The Late Neolithic pottery of Hakemi Use and its state in the Upper Mesopotamia

Hakemi Use, an excavation that provides detailed information about the northward spread of the first painted pottery of Upper Mesopotamia, was investigated by a committee from Hacettepe University between 2001 and 2013 within the scope of the Ilisu Dam project. During the excavations, five building levels belonging to the Late Neolithic Period were identified. The main subject of this study is the Late Neolithic pottery recovered from these five building levels. As a result of the studies conducted on the Late Neolithic pottery of Hakemi Use, four main ware groups were identified: Standard, Dark Faced Burnished, Qualified Orange and Qualified Ware groups. The pottery belonging to these ware groups is divided into 6 different forms and each form is divided into different types. This type distinction is based on the body characteristics of the pottery forms. Hakemi Use is considered to be the representative of Hassuna and Samarra painted vessels, which are among the important pottery groups of the Late Neolithic culture of Upper Mesopotamia, in Southeastern Anatolia. This study, which analyzes the Late Neolithic pottery in detail, discusses the spread of pottery with similar characteristics in Upper Mesopotamia, the causes and consequences of regional differences, and the position of Hakemi Use pottery in this geography.