Tell Ramad ( ar, تل رماد) is a

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

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 ...

tell at the foot of

Mount Hermon Mount Hermon ( ar, جبل الشيخ or جبل حرمون / ALA-LC: ''Jabal al-Shaykh'' ("Mountain of the Sheikh") or ''Jabal Haramun''; he, הַר חֶרְמוֹן, ''Har Hermon'') is a mountain cluster constituting the southern end of th ...

, about southwest of

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. The tell was the site of a small village of , which was first settled in the late

8th millennium BC 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

. The tell was discovered by French customs officers, M Company and Lieutenant Potut. Laurisson Ward visited again in 1939 and collected material from the surface, now in the Peabody Museum. Tell Ramad lay somewhat forgotten until it was rediscovered by W.J. van Liere and

Henri de Contenson 250px, Henri de Contenson Henri de Contenson (4 March 1926 – 8 September 2019) was a French archaeologist and was the Research Director at the CNRS, The Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (National Center for Scientific Research), a ...

, the latter leading excavations in 8 seasons between 1963 and 1973. Notable features from the earliest stage include a number of 3–4 metre diameter, lime-plaster floored, clay lined oval pits with ovens & clay bins that were suggested to have been used as houses. There was nothing to suggest a break in occupation between level I and II of the site. Burial customs appear to have been unchanged between the two periods. Burials were mostly done in communal graves, with small deposits of grave goods. Different flint tools were found at the site in both periods, including sickles and arrowheads. Tell Ramad is notable as one of the few sites fundamental to our understanding of the origin of agriculture with finds including various types of domesticated

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

and

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in ...

Emmer wheat Emmer wheat or hulled wheat is a type of awned wheat. Emmer is a tetraploid (4''n'' = 4''x'' = 28 chromosomes). The domesticated types are ''Triticum turgidum'' subsp. ''dicoccum'' and ''Triticum turgidum ''conv.'' durum''. The wild plant is ...

is an important characteristic of Basin sites in this area, where it is thought to have been introduced. Wild plant foods include pistachios, almonds, figs and wild pears. The mammal fauna from level I at Tell Ramad shows that both sheep and goats were fully and simultaneously domesticated at the site, although the sheep-to-goat ratio is more than 3 to 1.

Footnotes

* de Contenson, H. Cauvin, M.-C. Courtois, L. Ducos, P. Dupeyron, M. van Zeist, W. - Ramad. Site Néolitique en Damascène (Syrie) aux VIIIe et VIIe Millénaires Avant l´Ère Chrétienne, Bibliothèque Archéologique et Histoire, Tome 157, Beirut, 2000. * van Zeist, W. Bakker-Heeres, J.A.H. - Archaeobotanical Studies in the Levant 1. Neolithic Sites in the Damascus Basin: Aswad, Ghoraifé, Ramad - Palaeohistoria, 24, 165-256, 1982. * Vogel, J.C. Waterbolk, H.T. - Groningen Radiocarbon Dates VII - Radiocarbon, 9, 107-155, 1967. * Ferembach, D. - Étude anthropologique des ossements humains néolithiques Tell Ramad (Syrie). Annales archéologiques de Syrie, 19, 49-70, 1969. * de Contenson, H. Troisiéme campagne á Tell ramad 1966: rapport préliminaire. Annales Archéologiques de Syria XVII (1–2), 17–24, 1967. * de Contenson, H. Découvertes récentes dans la domaine du Néolithique en Syrie, L'Anthropologie, 70, 388-391, 1966. * de Contenson, H. van Liere, W.J. Premiers pas vers une chronologie absolue à Tell Ramad, Annales Archéologiques Arabes Syriennes, 16, 175-176, 1966. * de Contenson, H. van Liere, W.J. Sondages à Tell Ramad en 1963: rapport préliminaire, Annales Archéologiques Arabes Syriennes, 14, 190, 1964. * de Contenson, H. van Liere, W.J. A Note on Five Early Neolithic Sites in Inland Syria 13, 175-209, 1963. {{Portal, History, Asia 1939 archaeological discoveries Neolithic settlements Neolithic sites in Syria Archaeological sites in Rif Dimashq Governorate Populated places established in the 8th millennium BC

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Further reading