El Kowm (archaeological site)
Encyclopedia
El Kowm or Al Kawm is a circular, 20 km (12.4 mi) gap in the Syrian mountains that houses a series of archaeological sites. The El Kowm oasis is located northeast of Palmyra
in Syria
, near Al-Sukhnah
. It shows some of the longest and most important cultural sequences in the Middle East
, with periods of occupation by humans for over 1 million years.
tell
about 3 hectares (7.4 acre) in size. They categorised their findings into 5 periods; Early Neolithic (A), Middle Neolithic (B–C), Late Neolithic (D) and Post-Neolithic (E). Further excavations were made into a small outlying tell called El Kowm II by Danielle Stordeur
between 1978 and 1987 by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs permanent mission to El Kowm-Mureybet
(Syria). The Neolithic stages at this smaller outlying tell showed one of the first places where domestic water and wastewater systems have been installed.
Further surveys and fieldwork were carried out from 1980 onwards by Jacques and M.-C. Cauvin, Lorraine Copeland
, Francis Hours, Jean Marie Le Tensorer and S. Muhesen. Since 1989 further research has been carried out by the Institute for Prehistory and Archaeological Science of the University of Basel
and the Department of History at the University of Damascus
. These have concentrated on Paleolithic
sites at El Kowm called Nadaouiyeh Aïn Askar, showing periods of inhabitation between 500,000 and 100,000 BP, and Hummal, showing evidence of human inhabitation of over 1 million years through the Oldowan and Hummalian blade industry periods. Another period was identified under the Yabrudian levels that has been tentatively named as Tayacian.
was discovered in an Acheulean
level of the Old Paleolithic at Nadaouiyeh Aïn Askar. It has been described as one of the most important human skull fragments in the Middle East showing Far-Eastern features and giving us valuable knowledge about early human migration and origins.
In 2005, the team from the University of Basel found over forty fossilized bone fragments from a mammoth camel
dating as far back as 150,000 years at the Hummal site in El Kowm, a new species of camelid
. The giant camel was thought to be twice the size of a modern camel. It was found along with human remains and was given the name Camelus moreli
.
. The inhabitants are thought to have hunted gazelle
s, equids
and camelids. Vegetation was only possible for short periods in the Middle and Upper Pleistocene
. Many stone tools and artefacts such as hand axe
s and arrowhead
s have been found and analysed. The site was abandoned prior to 11000 BC, and then re-occupied in the Neolithic between 7000–6500 BC with a large sedentary settlement. Houses were well built and compartmentalised, many of which included gutters
between rooms with holes to drain water out of the buildings. Art was found in the form of a painted fresco
with equids on a plaster vessel. Comparisons of the Neolithic level culture have been made with Tell Abu Hureyra
and Bouqras
.
samples were analysed by Willem van Zeist
who concluded that Emmer wheat and hard wheat had been cultivated since the earliest Neolithic stage at El Kowm I dating to c. 6300 BC. Danielle Stordeur
excavated El Kowm II more recently and dated this to the Neolithic as far back as c. 7000 BC. Van Zeist suggested that some form of irrigation may have been employed at El Kowm I and the excavators at El Kowm II tentatively agreed with the hypothesis. Stordeur suggested that whilst the nearby settlement of Qdeir
showed more nomadic features, El Kowm I and El Kowm II showed no signs of short term settlement. They suggesting the inhabitants could have made simple channels from the local springs
to water the fields using a simple gravity system to deal with irregular rainfall patterns. This type of early irrigation is similar to that suggested to have been employed at Jericho
. Jacques Cauvin has also suggested El Kowm as a possible location for the invention of irrigation.
Palmyra
Palmyra was an ancient city in Syria. In the age of antiquity, it was an important city of central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 180 km southwest of the Euphrates at Deir ez-Zor. It had long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert...
in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, near Al-Sukhnah
Al-Sukhnah
Al-Sukhnah is a town in eastern Syria under the administration of the Homs Governorate, located between Palmyra and ar-Raqqah. Together with its satellite villages of al-Kawm and Tayyibah, al-Sukhnah had a population of 15,000 in 1989...
. It shows some of the longest and most important cultural sequences in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, with periods of occupation by humans for over 1 million years.
