Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (12.2000(2001))

TELL QARAMEL

bead. To the north of it, there was another
refuse pit containing sherds, broken bricks,
bones, flint artifacts and a stone spindle
whorl.
In the northern part of stratum IV,
grayish-red mudbrick debris mixed with
gray earth and ash was identified. This
stratum contained sherds, flint artifacts,
bones and an oblong bone bead. In the
northern part of the trench, also parts of
four rectangular rooms belonging to
a house were unearthed. In one of these
rooms, separated from the western one by
a mudbrick wall erected on stone
foundations, there was a stone pavement.
In its northwestern part, there was a refuse
pit, close to which a worn quern was
discovered. Adjoining on the west was
another room, probably a kitchen, with
a clay floor. Inside, there were the remains
of a tannur, several pieces of big storage
vessels, bones and carbonized nutshells. To
the south of the kitchen, a corridor with
cobblestone floor was uncovered, leading
to another room with white floor, limited
on the northwest and east by stone walls.
The southern limit of the room could not
be determined.
The next stratum (V) consisted in the
northern part of the trench of gray and light

gray earth with many pebbles, and in the
middle and southern part of stone debris. In
the northern part, some sherds, flint
artifacts and a large quantity of bones were
discovered; in the southern part, the stone
debris yielded human bones mixed with
ash. In the southwestern part of the trench a
grave was discovered, containing a single
skeleton with the skull facing down. On a
floor of large flat stones there were three
vessels (two of them misshapen). Inside one
of them, pieces of a bronze pin were found.
In the stone debris to the east of the grave,
there was another, decayed and partly
disturbed human skeleton. East of it there
were fragments of a decorated object made
from an animal rib-bone; a pestle, whet-
stone with incised decoration and an
trminette were discovered.
Stratum VI consists of dense, compact,
grayish-beige clay in the northeastern part
of the trench and a grayish-black loose earth
in the remaining part. In the northeastern
part, a cooking pot with skeletons of
(probably) two infants was found. This
vessel contained also a shell pendant and
a small white marble bead. Besides, the
northern part of the trench contained some
stone and mudbrick structures, which were
not explored this year.

SQUARE K-5

The northwestern corner of square K-5 b,d
adjoins K-6. This was the southernmost
area explored during this campaign.
Arbitrary layers 10-15 cm thick were
removed, reaching the lowermost levels at
a depth of 2 m below the actual surface of
the tell in this spot. Numerous stones were
detected in all of the explored layers of the
trench. The subsurface layer was badly
eroded and contained mixed material
starting with a modern burial. The
remnants of an oval mudbrick structure

were uncovered in the layer underneath in
the southwestern part of the trench. To
judge by the numerous flint and stone
artifacts, and the scarce potsherds, it was
quite possibly a Bronze Age flint
workshop. Similar oval structures were
unearthed in the southwestern corner of
the trench and its western balk wall (one
with the white floor inlaid with pebbles).
Considering the pottery evidence, these
structures can be dated to the Middle
Bronze Age.

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