Gharmachi 1
Coordinates: 35 ° 45 ′ 0 ″ N , 36 ° 43 ′ 0 ″ E
Gharmachi 1 is an old Paleolithic site to the south of the Latamne site in northwest Syria , which dates from the same era . The site is a little over 30 km downstream from Hama on the left bank of the Orontes in an area known as Friwan, not far from the eponymous Wadi Gharmachi. The artifacts were assigned to MIS 12/11. All the cores , tees and hand axes are in the National Museum Damascus .
Surveys and excavations
In October 1977, the Center national de la recherche scientifique carried out a broad survey as part of the research program L'homme et le milieu dans la région Levantine Quaternaire , which covered the area between Rastan and the Aacharne plain . The focus was on three eco-zones , namely the Mediterranean west of the country, the steppe areas and the desert. Based on the three sites that these eco-zones were supposed to represent, namely Nahr el-Kebir, the Orontestal and the Euphrates valley , local chronologies were to be related to one another. In the Orontestal alone, more than 4,000 artifacts were found at 69 sites. There were 265 artifacts in Gharmachi 1, including 40 hand axes. In 1979 and 1981 further excavations followed under the direction of Francis Hours and Sultan Muhesen, during which more than 2,000 other artefacts came to light. In 1977 17 probes were carried out and most of the artifacts were picked up. These finds were used as an opportunity to dig where they were piling up. This finally took place on an area of 237 m² at the probe points 1, 2, 14 and 17 to a depth of one meter, but mostly less than 40 cm deep. Artifacts were found only over fluvial gravel in pits. Finally, significant clusters of finds were found at probe points 6 to 8 and 15 to 16. The two excavators returned to these places in 1981 to deliberately dig up to 30 cm deep again in three places on 85, 95 and 90 m², until they reached the fluvial gravel.
Hours and Muhesen divided the finds into four series (A to D). C and D are exclusively surface finds, Series B appeared to be “more advanced” than Series A. The red-brown hand axes of Series A were classified as closer to those of Latamne because they were large, relatively thick and pointed; they also showed traces of considerable fluvial movements in the form of abrasions. So they must have been closer to the gravel. The brown hand axes assigned to series B were more round or almond-shaped, and more intensive edging could be seen; they were much less abraded and may have been left at the top of the gravel cut by the ground. So the shape was assigned more to the Middle Paleolithic . 13 cores and 5 tees showed all signs of the Levallois technique and were assigned to Series B.
Geology, dating
The layers in the wadi initially consist of a marl layer over which up to 15 m thick layers of gravel are deposited, which diminish relatively evenly with increasing distance from the river, only to disappear completely after about 4 km. Above this there is Holocene soil. In the excavation zones the soil was only 30 cm thick. The fluvial deposits are now 30 m above the Orontes. Similar to Latamne, the site was dated to MIS 12/11.
Lithic analysis
In 2008, Andrew Douglas Shaw reported that he had only been able to identify six artifacts from the 1981 excavation that had been classified as Series A, while the 1979 artifacts were still complete. Although he was able to confirm the differentiation of the excavators, the differences in abrasion were not as significant as assumed. In series B, chips and cores showed signs of abrasion in 44% and 32%, respectively, in series A 20.56% and 11.76%. Therefore, Shaw rejected the separation in series and examined the finds together. He assumed that the lithic artifacts were not only left behind as described, but that they might have been buried in fine-grain gravel. This means that the dating of the heavily abraded artifacts remains, those that hardly show any such traces must remain undated. Accordingly, Shaw only analyzed the artifacts that were not readings.
Similar to Latamne, coarse-grained chert and flint were processed from an external source, which Anglo-Saxon archeology usually means material containing flint. In addition, there were four quartzite cuts from the excavation of 1979. The majority, however, originally came from the gravel of the river.
As with latamne kernels, those from Gharmachi were medium in size, with an average maximum length of 79.7 mm and an average weight of 296.2 g. The cores were processed quite intensively with an average of 7.9 deductions, but only 4.7% had a rate of more than 15 deductions. Almost two thirds of the kernels also had their original surface, so they had not been prepared in any way. In general, after reaching a medium size, the cores were no longer processed in order to win small reductions. The number of notches per core is on average even lower than in Latamne, because it is 5.5 there, but only 3.4 in Gharmachi 1. The cores were processed more frequently in Gharmachi, but less intensively. This is likely to be related to the table-like basic shape of the original pieces in Latamne, which suggests a different approach than with rounder shapes.
In contrast to hand axes, the majority of the tee shots were won by hard blows with a hammer (77.8%). Their source material was prepared outside the site, similar to that in Latamne. Twelve retouched haircuts were found in Gharmachi 1. They were edited ad hoc.
The processing of hand axes is much more different from that in Latamne. In 28.4% of the cases, hard hammer blows were performed, in 44.6% of the cases soft blows and in 18.9% a mixture of both types of blow. This enabled them to achieve a significantly finer processing level. This impression may also have something to do with the fact that they were more heavily abraded, which in turn is due to the storage that the stones went through after use. 32.8% of hand axes do not have a cortex, or they only know it on one side. 34.4% of hand axes have a cutting edge running all around. There are no traces of a second retouching.
The hand axes of Gharmachi differ greatly from those of Latamne, whose starting material was brick-like pieces, while in Gharmachi they were rather round. This requires a different approach from the start. The differences do not therefore have to indicate chronological or cultural differences.
literature
- Andrew Douglas Shaw: The Earlier Palaeolithic of Syria: Settlement History, Technology and Landscape-use in the Orontes and Euphrates Valleys , PhD, University of Durham, 2008, pp. 97–117.
Remarks
- ^ Jacques Besançon, Lorraine Copeland : Morphologie et préhistoire de la vallée de l'Oronte entre Rastan et le Ghab (Syrie) , in: Comptes rendus de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris 287 (1978) 857-860; Lorraine Copeland, Francis Hours: The Middle Orontes Palaeolithic Flint industries , in: Le Paléolotique de la vallée moyenne de l'Oronte (Syrie); peuplement et environnement . British Archaeological Reports. International Series 587, eds. Paul Sanlaville, Jacques Besançon, Lorraine Copeland , Sultan Muhesen, Archaeopress, Oxford 1993, pp. 63-144.
- ^ Andrew Douglas Shaw: The Earlier Palaeolithic of Syria: Settlement History, Technology and Landscape-use in the Orontes and Euphrates Valleys , PhD, University of Durham, 2008, p. 97.
- ^ Andrew Douglas Shaw: The Earlier Palaeolithic of Syria: Settlement History, Technology and Landscape-use in the Orontes and Euphrates Valleys , PhD, University of Durham, 2008, p. 100.