Excavation
An initial 5-day sounding was made in 1967 by M.N. van Loon and R. H. Dornemann with a 3 by trench at El Kowm I; a large NeolithicNeolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
tell
Tell
A tell or tel, is a type of archaeological mound created by human occupation and abandonment of a geographical site over many centuries. A classic tell looks like a low, truncated cone with a flat top and sloping sides.-Archaeology:A tell is a hill created by different civilizations living and...
about 3 hectares (7.4 acre) in size. They categorised their findings into 5 periods; Early Neolithic (A), Middle Neolithic (B–C), Late Neolithic (D) and Post-Neolithic (E). Further excavations were made into a small outlying tell called El Kowm II by Danielle Stordeur
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 , replacing Jacques Cauvin in 1993 until 2010, when Frédéric Abbès is due to take over this position.-Positions...
between 1978 and 1987 by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs permanent mission to El Kowm-Mureybet
Mureybet
Mureybet is a tell, or ancient settlement mound, located on the west bank of the Euphrates in Ar-Raqqah Governorate, northern Syria. The site was excavated between 1964 and 1974 and has since disappeared under the rising waters of Lake Assad...
(Syria). The Neolithic stages at this smaller outlying tell showed one of the first places where domestic water and wastewater systems have been installed.
Further surveys and fieldwork were carried out from 1980 onwards by Jacques and M.-C. Cauvin, Lorraine Copeland
Lorraine Copeland
Lorraine Copeland is an archaeologist specialising in the Palaeolithic period of the Near East. Her husband was Miles Axe Copeland Jr, and they had four children, all of whom have gone on to have notable careers: Miles Copeland III, Ian, Lorraine and Stewart Copeland.Lorraine Copeland was born in...
, Francis Hours, Jean Marie Le Tensorer and S. Muhesen. Since 1989 further research has been carried out by the Institute for Prehistory and Archaeological Science of the University of Basel
University of Basel
The University of Basel is located in Basel, Switzerland, and is considered to be one of leading universities in the country...
and the Department of History at the University of Damascus
University of Damascus
The University of Damascus is the largest and oldest university in Syria, located in the capital Damascus and has campuses in other Syrian cities. It was founded in 1923 through the merger of the School of Medicine and the Institute of Law , also making it the oldest university in modern-day Syria...
. These have concentrated on Paleolithic
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic Age, Era or Period, is a prehistoric period of human history distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools discovered , and covers roughly 99% of human technological prehistory...
sites at El Kowm called Nadaouiyeh Aïn Askar, showing periods of inhabitation between 500,000 and 100,000 BP, and Hummal, showing evidence of human inhabitation of over 1 million years through the Oldowan and Hummalian blade industry periods. Another period was identified under the Yabrudian levels that has been tentatively named as Tayacian.
Major discoveries
In 1996, a 450,000 year old skull fragment of Homo erectusHomo erectus
Homo erectus is an extinct species of hominid that lived from the end of the Pliocene epoch to the later Pleistocene, about . The species originated in Africa and spread as far as India, China and Java. There is still disagreement on the subject of the classification, ancestry, and progeny of H...
was discovered in an Acheulean
Acheulean
Acheulean is the name given to an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture associated with early humans during the Lower Palaeolithic era across Africa and much of West Asia, South Asia and Europe. Acheulean tools are typically found with Homo erectus remains...
level of the Old Paleolithic at Nadaouiyeh Aïn Askar. It has been described as one of the most important human skull fragments in the Middle East showing Far-Eastern features and giving us valuable knowledge about early human migration and origins.
In 2005, the team from the University of Basel found over forty fossilized bone fragments from a mammoth camel
Camel
A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as humps on its back. There are two species of camels: the dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the bactrian has two humps. Dromedaries are native to the dry desert areas of West Asia,...
dating as far back as 150,000 years at the Hummal site in El Kowm, a new species of camelid
Camelid
Camelids are members of the biological family Camelidae, the only living family in the suborder Tylopoda. Dromedaries, Bactrian Camels, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, and guanacos are in this group....
. The giant camel was thought to be twice the size of a modern camel. It was found along with human remains and was given the name Camelus moreli
Camelus Moreli
Camelus moreli is a species of giant camel roughly dating back 100,000 years. It has been discovered in the Hummal area of the western Syrian desert. The new camelid was found together with Middle Paleolithic human remains....
