Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-skm99 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T22:00:50.868Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

62 - The Lower Palaeolithic of Syria

from Part VI: - Humans in the Levant

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 May 2017

By
Jean-Marie Le Tensorer
Edited by
Yehouda Enzel  and
Ofer Bar-Yosef
Yehouda Enzel
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Ofer Bar-Yosef
Affiliation:
Harvard University, Massachusetts
Get access

Summary

The Lower Palaeolithic is well represented in Syria, but most of the ~200 sites are not stratified. They have been ascribed to Acheulian (presence of handaxes) or to Middle Palaeolithic (Levallois artefacts). They appear mainly along the Nahr El Kebir, Euphrates and Orontes valleys and along the coast, north of Damascus and in the Syrian Desert at El Kowm and Palmyra. Latamné or Yabrud and El Kowm region present large archaeological sequences. El-Kowm region has been a continuous settlement area since the Earliest Pleistocene (ca. 2 Ma). Aïn al Fil stands as the oldest cultures ever encountered in Syria and, as such, it is preeminent in value for better grasping the Out-of-Africa dispersal. The sequence of Hummal should allow a better understanding of questions such as relationships between Acheulian and Oldowan Core and Flake cultures (Mode 1 vs. Mode 2) or the transition from Lower to Middle Palaeolithic. The site of Nadaouiyeh offers a long Acheulean sequence covering outstanding rich layers over 30 archaeological levels. In 1996, the discovery of a large skull fragment of Homo erectus was a major event for the knowledge of Lower Palaeolithic in Syria.
Type
Chapter
Information
Quaternary of the Levant
Environments, Climate Change, and Humans
 , pp. 567 - 576
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2017

