continuity between the Ceramic and Aceramic Neolithic in this area and the nature of such a transition.