101 The Neolithic site of Tell Sabi Abyad lies about 30km south of the border between Syria and Turkey in the upper valley of the Balikh river, a perennial tributary of the Euphrates. The site consists of a group of four prehistoric mounds –Tells Sabi Abyad I to IV– situated at a distance of only a few dozen to a few hundred metres from each other. In the past 25 years, excavations have been carried out predominantly at the largest of the four mounds, Tell Sabi Abyad I, which has a five-hectare area of settlement dating from the seventh to sixth millennium BC (see Akkermans et al. 2014 for a recent account). However, in 2005 and in 2010, extensive soundings also were undertaken at the small and low, one- hectare mound of Tell Sabi Abyad III (Figures 1-2), which revealed a series of settlements dated to the very beginning of the seventh millennium, ca. 7000- 6700 BC (see Nieuwenhuyse et al. 2010 for a review of the radiocarbon dates from Tell Sabi Abyad III and the neighbouring mounds of Tells Sabi Abyad I and II). Significantly, the local occupations coincide with the introduction of pottery at the site (and in the North- Syrian region in general). The earliest pottery-bearing layers at Tell Sabi Abyad III were immediately above deposits entirely devoid of ceramics. No stratigraphic or other hiatus occurred between the lower, aceramic levels and the upper, ceramic levels. Other than the ceramic evidence, there is proof for considerable continuity, rather than change, at the transition from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic to the Pottery Neolithic (Akkermans et al. 2006; Nieuwenhuyse et al. 2010). Contemporary levels were also exposed in deep trenches in the north-western part of Tell Sabi Abyad I, as well as in the upper strata at neighbouring Tell Sabi Abyad II (see Nieuwenhuyse et al. 2010). While the relevant layers at the latter two sites were uncovered over restricted areas, at Tell Sabi Abyad III they were unearthed at a very substantial scale, over 700 square metres. It is still difficult to establish the extent of the settlement at Tell Sabi Abyad III, although there is reason to believe that it was quite limited, with free-standing buildings comprising only a small portion of the mound, leaving large areas open and used only for waste disposal and the occasional construction of fireplaces. The sequence of occupations of the early seventh millennium at the site may perhaps have covered around a quarter of a hectare. It is, however, important to realize that similar tiny habitations were found very nearby (at Tells Sabi Abyad I and II), suggesting that the local community was divided into small and dispersed groups (see Akkermans 2013). This paper is dedicated to our friend and colleague Olivier Rouault, whose enormous contribution to the archaeology of the Near East deserves nothing but gratitude, and is concerned with the astoundingly Architecture and Social Continuity at Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad III, Syria Peter M. M. G. Akkermans and Merel L. Brüning Leiden University, The Netherlands Figure 1. The small mound of Tell Sabi Abyad III during the excavations in 2010 (photo © Peter Akkermans – Tell Sabi Abyad Archive).