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akazawa, T., Endo, B., Kimura, T. et al. 1970. Report of the reconnaissance survey on palaeolithic sites in Lebanon and Syria. The University Museum, The University of Tokyo, Bulletin 1: 1–135.Google Scholar
Al Qadi, A. 2011. Le Yabroudien en Syrie: Etat de la question et enjeux de la recherche. In The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic in the Middle East and Neighbouring Regions, ed. Le Tensorer, J.-M., Jagher, R. & Otte, M., ERAUL 126. Liège: University of Liège Press, pp. 77–84.Google Scholar
Bar-Yosef, O. & Goren-Inbar, N. 1993. The Lithic Assemblages of Ubeidiya. Qedem 34. Jerusalem: Hebrew University of Jerusalem – Institute of Archaeology.Google Scholar
Barkai, R. & Gopher, A. 2011. Innovative human behavior between Acheulian and Mousterian: A view from Qesem Cave, Israel. In The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic in the Middle East and Neighbouring Regions, ed. Le Tensorer, J.-M., Jagher, R. & Otte, M., ERAUL 126. Liège: University of Liège Press, pp. 49–58Google Scholar
Besançon, J., Copeland, L., Hours, F. & Sanlaville, P. 1978. The Palaeolithic sequence in Quaternary Formation of the Orontes River Valley, northern Syria, a preliminary report. Bulletin of the Institute of Archaeology, London 15: 149–70.Google Scholar
Besançon, J., Copeland, L., Hours, F., Muhesen, S. & Sanlaville, P. 1981. Le paléolithique d'El Kowm. Rapport préliminaire. Paléorient 7: 33–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Besançon, J. & Sanlaville, P. 1991. Une oasis dans la steppe aride syrienne: La cuvette d'El Kowm au Quaternaire. Cahiers de l'Euphrate 5– 6: 11–32.Google Scholar
Boëda, E. 2005. Le site d'Umm el Tlel (Syrie centrale). In Archéologies. Vingt ans de recherches françaises dans le monde, ed. des Affaires Etrangères, Ministère. Paris: ERC, pp. 442–5.Google Scholar
Boëda, E., Courty, M.-A., Fedoroff, N. et al. 2004. Le site Acheuléen d'El Meirah, Syrie. In From the River to the Sea. The Paleolithic and the Neolithic on the Euphrates and in the Northern Levant, ed. Aurenche, O., Le Mière, M. & Sanlaville, P., BAR International Series 1263. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports, pp. 165–201.Google Scholar
Boëda, E., Griggo, C., Al Sackel, H. & Bonilaurie, S. in prep. La sequence Pleistocene du site d'Umm El Tlel, Syrie. L'Anthropologie, Special Issue of the XVII World UISPP Congress 2014 in Burgos, Session B33 – Environmental and cultural development during the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic in the Syrian Desert.Google Scholar
Buccellati, G. & Buccellati, M.K. 1967. Archaeological survey of the Palmyrene and the Jebel Bishri. Archaeology 20: 305–6.Google Scholar
Burkhalter, L. 1933. Note sur les stations préhistoriques du Gouvernement de Lataquié. Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française 30: 582–7.Google Scholar
Cauvin, J., Cauvin, M.-C. & Stordeur, D. 1979. Recherches préhistoriques à El Kowm (Syrie). Cahiers de l'Euphrate 2: 80–117.Google Scholar
Clark, D. 1967. The Middle Acheulean occupation site at Latamné, northern Syria. Quaternaria 9: 1–68.Google Scholar
Clark, D. 1968. The Middle Acheulean occupation site at Latamné, northern Syria, further excavations (1965). Quaternaria 10: 1–76.Google Scholar
Conard, N.J. (ed.) 2006. Tübingen–Damascus Excavation and Survey Project: 1999–2005. Tübingen: Kerns Verlag.Google Scholar
Conard, N.J., Dodonov, A.E. & Masri, M. 2008. The 2007 TDASP Survey and geoarchaeological research in the Damascus Province, Syria. In Chroniques Archéologiques en Syrie volume III: Special issue documenting the annual excavation reports concerning the archaeological activities in Syria. Excavation reports 2007. Damascus: Press of the Ministry of Culture Damascus-Syria, pp. 41–51.Google Scholar
Copeland, L. 2003. The Tayacian of the Cordon Littoral, Ras Beirut (Lebanon) and its relations with other Tayacian sites in the Levant. Paléorient 29: 87–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Copeland, L. & Hours, F. 1993. The Middle Orontes, Palaeolithic flint industries. In Le Paléolithique de la Vallée Moyenne de l'Oronte (Syrie) Peuplement et environnement, ed. Sanlaville, P., BAR International Series 587. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports, pp. 64–144.Google Scholar
Garrod, D.A.E. & Bate, D. 1937. The Stone Age of Mount Carmel, I. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Goren-Inbar, N. 1995. The Lower Paleolithic of Israel. In The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land, ed. Levy, T.. London: Leicester University Press, p. 93–109.Google Scholar
