Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (19.2007(2010))

TELL QARAMEL

SYRIA

brown soil containing pottery, animal bones
and flint artifacts, except for the smaller Pit 5
which contained gray ash and the long and
narrow Pit 6 which was only 0.15m deep and
was filled with dark, burned soil and charcoal.
The assemblages from these pits, mostly
flint artifacts and some broken stone tools, are
attributable to the PPNA Period and should
be considered here as being in secondary
position.
A whitewashed floor laid on a thin layer of
small pebbles, approximately 0.15 m thick,
was found in the southern and southwestern
parts of the trench.
STRATUM II — LEVEL 2
A platform (Loc. 2), partly destroyed by
younger pits, was discovered in the center of
the square [Figs 10,11]. It was circular in plan
(6.80 m in diameter) and about 0.15 m thick.
A thin level of pebbles was spread with lime
plaster and surrounded by a double row of
stones, the latter rising to 0.20 m in height.
Sunk in the middle of this courtyard was
a circular hearth (approx. 1 m in diameter)
surrounded by bigger pebbles. The fill
consisted of gray ash and animal bones.
A macrolithic burin was found in the
courtyard. The structure seems to belong to
a very late phase of the PPNA Period (no
pottery finds), a dating corroborated by the
construction method, the hearth and the
archaeological context. It seems to have been
used for household activities.
STRATUM III — LEVEL 1
The next stratum in the trench, III,
corresponds already to the late PPNA
horizon. In level 1 of the stratum two houses
(Loci 3 and 4) were unearthed, as well as
a hearth and a grave (No. 2) [Fig. 12].
The houses were rectangular, Loc. 3
situated in the southwestern part of the
trench, partly concealed under the baulks,
Loc. 4. extending to the east of the first one.

The uncovered part of Loc. 3. was about
1.70 m long and 1.00 m wide. The stone
walls of the structure were plastered with
lime. They measured approx. 0.30 m in
width and were about 0.20 m high at
discovery. The lime-plastered floor of the
house was about 5 cm thick. Loc. 4 was
a multi-room structure that covered approxi-
mately 4 by 3 m.
Pit 4 had partly damaged its wall which
was preserved to a height of approx. 0.20 m.
The wall was approx. 0.40 m wide and made
of stones covered with lime plaster. The lime
plaster floor was about 0.15 m thick.
A circular hearth, about 1 m in diameter, was
sunk into the floor in the southeastern part
of the house. The fill of the hearth contained
light gray ash.
A woman’s burial (Grave 2) was
discovered dug into the floor of the house in
its western part. The skeleton was in an
embryonic position, the front facing to the
south. The head had been removed from the
body, which was otherwise intact. Helwan
points and a stone pendant were discovered
by the body.
STRATUM III — LEVEL 2
Three houses (Loci 5, 5a and 6) and seven
graves (Nos 3-9) from the Late PPNA
horizon were discovered in this level, in the
southern part of the square [Tig·. 13]. Locus 5
was a round, approximately 4 m in diameter,
single-room house in the southwestern part
of the square. The lime-plastered wall, the
northern and southern sections of which
were missing, was approx. 0.40 m wide and
stood about 0.20 m high at the moment of
discovery. Its floor, made of pebbles and
covered with lime plaster, was preserved only
in the western part. A human burial was
found below the floor, near the west wall,
partly concealed under the baulk [Fig. 14],
making it possible to examine only the lower
part of the skeleton. It was lying on its back,

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Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 19. Reports 2007