Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (10.1998(1999))

TELL ARBID

SYRIA

***

To broaden the chronological and typolog-
ical spectrum of our 3rd mill. BC collec-
tion of pottery, we decided to concentrate
our efforts this year on the eastern slope of
the main tell, that is, in the area of the
35 m long step trench explored since 1996
(sector "S": squares 36/55-36/56-36/57-
36/58). An accumulation of deposits over
4.5 m thick was found, containing
remains of no less than four occupational
layers of Early Dynastic date. To complete
this sequence, especially its earlier phase,
six new test trenches have been opened on
the slope, each of them 9-5 m long
(Fig. 1).
Five of them, traced on precisely the
same axis as the existing "S" trench, were
situated down the slope eastwards of
trench "S", while the sixth was located at
the very top of the "citadel", slightly high-
er than the western edge of the "S" trench
and obviously west of it. This last trench
was conceived in order to be able to check
what layers (if any) sealed the ED settle-
ments of the Arbid "citadel" and to see
what date could be assigned to the latest
3rd mill. BC occupation in this part of the
site. Also the original "S" trench was
extended 5 m, giving a total length of all
trenches explored in the present season at
some 100 m. This provides an important
and informative cross-section through at
least the upper layers preserved on the
main tell of the Arbid site. This section
comprises archaeological deposits over
21.5 m thick. All the new soundings have
the same width as trench "S", i.e., 4 m,
with the exception of square 36/61, which
was enlarged to 9.5 m in places in an effort
to trace some remnants of 2nd mill. BC
structures found there. The total surface of
all areas explored during the 1998 season
amounted to nearly 310 sq. m.

The most recent archaeological remains
discovered this year come from the trench in
square 37/54 at the top of the "citadel". The
rather flat top of the main tell is badly dam-
aged by disturbances of different origin.
Foremost of the factors is the strong erosion,
especially in the northern and southern
parts, to which the surface of the tell has
been submitted ever since antiquity. Added
to this are various human efforts made in
this part of the "citadel" - modern pits
(some of them quite deep) and burials of
uncertain age, which disturb the local
stratigraphy considerably. Consequently,
archaeological excavations are extremely
difficult, e.g. work in trench 37/54 revealed
14 burials, apparently later than the 1st
mill. BC but not Islamic. The grave pits,
which contained skeletons of adults, juve-
niles and infants, followed a chiefly E-W
orientation, or else a SW-NE one. The bod-
ies were deposited on their right side, with
head to the west or southwest. There were
no grave goods accompanying the skeletons.
Despite all this, it was nevertheless possible
to establish a basic stratigraphical sequence
for the upper strata of this trench.
The uppermost layer contained frag-
ments of mudbrick structures, the tops of
which could be seen clearly on the tell sur-
face prior to the excavations. Two walls,
one about half a meter thick and another,
much narrower one, took approximately
the same course from NW to SE. They
belonged to two separate buildings, of
which the one with the thicker wall occu-
pied the NE corner of the trench, while the
second one was situated in its SW part.
The former of the two most certainly
extended to the east, but of the floors
which must have been associated with it
not much has survived. The situation was
better with respect to the SW house as

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