.
Culture
Natural springs clearly cluster around the southwest and northern rim of the plateau have sustained permanent settlements in the steppeSteppe
In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...
. The inhabitants are thought to have hunted gazelle
Gazelle
A gazelle is any of many antelope species in the genus Gazella, or formerly considered to belong to it. Six species are included in two genera, Eudorcas and Nanger, which were formerly considered subgenera...
s, equids
Equidae
Equidae is the taxonomic family of horses and related animals, including the extant horses, donkeys, and zebras, and many other species known only from fossils. All extant species are in the genus Equus...
and camelids. Vegetation was only possible for short periods in the Middle and Upper Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
. Many stone tools and artefacts such as hand axe
Hand axe
A hand axe is a bifacial Stone tool typical of the lower and middle Palaeolithic , and is the longest-used tool of human history.-Distribution:...
s and arrowhead
Arrowhead
An arrowhead is a tip, usually sharpened, added to an arrow to make it more deadly or to fulfill some special purpose. Historically arrowheads were made of stone and of organic materials; as human civilization progressed other materials were used...
s have been found and analysed. The site was abandoned prior to 11000 BC, and then re-occupied in the Neolithic between 7000–6500 BC with a large sedentary settlement. Houses were well built and compartmentalised, many of which included gutters
Street gutter
A street gutter is a depression running parallel to a road designed to collect rainwater flowing along the street and divert it into a storm drain. Where a curbstone is present, a gutter may simply be formed by the convergence of the road surface and the vertical face of the sidewalk; otherwise, a...
between rooms with holes to drain water out of the buildings. Art was found in the form of a painted fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
with equids on a plaster vessel. Comparisons of the Neolithic level culture have been made with Tell Abu Hureyra
Tell Abu Hureyra
Tell Abu Hureyra is an archaeological site located in the Euphrates valley in modern Syria. The remains of the villages within the tell come from over 4,000 years of habitation, spanning the Epipaleolithic and Neolithic periods. Ancient Abu Hureyra was occupied between 11,000 and 7,500 years ago...
and Bouqras
Bouqras
Bouqras is a large, oval shaped, prehistoric, Neolithic Tell, about in size, located around from Deir ez-Zor in Syria.-Excavation:The tell was discovered in 1960 by Dutch Geomorphologist, Willem van Liere. It was excavated between 1960 and 1965 by Henri de Contenson and van Liere and later...
.
Agriculture and irrigation
PaleobotanicalPaleobotany
Paleobotany, also spelled as palaeobotany , is the branch of paleontology or paleobiology dealing with the recovery and identification of plant remains from geological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of past environments , and both the evolutionary history of plants, with a...
samples were analysed by Willem van Zeist
Willem van Zeist
Willem van Zeist is an Archaeologist, Palynologist and Professor of Paleobotany. He was the Director of the Biologisch-Archaeologisch Instituut, Rijksuniversiteit of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.-Biography:...
who concluded that Emmer wheat and hard wheat had been cultivated since the earliest Neolithic stage at El Kowm I dating to c. 6300 BC. Danielle Stordeur
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 , replacing Jacques Cauvin in 1993 until 2010, when Frédéric Abbès is due to take over this position.-Positions...
excavated El Kowm II more recently and dated this to the Neolithic as far back as c. 7000 BC. Van Zeist suggested that some form of irrigation may have been employed at El Kowm I and the excavators at El Kowm II tentatively agreed with the hypothesis. Stordeur suggested that whilst the nearby settlement of Qdeir
Qdeir
Qdeir is a prehistoric, Neolithic Tell and plateau in the El Kowm oasis, a gap in the Syrian mountains that houses a series of archaeological sites...
showed more nomadic features, El Kowm I and El Kowm II showed no signs of short term settlement. They suggesting the inhabitants could have made simple channels from the local springs
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
to water the fields using a simple gravity system to deal with irregular rainfall patterns. This type of early irrigation is similar to that suggested to have been employed at Jericho
Jericho
Jericho ; is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank of the Palestinian territories. It is the capital of the Jericho Governorate and has a population of more than 20,000. Situated well below sea level on an east-west route north of the Dead Sea, Jericho is the lowest permanently...
. Jacques Cauvin has also suggested El Kowm as a possible location for the invention of irrigation.