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It was the ancient version of a last stand: Twelve clay bullets lined up and ready to be shot from slings...

It was the ancient version of a last stand: Twelve clay bullets lined up and ready to be shot from slings in a desperate attempt to stop fierce invaders who soon would reduce much of the city to rubble.

The discovery was made in the ruins of Hamoukar, an ancient settlement in northeastern Syria just miles from the border with Iraq. Thought to be one of the world8217;s earliest cities and located in northern Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, it is the site of joint excavations by the University of Chicago and the Syrian Department of Antiquities.

Excavations have been going on at the site since 1999, but in digs conducted this past fall, researchers uncovered new evidence of the city8217;s end and more clues as to how urban life there may have begun.

8220;It8217;s somewhat surreal. We8217;re not living in a vacuum there. We know exactly what8217;s happening across the border,8221; Clemens Reichel, the co-director of the expedition, said. 8220;But working in Syria is like working in the eye of the storm. It8217;s very peaceful to work there. Practically no problems.8221;

The archaeologists have previously detailed how they believe Hamoukar8217;s independence was ended by a battle that caused its buildings and walls to collapse. This past fall the team found more traces of that battle: neatly lined up 12 8220;sling bullets8221;, oval-shaped weapons made of clay that were fired using slings. More than 1,000 of the bullets were found in debris of collapsed walls in 2005.

8220;You imagine the despair the people were in. They were using everything they could to throw back at the attacker,8221; Reichel said.

But the roof collapsed before the bullets could be used, and the researchers believe they were the first to see the scene since that fateful day. 8220;It8217;s the content of 5,500 years ago no one has seen. There8217;s an element of eeriness8212;almost a sacred element8212;when you do this,8221; said Reichel, a research associate at the university8217;s Oriental Institute.
8211;JEFF ZELENY