Bowl, late 8th millennium b.c.; Neolithic period
Syria
Alabaster (calcite)
Syria
Alabaster (calcite)
D. 5 1/8 in. (13 cm)
Gift of Sheldon and Barbara Breitbart, 1985 (1985.356.19)
Using only stone and sand to shape and polish objects, Neolithic stoneworking reached extraordinary levels of sophistication. Artisans carved the stone so that natural veins in the rock followed the shape of the finished product. The largest excavated assemblage of Neolithic stone vessels comes from the site of Bouqras, on the Euphrates River.
