Baidar ech Chamout, Baïdar ech Chamoût or Beidar Chamout is a small village located northeast of

Machgara Machghara ( ar, مشغرة), also spelled Mashghara, is a town in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, situated in the Western Beqaa District and south of the Beqaa Governorate. It lies just to the northwest of Sohmor and southwest of Lake Qaraoun, sout ...

in the

Western Beqaa District Western Beqaa District ( ar, قضاء البقاع الغربي) is an administrative district in the Beqaa Governorate of the Republic of Lebanon. The capital is Joub Jannine which has a population of 12,000. Main cities and towns West Beqaa h ...

Beqaa Governorate Beqaa ( ') is a governorate in Lebanon. Districts Since 2014, Beqaa Governorate contains three districts: * West Beqaa * Rashaya * Zahle A law was passed in 2003 to separate Baalbek District and Hermel District from Beqaa Governorate to form a ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

. A

Heavy Neolithic Heavy Neolithic (alternatively, Gigantolithic) is a style of large stone and flint tools (or industry) associated primarily with the Qaraoun culture in the Beqaa Valley, Lebanon, dating to the Epipaleolithic or early Pre-Pottery Neolithic at the ...

archaeological site of the

Qaraoun culture The Qaraoun culture is a culture of the Lebanese Stone Age around Qaraoun in the Beqaa Valley. The Gigantolithic or Heavy Neolithic flint tool industry of this culture was recognized as a particular Neolithic variant of the Lebanese highlands b ...

is located in the area on the right bank of the Litani river, where the North Cheeta exits from a ravine opposite the Dahr er Rimoul foothills. It was found by

Henri Fleisch Reverend Father Henri Fleisch (1 January 1904 – 10 February 1985) was a French archaeologist, missionary and Orientalist, known for his work on classical Arabic language and Lebanese dialect and prehistory in Lebanon. Fleisch spent years rec ...

in 1952 in an area of approximately by in the fields around a

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or Spring (hydrology), spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. ...

of the Machgara spring on a track approximately southwest of cote 853. It was described in detail in Fleisch's report of 1954 and again in 1960.

Jacques Cauvin Professor Jacques Cauvin (1930 – 26 December 2001) was a French archaeologist who specialised in the prehistory of the Levant and Near East. Biography Cauvin started his work in France at Oullins Caves and Chazelles Caves (near Saint-André-de ...

also examined and published details of the materials found, then stored with the

Saint Joseph University Saint Joseph University of Beirut ( French: ''Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth'', abbreviated to and commonly known as "USJ") is a private Catholic research university located in Beirut, Lebanon, which was founded in 1875 by French Jesuit mis ...

(now the

Museum of Lebanese Prehistory The Museum of Lebanese Prehistory (french: Musée de Préhistoire Libanaise, ar, متحف ما قبل التاريخ اللبناني) is a museum of prehistory and archaeology in Beirut, Lebanon. History The museum is the first museum of prehist ...

). The Heavy Neolithic pieces were considered identical to those found at Qaraoun II.Fleisch, Henri., Nouvelles stations préhistoriques au Liban, Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française, vol. 51, p. 564 A later

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

assemblage was found thought to be similar to the Neolithic récent of

Byblos Byblos ( ; gr, Βύβλος), also known as Jbeil or Jubayl ( ar, جُبَيْل, Jubayl, locally ; phn, 𐤂𐤁𐤋, , probably ), is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between 880 ...

consisting of

adze An adze (; alternative spelling: adz) is an ancient and versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with the cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. Adzes have been used since the Stone Age. They are used for smoothing ...

s, rabots,

chisel A chisel is a tool with a characteristically shaped cutting edge (such that wood chisels have lent part of their name to a particular grind) of blade on its end, for carving or cutting a hard material such as wood, stone, or metal by hand, stru ...

s and cores. Another assemblage without any triangular points was tentatively suggested to date to the middle

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

, although may actually be Neolithic. The area was under cultivation in 1966.

References

External links

Satelliteviews.net - Baidar ech ChamoutGeographic.com - Baidar ech ChamoutWeather forecast for Baidar ech Chamout
{{Archaeological sites in Lebanon Populated places in Western Beqaa District Archaeological sites in Lebanon Heavy Neolithic sites Neolithic settlements