Qdeir is a

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

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 ...

Tell and

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

in the El Kowm oasis, a gap in the Syrian mountains that houses a series of archaeological sites. It is located northeast of

Palmyra Palmyra ( ; Palmyrene dialect, Palmyrene: (), romanized: ''Tadmor''; ) is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first menti ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, near Al-Sukhnah.

Excavation

The site was tested in 1980 by Olivier Aurenche and Marie-Claire Cauvin, with further excavations between 1989 and 1993 by

Danielle Stordeur Danielle Stordeur is a French Archaeologist and Directeur de Recherche at the CNRS. She is also Director of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs permanent mission to El Kowm- Mureybet (Syria), replacing Jacques Cauvin in 1993 until 2010, whe ...

that are ongoing under

Frédéric Abbès Frédéric Abbès is a French people, French archaeologist working on postdoctoral research, specialising in the stone or Lithic technology, lithic industry of the Near East and Mediterranean. He has worked on important archaeological sites such a ...

. Rectangular buildings with plastered floors and

White Ware White Ware or "Vaisselle Blanche", effectively a form of limestone plaster used to make vessels, is the first precursor to clay pottery developed in the Levant that appeared in the 9th millennium BC, during the pre-pottery (aceramic) neolithic pe ...

were found along with various arrowheads,

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 ...

blades and a "desert burin". The collection found at the site has been referred to as a special "desert facies" of

PPNB Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) is part of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, a Neolithic culture centered in upper Mesopotamia and the Levant, dating to years ago, that is, 8800–6500 BC. It was typed by British archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon during ...

flints.Calley, S., L'Atelier de Qdeir 1 en Syrie : Exploitation des nucléus naviformes à la fin du PPNB, 6e millénaire. Première approche, Paléorient, 1986, Volume 12, Issue 12-2, pp. 49-67.
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Culture

The inhabitants of Qdeir are thought to have been

nomadic Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...

pastoralists Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as "livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands (pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The anima ...

who were only part-time farmers from a later

tradition in comparison to the agriculturalist inhabitants of the village sites of El Kowm. Evidence suggests the location was used as a campsite with only short term occupations deduced from scatters of surface finds. The relationship between the two contemporaneous groups of inhabitants of the area and their behaviors have been discussed by the excavators, who highlight similar construction techniques, use of plaster and basket making.

Obsidian Obsidian ( ) is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Produced from felsic lava, obsidian is rich in the lighter element ...

, rare stones, stoneware vessels and shells used by both groups also originate from the same places.

Literature

* Aurenche, O. and MC Cauvin., Qdeir 1, campagne 1980: Une installation neolithique du Vile millenaire, 1982. * Cauvin, Jacques., El Khabra un poste de chasse néolithique du PPNB final de faciès Qdeir (Oasis d'El Kowm, Syrie). Cahiers de l'Euphrate 5-6 47–53. Pans ERC., 1991.

References

{{Portal, History, Asia Neolithic settlements Neolithic sites in Syria Archaeological sites in Homs Governorate Pre-Pottery Neolithic B