Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (13.2001(2002))

TELL QARAMEL

SYRIA

SQUARE K-5

Virgin soil has been reached in some places
in square K-5 b,d, leaving us to conclude
that the oldest settlement layers in this
area probably date to the middle phase of
Pre-Pottery Neolithic A. Belonging to this
oldest phase is a fragment of a building
(Loc. 17), which was severely damaged by
two later EB IV pits, visible in the eastern
trench wall (Fig. 7). A partly preserved
wall made of shaped, upended pebbles was
set on virgin soil. Although only c. 1.5 m
of the length of this wall survives, its
slightly curved shape is suggestive of an
oval plan. The house was damaged at least
twice: for the first time at the end of
PPNA when Loc. 14 and 15 were built,
and for the second time in EB IV by the
construction of Loc. 6 and 12.
An oval house close to the western
trench wall, most of which was destroyed
when Loc. 6 was made, belongs to the late
PPNA phase. It is c. 3.2 m wide and was
divided into two compartments, each
about a meter wide and with no floor layer.
Walls made of tamped mud were 0.3-0.4 m
thick (surviving to a height of 0.2-0.25 m).
This structure belongs to the same phase as
similar constructions found in trench
K-6 a,c (Loc. 10-13, 15-18, 19-22). In
both PPNA houses, a large quantity of
animal bones was found mixed with a
small number of flint artifacts.
The youngest settlement layers ex-
cavated this year belong to the EB IV
period (Fig. 8). Remains of two structures
have been discovered (Loc. 6 and 12). Loc.

6 is an oval structure, half of which
remains outside the trench. In the eastern
part the wall, about 1 m high at present,
is 0.3-0.4 m wide. The western part
features a different structure and was built
of small pebbles and mud; therefore, it is
preserved to only about 0.5 m.
A conically-shaped floor made of white
gypsum or chalk is sunk slightly into
virgin soil. The height of the structure
from the bottom to the preserved top level
of the wall amounts to 1.6 m. An entrance
some 0.6 m wide led from the south.
Outside the entrance a sort of “corridor”
was formed, the space paved with small
pebbles and limited by stone walls (c. 0.2-
0.4 m wide, currently c. 0.25-0.35 m
high) set on a NE-SW axis. The filling
consisting of layers of gray, ashy earth
yielded numerous artifacts, mainly
potsherds and also charred grain seeds,
suggesting a possible function as a store-
room for cereals, to which possibility the
specific shape would also testify.
The second structure (Loc. 12) is
situated in the southern part of the trench.
It is a big, very regular round pit, 2.56 m
in diameter, sunk c. 2.4 m into virgin soil.
The bottom is flat, and the walls carefully
cut. Lrom the filling, which consisted of
alternating layers of gray earth, red mud
and black ash, came a large assemblage of
pottery characteristic of EB IV, similar to
that from Loc. 6. Its purpose is unclear;
most probably it was a cistern, used
concurrently with Loc. 6.

SQUARE L-4

Square L-4 a,c is located in the lowest part
of the southern slope of the tell, southeast
of square K-5 b,d. Two settlement levels
(strata I and II) were uncovered this year.

The topsoil (stratum 1) contained grayish-
brown earth mixed with a large quantity of
stones and artifacts obviously disturbed
(e.g. pottery from EB IV to Hellenistic

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