Geaorchaeological and Stratigraphic Considerations about Abu Hureyra "Meltglass" & the Site’s Purported Decimation by Cosmic Impact

Session: Myths and Misrepresentations surrounding Cosmic Impact claims in Paleoclimatology, Paleontology, Paleoecology, Geoarchaeology, and Quaternary Research

Presenting Author:

Authors:

Abstract:

“Meltglass” is presented as evidence for a cosmic airburst ~12.8 ka during the Younger Dryas that decimated Abu Hureyra, an important large (~11.5 hectares) archaeological site in modern Syria that is now entirely under water due to construction of the Tabqa Dam along the Euphrates River. Records at Abu Hureyra are highly significant for understanding the earliest development of agriculture during the Epipaleolithic-Neolithic, when people transitioned from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle towards animal pastoralism and farming in the Levantine Fertile Crescent. A multi-authored 2020 paper published in Scientific Reports suggests that Abu Hureyra was impacted by a fragmented comet that exploded in the atmosphere, instantaneously vaporizing thatched huts in the settlement and splashing “meltglass” onto local sediment grains and animal bones – an event that has been suggested as a major forcing factor for impact survivors to invent and adopt agriculture.

To better understand this hypothesis, we (1) review the original fieldwork and findings from the 1972-3 field excavations of Abu Hureya that are documented in the complete site report published in 2000; (2) assess the original field data in context of the later stratigraphic reinterpretations and data presented in more recent publications; and (3) discuss the putative evidence of the cosmic impact in context of site taphonomy, records, available samples, and airburst physics.

© Copyright 2026 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved.