Ourrouar is a series of archaeological sites approximately south southeast of

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. It is near Hadeth south on the north side of the Nahr Ghedir.

Ourrouar I

Ourrouar I is east of the bridge over Nahr Ghedir on a platform of sandy, brown

Neogene The Neogene ( ,) is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period million years ago. It is the second period of th ...

conglomerates on sloping river terraces to the south of the road to Wadi Chahrour. The deposits appear to have been moved from elsewhere, so it is suggested to be a false site by Lorraine Copeland, who found it in 1964 and collected tools made out of shiny, yellow

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

that were examined by Henri Fleisch and M. Gigout.

Middle Paleolithic The Middle Paleolithic (or Middle Palaeolithic) is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle P ...

forms were found there including Levallois tortoise cores, point-cores, scrapers and flakes that are similar in form to the assemblage found at Mazraat Beit Chaar. Material is held by the Museum of Lebanese Prehistory.

Ourrouar II

Ourrouar II is east of the bridge over Nahr Ghedir on slopes of cemented conglomerates behind two empty houses. The site was discovered and Heavy Neolithic material recovered along with traces of other morphologies by Peter Wescombe in 1965. Finds included a rough, celt-shaped

axe An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...

, numerous short, heavy picks, a chopper, burins, flakes and blades in poor quality grey flint, several of which were rather large in size. Another smaller group of tools was found on the lower and western slopes made of flint that had patinated to white that included steep-scrapers and

sickle A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting or reaping grain crops, or cutting Succulent plant, succulent forage chiefly for feedi ...

blade elements. The lower slopes of the site were destroyed during new road construction. Material is held by the Museum of Lebanese Prehistory. Andrew Moore suggested that the station was a factory site for Heavy Neolithic tools of the Qaraoun culture.

Ourrouar III

Ourrouar III or Wadi Chahrour and Salikha a site detected in three locations along the riverbed of the Wadi Chahrour (or Wadi Ghedir) around upstream, east of the bridge of the Beirut to Sidon road. Collections were made from the first two locations by Auguste Bergy with studies by Henri Fleisch and the third location noted by Peter Wescombe in 1965. Material from location one was mixed with some showing

forms including picks, scrapers, flakes and cores. Location two is a section in the high banks of the stream on a bank of pebbles overlaying a layer of red sand. Henri Fleisch collected

appearance material from this red layer, which is suggested to represent a dry period where dunes covered the area. Location three was located west of the riverbed in the foundations of a building cut into the bank amongst terraces planted with

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

s. A red sand layer of contained scrapers and cores overlies a deep layer of pebbles. This was covered by black soil containing a few flakes. Two wet periods intervened by a drier one were indicated and the material stored in the Museum of Lebanese Prehistory marked "Salikha".

Ourrouar IV

Ourrouar IV is a site where some

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

tools were found to the west of Ourrouar II on a hill overlooking the road between Beirut and

Sidon Sidon ( ) or better known as Saida ( ; ) is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast in the South Governorate, Lebanon, South Governorate, of which it is the capital. Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre, t ...

just north of the bridge. Evidence of a Roman occupation was also discovered on the site. Industrial waste was continuously dumped into the bed of the stream covering the sites with building materials and destroying the undisturbed areas of the banks.

References

{{Portal, Lebanon, History, Asia Heavy Neolithic sites Neolithic settlements Archaeological sites in Lebanon