Hours, F., Le Tensorer, J.-M., Muhesen, S. & Yalçinkaya, I. 1983. Premiers travaux sur le site acheuléen de Nadaouiyeh I (El Kowm, Syrie). Paléorient 9: 5–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jagher, R. 2011. Nadaouiveh Aïn Askar – Acheulean variability in the central Syrian Desert. In The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic in the Middle East and Neighbouring Regions, ed. Le Tensorer, J.-M., Jagher, R. & Otte, M., ERAUL 126. Liège: University of Liège Press, pp. 209–24.Google Scholar
Jelinek, A. 1982. The Middle Palaeolithic in the southern Levant, with comments on the appearance of modern Homo sapiens. In The Transition from Lower to Middle Palaeolithic and the Origin of Modern Man, ed. Ronen, A.. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports, pp. 57–104.Google Scholar
Jelinek, A.J. 1990. The Amudian in the context of the Mugharan tradition at the Tabun Cave (Mt. Carmel), Israel. In The Emergence of Modern Humans, ed. Mellars, P.. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 81–90.Google Scholar
Le Tensorer, J.-M. 2004. Nouvelles fouilles à Hummal (El Kowm, Syrie centrale) premiers résultats (1997–2001). In From the River to the Sea. The Paleolithic and the Neolithic on the Euphrates and in the Northern Levant, ed. Aurenche, O., Le Mière, M. & Sanlaville, P., BAR International Series 1263. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports, pp. 223–39.Google Scholar
Le Tensorer, J.-M. 2006. Les cultures acheuléennes et la question de l'émergence de la pensée symbolique chez Homo erectus à partir des données relatives à la forme symétrique et harmonique des bifaces. Comptes Rendus Palevol 5: 127–35.Google Scholar
Le Tensorer, J.-M. 2009. Le Paléolithique ancien de Syrie et l'importance du Golan comme voie de passage lors de l'expansion des premiers hommes hors d'Afrique. In The International Colloquium History and Antiquities of Al-Golan 2007–2008, ed. Rahman, A. Abdel. Damascus: Ministry of Culture, pp. 37–55.Google Scholar
Le Tensorer, J.-M. 2015. Regional perspective of early human populations in Syria: The case of El Kowm. In Human Evolution: Adaptations, Dispersals and Social Developments UNESCO World Heritage, Thematic Programme, ed. Sanz, N.. Paris: UNESCO.Google Scholar
Le Tensorer, J.-M. & Hours, F. 1989. L'occupation d'un territoire à la fin du Paléolithique ancien et au Paléolithique moyen à partir de l'exemple d'El Kowm (Syrie). ERAUL 33. Liège: University of Liège Press, pp. 107–14.Google Scholar
Le Tensorer, J.-M., Muhesen, S., Jagher, R. et al. 1997. Les premiers hommes du désert syrien – fouilles syro-suisses à Nadaouiyeh Aïn Askar. Catalogue de l'exposition au Musée de l'Homme. Paris: Editions du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle.Google Scholar
Le Tensorer, J.-M., Jagher, R. & Muhesen, S. 2001. Paleolithic settlement dynamics in the El Kowm area (central Syria). In Settlement Dynamics of the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age, ed. Conard, N.. Tübingen: Kerns Verlag, pp. 101–22.Google Scholar
Le Tensorer, J.-M., Jagher, R., Rentzel, P. et al. 2007. Long-term site formation processes at natural springs Nadaouiyeh and Hummal in the El Kowm oasis, central Syria. Geoarchaeology 22: 621–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Le Tensorer, J.-M., von Falkenstein, V., Le Tensorer, H., Schmid, P. & Muhesen, S. 2011a. Etude préliminaire des industries archaïques de faciès oldowayen du site de Hummal (El Kowm, Syrie centrale). L'Anthropologie 115: 247–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Le Tensorer, J.-M., von Falkenstein, V., Le Tensorer, H. & Muhesen, S. 2011b. Hummal: A very long Paleolithic sequence in the steppe of central Syria – considerations on Lower Paleolithic and the beginning of Middle Paleolithic. In The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic in the Middle East and Neighbouring Regions, ed. Le Tensorer, J.-M., Jagher, R. & Otte, M., ERAUL 126. Liège: University of Liège Press, pp. 235–48.Google Scholar
Le Tensorer, J.-M., Le Tensorer, H., Elsuede, H. et al. 2015. The Oldowan site Aïn al Fil (El Kowm, Syria) and the first humans of the Syrian Desert. L'Anthropologie, Special Issue of the XVII World UISPP Congress 2014 in Burgos, Session B33 – Environmental and cultural development during the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic in the Syrian Desert.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Le Tensorer, J.-M., Le Tensorer, H., Schmid, P. & Muhesen, S. in press. Les premiers peuplements de Syrie dans leur cadre proche oriental. In Les premiers peuplements préhistoriques, Actes du colloque international du centenaire de l'Institut de Paléontologie Humaine 2–6 juin 2010, ed. de Lumley, H.. Paris: CNRS.Google Scholar
de Lumley, H., Nioradzé, M., Barsky, D. et al. 2005. Les industries lithiques préoldowayennes du début du Pléistocène inférieur du site de Dmanissi en Géorgie. L'Anthropologie 109: 1–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monnier, G. 2006. The Lower/Middle Paleolithic periodization in western Europe – an evaluation. Current Anthropology 47: 709–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muhesen, S. 1985. L'Acheuléen Récent Évolué de la Syrie. BAR Inter-national Series 248. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muhesen, S. 1988. Le Paléolithique Inférieur de Syrie. L'Anthropologie 92: 862–82.Google Scholar
