The Late Neolithic site of Shir: The settlement and its surroundings of the 7th millennium BC in the northern Levant

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The late Neolithic settlement of Shir near Hama is situated in the hinterland of the northern Levant, that is, in one of the most favourable regions of western Asia. The stratigraphic sequence distinguished thus far confirms that the site was inhabited between 7000 and 6300/6100 calBC. After that it was abandoned, perhaps due to climatic change and never resettled again. From 2006 to 2010 the site has been systematically investigated by the Damascus Branch of the German Archaeological Institute and by the Syrian Department of Antiquities. Archaeological fieldwork at Shir have focused on three areas thus far:1. The southern area where excavations were carried out between 2006 and 2009, and where the entire settlement sequence consisting of six building levels was traced down to bedrock;2. The northeastern area, where excavations were undertaken from 2008 to 2010, exposing several special buildings with cell like rooms; 3. The central area, where large scale excavations started in 2009, and another deep sounding began in 2010. Excavations conducted aimed at determining the stratigraphy of the site, the functional analysis of the special buildings and the layout of the settlement. Moreover, the association between the settlement and its surroundings is of special interest. Based on the data which could be retrieved in the course of eight field seasons, Shir can be considered one of the key sites of the early Late Neolithic period, where numerous questions regarding the development of material culture, and social issues can be treated on the grounds of a very extensive data base. The preliminary results of the data processing point to a durable continuity until the 8th millennium BC, particularly regarding architectural elements, burial practices and lithics. Also, and a strong regional component in the development of early pottery can be traced. Due to political developments in Syria since the spring of 2011, the original schedule of the project for 2011 and 2012, including field research and evaluation work could not be realized and the work has been focused entirely on material processing and preparation of the first volume of the final publication (Shir I: The Late Neolithic Site of Shir. The Excavations at the South Area 2006 to 2009). Work on the manuscript is scheduled for completion in the first half of 2013. The aims for the next phase of work from 2013 to 2015 are centered on the evaluation of the results of archaeological fieldwork at the northeastern and central area. The data recorded will allow for a thorough and swift publication of the stratigraphy, architecture, small finds, lithics, pottery, anthropological and botanical finds. The results will be published as volumes II and III of the final publication (Volume II: The Late Neolithic site of Shir. The Excavations at the Northeast Area 2008 to 2010; Volume III: The Late Neolithic site of Shir. The Excavations at the Central Area 2009 to 2010).