- Nachcharini
-
Nachcharini Location 40 miles from Beirut, Lebanon Type Cave Part of Settlement History Material Limestone Founded c. 8200-6200 BC Periods PPNA, PPNB, Neolithic Site notes Excavation dates 1972, 1974, 2001 Archaeologists Bruce Schroeder, Alex Wasse Condition ruins Public access Yes Nachcharini is a medium-sized cave and Neolithic settlement located on the high (2100 m), central plateau of the Anti-Lebanon mountains near the Syrian border. It is one of the highest PPNA occupations found to date.
It is an important site for the early Neolithic in Lebanon and was excavated in in 1972 and 1974 by Bruce Schroeder as part of the University of Toronto's investigation of Neolithic occupation in the Beqaa, Lebanon. Research was disrupted by the Lebanese Civil War. The one radiocarbon date for the Neolithic period from this site has a high deviation, it therefore falls between 8500 BC and 7700 BC. Further investigations into the prehistoric land use of this site were carried out in 2001 directed by Alex Wasse of CBRL. They found the site badly looted, but were able to recoved numerous tools and flints for further study.
Chipped stone analysis revealed similarities to Jericho's Sultanian style, suggesting more advanced activities than carried out at other PPNA sites. Recent evidence from Wadi Faynan suggests a variety of non-hunting purposes for these type of tools.[1][2][3]
Snows last into the spring which irrigates the area into June, watering what were historically some of the richest Levantine pastures.
Literature
- Ofer Bar-Yosef, François Raymond Valla. The Natufian culture in the Levant, International Monographs in Prehistory, 1991.
Footnotes
- ^ Neolithics 2/01 A Newsletter of South West Lithics Research - A Brief Note on the Chipped Stone Assemblage from PPNA Nachcharini Cave, Lebanon., Anne Pirie, University of Reading, 2001.
- ^ Schroeder, H.B. (1977). "Nachcharini, a Stratified Post-Natufian Camp in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains". Regional centers in archaeology : prospects and problems : proceedings of a symposium held May 7, 1976 at the forty-first annual meeting of the Society for American archaeology. Forty-first annual meeting of the Society for American archaeology. St. Louis, Missouri, Columbia: Marquardt.
- ^ Garrard, A.; Pirie, A. and Schroeder, B. and Wasse, A. (2001). "Survey of Nachcharini Cave and prehistoric settlement in the northern Anti-Lebanon Highland". Bulletin d’Archéologie et d’Architecture Libanaises (7): 15–48.
Archaeological sites in LebanonAadloun • Aaiha • Aammiq • Ain Harcha • Akbiyeh • Amioun • Anjar, Lebanon • Antelias cave • Ard Tlaili • Arqa • Baalbek • Batroumine • Batroun • Beirut • Beit Mery • Byblos • Dahr El Ahmar • Dakoue • Deir El Aachayer • Deir el Ahmar • Dekwaneh • Douris (Baalbek) • Elaea (Lebanon) • Hadeth south • Haret ech Cheikh • Hashbai • Hermel plains • Iaat • Jabal es Saaïdé • Jbaa • Jdeideh • Jebel Aabeby • Jeita Grotto • Joub Jannine • Jieh • Kamid al lawz • Kaukaba • Kefraya • Kfar Qouq • Kfarhata • Ksar Akil • Labweh • Lake Qaraoun (Ain Jaouze) • Lion Tower • Majdal Anjar • Mansourieh • Maronite mummies • Mayrouba • Moukhtara · Mtaileb · Nabi Zair • Nachcharini • Neba'a Faour • Niha Bekaa • Qaraoun • Ras Baalbek I • Ras Beirut • Ras El Kelb • Sands of Beirut • Sidon • Sin el Fil • Sarepta • Stone of the Pregnant Woman • Tahun ben Aissa • Tell Ain Nfaikh • Tell Ain Saouda • Tell Deir • Tell el-Burak • Tell Khardane • Tell Jisr • Tell Mureibit • Tell Neba'a Litani • Tell Zenoub • Tell Zeitoun • Temple of Bacchus • Temple of Eshmun • Toron • Tripolis (region of Phoenicia) • Tyre Necropolis • Tyre, Lebanon • Yanta • Ain W Zain • Zahlé •Categories:- Neolithic settlements
- Archaeological sites in Lebanon
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