Muhesen, S. & Jagher, R. 2011. The Lower Palaeolithic in Syria. In The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic in the Middle East and Neighbouring Regions, ed. Le Tensorer, J.M., Jagher, R. & Otte, M., ERAUL 126. Liège: University of Liège Press, pp. 35–48.Google Scholar
Neuville, R. 1951. Le Paléolithique du désert de Judée. Archives de l'Institut de Paléontologie Humaine Mémoire 24. Paris: Masson et Cie.Google Scholar
Nishiaki, Y., Kanjo, Y., Muhesen, S. & Akasawa, T. 2011. Recent progress in Lower and Middle Palaeolithic research at Dederiyeh Cave, northwest Syria. In The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic in the Middle East and Neighbouring Regions, ed. Le Tensorer, J.M., Jagher, R. & Otte, M., ERAUL 126. Liège: University of Liège Press, pp. 67–76.Google Scholar
Passemard, E. 1926. Les terrasses alluviales de l'Euphrate et les industries qu'elles contiennent. Comptes-rendus de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris 183: 354–68.Google Scholar
Passemard, E. 1927. La station Chelléenne de Khillalé près de Lattaquieh. Syria 8: 169–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynaud Savioz, N. 2011. The faunal remains from Nadaouiyeh Aïn Askar (Syria). Preliminary indications of animal acquisition in an Acheulean site. In The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic in the Middle East and Neighbouring Regions, ed. Le Tensorer, J.M., Jagher, R. & Otte, M, ERAUL 126. Liège: University of Liège Press, pp. 225–33.Google Scholar
Richter, D., Hauck, Th., Wojtzack, D., Le Tensorer, J.-M. & Muhesen, S. 2011. Chronometric age estimates for the site of Hummal (El Kowm, Syria). In The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic in the Middle East and Neighbouring Regions, ed. Le Tensorer, J.M., Jagher, R. & Otte, M., ERAUL 126. Liège: University of Liège Press, pp. 249–61.Google Scholar
Ronen, A., Gisis, I. & Tchernikov, I. 2011. The Mugharan tradition reconsidered. In The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic in the Middle East and Neighbouring Regions, ed. Le Tensorer, J.M., Jagher, R. & Otte, M., ERAUL 126. Liège: University of Liège Press, pp. 121–30.Google Scholar
Rukieh, M., Trifonov, V.G., Dodonov, A.E. et al. 2005. Neotectonic map of Syria and some aspects of Late Cenozoic evolution of the northwestern boundary zone of the Arabian plate. Journal of Geodynamics 40: 235–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rust, A. 1933. Beitrag zur Erkenntnis der Abwicklung der vorgeschichtlichen Kulturperioden in Syrien. Praehistorische Zeitschrift 24: 205–18.Google Scholar
Rust, A. 1950. Die Höhlenfunde von Jabrud (Syrien). Neumünster: K. Wachbaltz.Google Scholar
Sanlaville, P. (ed.) 1979. Quaternaire et Préhistoire du Nahr el-Kébir Septentrional: Les débuts de l'occupation Humaine dans la Syrie du Nord. Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.Google Scholar
Sanlaville, P. (ed.) 1993. La Géomorphologie et la Préhistoire de la Vallée de l'Oronte, BAR 587. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports.Google Scholar
Sanlaville, P. 2004. Les terrasses Pléistocènes dans la Vallée de l'Euphrate en Syrie et dans l'extrême sud de la Turquie. In From the River to the Sea. The Palaeolithic and the Neolithic on the Euphrates and in the Northern Levant, Studies in Honour of Lorraine Copeland, ed. Aurenche, O., Le Mière, M. & Sanlaville, P., BAR International Series 1263. Oxford: Archaeopress, pp. 15–134.Google Scholar
Shaw, A. 2012. The Earlier Palaeolithic of Syria – Reinvestigating the Evidence from Orontes and Euphrates Valleys. BAR International Series 2341. Oxford: Archaeopress.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solecki, R. 1968. The Shemsi industry. A Tayacian-related industry at Yabroud. Syria: preliminary report. In La Préhistoire, Problèmes et Tendances (Mélanges Vaufrey), ed. Sonneville-Bordes, D.. Paris: Ed du CNRS, 401–10.Google Scholar
Van Lière, W.J. 1960–61. Observations on the Quaternary of Syria. Berichten Von de Rijksdiens Voor Het Oudeidkundig Bodemon-derzoek 10–11: 1–69.Google Scholar
Wegmüller, F. 2011. The Lower Palaeolithic assemblage of Hummal. In The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic in the Middle East and Neighbouring Regions, ed. Le Tensorer, J.M., Jagher, R. & Otte, M., ERAUL 126. Liège: University of Liège Press, pp. 271–8.Google Scholar
Zanchi, A., Battista Crosta, G. & Darkal, A.N. 2002. Paleostress analyses in NW Syria: Constraints on the Cenozoic evolution of the northwestern margin of the Arabian plate. Tectonophysics 357: 255–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×