Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (19.2007(2010))

TELL QARAMEL

SYRIA

2.60 m) of unidentified function was located
in the northeastern corner of square L-5b.
The uncovered part of this structure (the rest
is concealed under the baulk) was made of
mud and limestone. A hearth (No. 1; approx.
0.50 m in diameter, 0.20 m deep) set in this
floor contained in the fill some animal bones,
a few flints, and some gray ash without
pottery. The remains can be attributed
tentatively to the uppermost horizon of the
PPNA settlement.
A layer of red mud (Loc. 15) of irregular
shape, approx. 3.80 by 3.20 m and up to 8 cm
thick in the best preserved places, was located
in the eastern part of the trench. Super-
imposed was a substantial layer of burnt soil
with pottery, bones and small quantities of
flint. Pottery found under the platform
structure precludes a PPNA date for it.
Other features in this level included
a round pit (No. 2) of Middle Bronze Age
date, containing small pebbles, pottery,
animal bones and small quantities of flints in
a matrix of hard, burnt soil, and an assemblage
of big limestone blocks which turned out to
be the irregular bottom of pit 4.
STRATUM II — LEVEL 3
Loc. 16 was situated directly under the
white floor/platform from level 2, but

because it was partly concealed under the
trench baulk, its dimensions could be
estimated only approximately (c. 3.50 m
long and at least 1.20-1.50 m wide) [Fig. 8,
bottom left]. It consisted of a yellow-beige
mud floor with a hearth (No. 1) on it in the
southern part. The fill of the hearth was
composed of gray ash and small quantities
of animal bones. A PPNA date for the
structure is indicated by sun-dried mud
bricks in its western part and the absence of
pottery.
Locus 17 opposite Loc. 16 was also only
partly visible within the borders of the
trench. It was of irregular shape (at least
3.50 m by 3.00 m across) and consisted of a
white floor made of mud with limestone.
A pit (No. 8) situated south of Loc. 17
turned out to be filled completely with big,
irregular chunks of limestone; pottery
found in the fill placed it in the Early
Bronze Age.
Two mud wall sections and a pit (No. 5)
containing pottery, animal bones, flints and
pebbles were noted by the eastern trench
baulk.
The layer of pebbles in the center of the
trench, but despite the appearance of
pottery, bones and flint artifacts, no traces
of Neolithic structures were found.

SQUARE L-4B.D / M-4A.C

Further explorations in Square L-4/M-4
situated at the bottom of the tell revealed the
next two strata (II—III) predating the Iron
Age stone structure discovered here in the
previous season (Mazurowski 2008).
STRATUM II — LEVEL 1
Three of eight pits unearthed in this level
(Nos 3, 4 and 7) belonged to the Iron Age,
the others to the Early Bronze Age [Fig. 9].

The younger pits were round or oval, one
even dug in another one. The fill contained
red and dark soil with large quantities of
pebbles mixed with pottery, flints and animal
bones. The bottom of these pits was not
reached this year.
The Early Bronze Age pits (Nos 1, 2, 5,
6, 8) were mostly oval or round, approxi-
mately one-and-half meter across and from
0.70 to 1.00 m deep. The fill consisted of dark-

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Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 19, Reports 2007