Mayruba (archaeological site)
 
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Mayruba ( Arabic ميروبا, DMG Mairūbā ; often Mayrouba , Meyrouba or Mairouba ) refers to a group of archaeological sites in Lebanon , after the nearby Maronitendorf Mayrūbā were named and in the district Keserwan lie. These six sites in over 1100 m altitude, the type locality of the Mayroubien designated Upper Paleolithic culture. The Emireh points, which were discovered in Israel from 1923, are characteristic of the transition phase between the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic, i.e. around 50,000 years ago. They were also found in Lebanon and aroused interest because at that time it was still believed that they marked the transition from Neanderthals to anatomically modern humans.
Under the direction of various Paulists , by Joseph Nasrallah, PE Gigues, Louis Burkhalter, A. Fattal, Auguste Bergy , Maurice Tallon , Henri Fleisch , Francis Hours , surveys and excavations carried out in previous years were continued in 1962 . These Paulists, members of a religious order founded in New York in 1858, took part in numerous archaeological endeavors in Lebanon.
Mayruba I is located on a plateau up to 1410 m high, about 14 km east-northeast of Jounieh on the way to Faraya . The site was discovered by Paulists from Harissa , with PR Gigues and several Jesuits including Maurice Tallon , Auguste Bergy , Francis Hours and Henri Fleisch collecting surface finds there. Henri Fleisch, however, considered the survey of the Mayroudiens type locality to be an unfortunate decision, as mixed industries were found there. Nevertheless, he published it as a site of the transition from the Middle to the Upper Palaeolithic. In 1965 Lorraine Copeland and R. Khawam discovered two Emireh points, as well as numerous burins and scratches, thick blades as well as numerous cores of various kinds. A significant part of these early finds is now scattered, some are in the collections of the Université Saint- Joseph . Mayruba II , 2 km north of Mayruba, was discovered by Francis Hours and identified as the Mayroubia site. The same applies to Mayruba III ( Ain-bou-Grasse ), which was discovered in 1964 on the other side of a ridge near Mayruba I in a wooded area. Mayruba IV is on a low plateau north of the road from Jebel Mazloum to Mayrouba, east of the route to Ain-bou-Grasse, only 100 m west of Mayruba I. This place was also discovered by Francis Hours in 1964; In 1965, Hours, Jacques Tixier and Lorraine Copeland collected mostly kernels and burins there. Mayruba V ( Ain Berdet ), 2 km northwest of Mayrouba at an altitude of 1293 m, is located on the slope of a wooded hill and was also discovered in 1964 by Francis Hours.
Mayruba VI ("Site Tixier") is in turn 100 m south of Mayruba I in a forest area. Like most of these sites, this one was also found undisturbed. Hours, Jacques Tixier and Lorraine Copeland also found numerous tools here, including an Emireh point. The finds are in the Musée de Préhistoire Libanaise .
Remarks
- ^ Henry Field: Ancient and Modern Man in Southwestern Asia. University of Miami Press, Coral Gables (Florida) 1956, p. 44 ( digitized version ).
- ↑ Lorraine Copeland , Peter J. Wescombe: Inventory of Stone-Age sites in Lebanon. Imprimerie Catholique, Beirut 1965, pp. 40-42 and 106 f.
- ↑ Lorraine Copeland: Forty-six Emireh points from the Lebanon in the context of the middle to upper paleolithic transition in the Levant , in: Paléorient 26,1 (2000) 73-92, here: p. 73.
- ↑ Mélanges de l'Université Saint-Joseph. Volume 41-42 (1965), p. 106.
- ^ Henri Fleisch: Les stations préhistoriques de montagne au Liban. In: VI 'Congrès de l'UlSPP. Rome 1962.
- ↑ Lorraine Copeland: Forty-six Emireh points from the Lebanon in the context of the middle to upper paleolithic transition in the Levant , in: Paléorient 26,1 (2000) 73-92, here: p. 90.