Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (19.2007(2010))

TELL QARAMEL

SYRIA

sporadically of calcareous mudstone (IIBla);
23 complete or fragmented single (IIIA1) or
double-pole (IIIA2) pestles made of chlorite,
five of them grooved; 15 complete or
fragmented basalt unilateral or bilateral oval
grinders, most with traces of usage on
the lateral edges (IIIEla,b; IIIE2a,b);
10 complete or fragmented pounders lor
mortars made of basalt (VD1, VD2); 16 two-
sided trapezoidal celts with oval (VIIAla, 15)
or elliptic (VIIAlb, one) transverse sections,
made of chlorite, calcite or green diabase
(“greenstone”) pebbles, among them one
decorated with grooves on the lateral edges;
two trapezoidal adzes (VIIIA) made of
chlorite, one oi them grooved on the edge;
two grinding and polishing plates made of flat
pebbles (IXB1) of calcareous mudstone or
limestone; two fragments of “kitchen” plates
(IXB2) made of limestone or calcareous
mudstone; a decorated spherical macehead
(XA1) made of calcareous mudstone;
an ovaloidal macehead (XC1) made of
a calcareous limestone pebble; three slender
pebbles of chlorite with one end pointed and
the other broad and used as a grinder (XIB),
one of them decorated with zigzag grooves;
a needle (XIC1) of dark-gray chlorite with
a groove; three awls (XIC2) made of chlorite
pebbles; five hemispherical bowls with rims
directed inwards (XIVA2) decorated in the
Jerf el-Ahmar style and made of chlorite;
a miniature (XIVD1) elongated vessel made
of chlorite; two chisels (XID) made of
chlorite; 12 complete or fragmented oval
(XVA, five) or rectangular (XVC, three)
shaft straighteners made of chlorite pebbles,
seven of them decorated; 20 beads made of
white marble or chlorite pebbles, including
the following forms: two cylindrical, long
tubular specimens (XVIAla), 12 small,
circular specimens (XVIA2a), rectangular in
transverse sections with lengths between 1/1
to 1/3 of their diameters, eight barrel-shaped
beads with ovoid (XVIA3a, five), elliptical

(XVIA3b, one) or sub-rectangular (XVIA3c,
two) transversal sections; nine pendants
(XVIB1) of natural chlorite pebbles without
any processing of surface or edges, one
decorated; a trapezoidal pendant with one
frontal hole near an edge (XVIB2b) made of
a chlorite pebble; a decorated plaquette
(XVIK) remade from a broken shaft
straightener made of chlorite; a fragment of
a massive disc (XVIC1) or macehead (XC1)
made of a calcareous mudstone pebble;
a fragment of a zoomorphic figurine (XIXB)
made of a chlorite pebble.
The raw material used for the industry
consisted of fine and colorful pebbles,
collected selectively from the nearest riverbed
and from rich limestone banks in the Quoeiq
River valley. Decoration, which interestingly
appeared on many tools of everyday use,
comprised a prevalence of geometrical motifs,
mainly parallel lines of incisions, grooves and
zigzags. Anthropo-morphic and zoomorphic
images were also present. In style, the
ornaments on shaft straighteners, bowls and
plaquettes bring to mind parallels from Early
Aceramic Neolithic sites in the Taurus
and Middle Euphrates regions. This suggests


Fig. 17. Fragments of stone bowls
(Photo R.F. Mazurowski)

581

Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 19, Reports 2007