Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (18.2006(2008))

TELL QARAMEL

SYRIA

CONCLUSIONS

Summing up, the four towers from a very
early stage of the PPNA appear to have been
preceded by a structure (Tower 01) ap-
parently of the same nature but built of very
massive stones. Regardless of what their
function was exactly, the towers were un-
doubtedly monumental structures of such
significance that they were rebuilt after each
destructive conflagration. This process is
significant and completely unknown from
the early stages of the evolution of Neolithic
civilization.

Exploration in trench L-4 / K-4, where
sterile layers have been reached, have shown
that the lowest-lying stratigraphic unit
found here corresponds to the oldest layer
from trench K-6 a,c, for which two radio-
carbon dates have been obtained in the end
of the 12th and early 11th millennium BC
(non-calibrated). While there is little more
data for precising the chronology, further
excavations in this trench should help to
clarify the issue of the dating of the oldest
occupational deposits on Qaramel.

REFERENCES

Mazurowski, R.F.
1997 Ground and Pecked Stone Industry in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Northern Iraq, Warsaw
2007 Tell Qaramel. Excavations 2005, PAM XVII [=Reports 2003], 483-499

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