Article

Rapport préliminaire sur les activités de la mission archéologique franco-syrienne dans la micro-région d’ Al-Rawda (Shamiyeh): quatrième et cinquième campagnes (2005 et 2006)

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Abstract

This preliminary report presents the results of two campaigns of excavation and survey in 2005 and 2006 on the site of Al-Rawda (West-Central Syria) and in the micro-region of 100 km2 around it. The site is a pre-planned circular new town. It was founded around 2400 BCE, in the steppe zone and was inhabited only during EB IV, until the end of the 3rd millennium. The work of 2005 and 2006 involved further extensive excavation of a sanctuary consisting of two temples and a temenos together with all associated installations (including a betyl in situ). The eastern gate of the town was excavated and four lines of defence have been identified. A stratigraphic sounding in the southwest clarifies the origin of the town. In the necropolis associated with the site, the excavation of a collective pit burial is presented. Intensive survey was continued outside the ancient town, with particular attention to sites that were occupied at the same time as Al-Rawda, to burials, which have been classified by type, and to installations that can be linked to agriculture or pastoralism. This work was supplemented by archaeobotanical, archaeozoological and geo-archaeological research, as well as a study of the environment.

How to Cite:

Castel, C., Cuny, A., Gondet, S., Herveux, L., Isnard, F., Martin, L., Quenet, P., Sanz, S. & Vila, E., (2008) “Rapport préliminaire sur les activités de la mission archéologique franco-syrienne dans la micro-région d’ Al-Rawda (Shamiyeh): quatrième et cinquième campagnes (2005 et 2006)”, Akkadica 129(1), 5–54. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/akkadica.99584

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