Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (10.1998(1999))

TELL ARBID

SYRIA

situated immediately to the east of the
main "S" trench. Remains belonging to at
least three consecutive strata of the
Khabour-ware period town were discov-
ered.
Seemingly the most recent of these
remains was a child burial (S-36/59-G1)
found near the western border of the
trench. It was a jar burial in a pit excavat-
ed deep into earlier occupational layers
(Fig. 2). A poorly preserved skeleton of an
infant was found inside a big jar (ca. 60 cm
high). The orientation of the jar was latitu-
dinal with the mouth to the west, while
the skull of the child pointed east.
Accompanying the bones were two small
painted jars, three beads and a stone ring,
while outside the burial jar, near its rim,
there were another two painted medium-

Fig. 2. Infant burial (Gl) of Khabour-ware
period date, found in trench 36/59
(Photo A. Reiche)


sized Khabour ware jars, one with a small
bowl inside it (Fig. 3).
Most probably, the burial pit was exca-
vated when the structures, representing
the uppermost occupational stratum in
this trench, had already been abandoned
for some time. The discussed layer con-
tained only stumps of mudbrick walls with
no adjoining floors. Another Khabour-
ware period grave unearthed in this trench
during the present campaign presumably
also corresponds to this layer. Like the for-
mer one, this grave (S-36/59-G2) is also
situated in the western part of the trench
and was constructed of mudbrick (ca.
36 x 36 cm each). The grave chamber was
ca. 2 m long and 1.4 m wide. It was cov-
ered with bricks set on end and obliquely.
There were two skeletons inside the grave
chamber: human in the western part and
animal, most probably belonging to
a sheep, in the eastern part. The human
skeleton was that of a child about 6-9 years
old, lying with the head to the west. On
the brick-paved bottom of the grave cham-
ber, behind the head, there were two paint-
ed Khabour jars; beneath the bones,
a bronze pin and several beads were found.
A flint arrowhead originated from the fill.
This child grave was dug into the sec-
ond of the Khabour-period strata distin-
guished in this trench and it was partly
responsible for some destruction in this
layer. Still it was better preserved than the
upper one. This second stratum contained
fragments of narrow mudbrick walls which
seem to belong to two separate structures
erected approximately in the same time.
One of them extended southwards, the
other one to the north and west. At some
point in time, when both these structures
were still in use, a small pise platform was
erected in the middle of the trench Its con-
struction necessitated some modifications
of the courtyard of the so called northwest-

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