Tell Qarqur 2001 Preliminary Report: Early Bronze Age levels

Early Bronze Age levels

Early Bronze Age IVB Materials Excavated in Past Seasons:
Areas A and E

Beneath the lowest Iron Age II gravel layer in A26-29 the outline of several wall alignments and paved doorways began to appear. The nature of the construction sequence and the tight phasing of the Early Bronze Age levels was identical in both A22 and A26-29. Also, the absolute levels of the lowest floors reached in the two separated areas are identical. The building in A26-29 consisted of mud brick superstructure on stone foundations and only where we reached the stone foundations did the actual building plan start to become clear. Four levels of architecture were recorded within a depth of about 0.50m. The third phase was better preserved than the later phases, figure 23, and provided a benchmark that allowed us to separate it from the rebuildings and changes in plan that were preserved in the shallow remains above. One room of this third construction phase was completely filled with broken vessels and an estimated 10 liters of bitter vetch seeds.
The highest preserved Early Bronze Age architectural remains were preserved in the northeast corner of A22. A complex of walls was moderately well preserved, but the exact phasing and orientation of the remains in Area A need to be clarified.

A small portion of an important Early Bronze Age IVB building was exposed in Area E over several seasons. Excavation proceeded to deeper levels in E4 after portions of stone foundations were removed along the south balk, associated with levels beneath the Islamic, Roman and Iron Age remains. A thick layer of Early Bronze Age IV destruction debris covered the whole area of Square E4. A portion of a room bounded on the south by a brick wall with plaster facing which proved to be 1.00 m thick and preserved in at least three building phases was excavated. It extended slightly to the east, into the east balk where it made a corner with wall EF12. The northern wall was in effect a series of at least four wall foundations, but more excavation is needed to tie the different phases of the walls of this room together. The E4 room was more then 3.50 m, in a north-south direction and bounded on three sides by walls, on the north, south and east. The floor of the eastern section of the room was paved with mud-brick. Some type of bench, platform or altar structure that was frequently rebuilt took up the west side of the excavated portion of the room. This altar like mud-brick structure and the rich collection of objects indicates the possibility of a major building, possibly a temple. Making this identification less certain is the obvious and continued practice of secondary metal working in the area. Metalworking and other craft activities are well known in Near Eastern temple areas but we need more evidence before we can provide a secure identification of the function of this building.

In 1999, we concentrated on expanding the area of excavation around this Early Bronze Age IV building by removing the south and west balks, and opening a new square on the east, figure 24. At the end of the 1999 season, a substantial mud-brick wall began to appear on the line of the north wall of the Early Bronze Age building in E4. This wall is more than a meter higher than the wall in E4. This, together with the high rebuilding associated with the pillar in the south balk of E4, indicates that the building continued in use for a longer period of time than was previously evident. More excavation is required to allow us to understand the phasing and dating of this Early Bronze Age IV building.

Early Bronze IVB Materials Excavated in Areas A and E in 2001

We did not get as far as we had hoped in further excavation in Early Bronze IV levels in Areas A and E. We have indicated the problems encountered in Area A. We started to connect the stratigraphic sequence and wall foundations in squares A21 and A22 after the Hellenistic wall between the two areas was removed. The Iron II gateway wall foundation had cut into at least one of these Early Bronze IV walls. Continued excavation will be required to clarify this situation further. A small Early Bronze Age IV jug was found in situ on a small section of a floor alongside one of these walls.

We also did not excavate as much as we had hoped in the Early Bronze IV levels in square E3. It became clear as Adrian Johanson continued the excavations, that the materials found in the 1999 season were preserved only in a shallow level in the eastern portion of the square. Additional fragments of the large storage jars excavated in the 1999 season were found at the same level farther to the south. Beneath this floor we found many white-plastered floors in patches throughout the area in an earlier phase of the building. We have apparently reached two east-west walls in the western part of the square with an extensive patch of white residue between them. The residue seems to be the remains of decomposed matting or wood. This residue covers an area of one meter by three meters, figure 25. We continued to excavate almost a meter deeper east of these walls. We encountered destruction remains with broken brick and considerable ash and carbonized material. Many white-plastered floors were found in patches above the heaviest destruction debris throughout the area. We have not yet reached what seems to be a good floor level under the collapsed debris but an increase in the amount of pottery and carbonized material may indicate that we may be close. We are still not sure that we have reached the major destruction level at the top of E4 to the west, figure 26. We seem to be in a higher destruction level but, again, we will have to wait until next year to understand the situation.

Area A materials from EBA IVA
Previously Excavated

A significant change in the nature of the Early Bronze Age occupation was encountered in A24 at the end of the 1998 season. A series of floor layers were excavated extending from the face of this wall around the top of what seems to be a massive Early Bronze IVA mud-brick column, covered with a yellowish-white plaster surface that had been renewed many times. The pillar measures 1.7 m in diameter and seems to indicate the presence of monumental architecture. This major change between levels may demonstrate a stratigraphic break between Early Bronze Age IVB, and IVA, since the earlier phase may be contemporary with the Ebla Palace G. A test trench on the west side of the column was excavated for almost a meter, and, though very weathered, the plaster facings could be traced for most of that depth.

Excavated in the 2001 Season

Maureen Dean continued the excavations in the Early Bronze IVA levels south of the Roman tower. The massive column exposed there seems to have been preserved to a height of around one-half a meter and additional floors associated with it were excavated to the south and east. Cleaning the area at the end of the season, we discovered the outline of more than one-quarter of an earlier column of the similar dimensions, clearly outlined in an arc of plaster about 3cm thick. The column we had been working on earlier was built over and about one meter to the west of the earlier column, figure 27. We now understand why we were not able to trace the higher column any deeper in the test pit that we had started in 1999 against its west side. We continued to go down in this sounding and continued to find evidence of a major destruction with layers of black ash mixed with broken bricks and considerable pottery. We have not yet reached a floor but have begun to find larger sections of vessels and some mud-brick that seems to be in place. It is not yet clear whether we can still date this earlier phase to Early Bronze IVA. The exposure so far is very small and the limited selection of pottery does not indicate a significant change.