Tell Ghoraife
تل غريفة · Tell Ghoureifé · Ghoraifeh
PPNB to Late Neolithic (c.8200–6000 BCE)·Damascus PPNB → Yarmukian Pottery Neolithic·🇸🇾 Rif Dimashq, Ghouta–Anti-Lebanon oasis margin, Syria
About
About Tell Ghoraife
PPNB–Pottery Neolithic lakebed village in Damascus Ghouta oasis, 1 ha, 4 m stratigraphy (c.8200–6000 BCE). Contenson soundings 1967–73 expose rectangular pisé houses, plastered floors, Byblos points, and early pottery horizon (DFBW) over PPNB levels. Wheat, chickpea and sheep/goat document oasis farming colonisation contemporary with Tell Aswad. Small but bridges Damascus PPNB (Ramad) to later Ghassulian. Damaged by Ghouta agriculture.
Why it mattersGhouta oasis PPNB sequence bridging Ramad–Aswad.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Timing of irrigation onset?
Theories
- 01Spring-fed oasis colonisation model
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.8200 BCE
- Period
- PPNB to Late Neolithic (c.8200–6000 BCE)
- Culture
- Damascus PPNB → Yarmukian Pottery Neolithic
- Builders
- Ghouta oasis early farmers
- Purpose
- Oasis-edge farming hamlet controlling spring-fed lakebed
- Abandoned
- c.6000 BCE Late Neolithic
- Rediscovered
- 1967 Contenson
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.8200 BCE
PPNB hamlet on lakebed
c.7000 BCE
Pottery Neolithic DFBW appears
c.6000 BCE
Abandoned
On the ground
Structures & features
33.4100° N · 36.4400° E · 680 m · 3 mapped features
Tell Ghoraife — PPNB pisé quarter
settlementPPNB houses with plastered floors, lower levels
33.4105° N · 36.4400° ETell Ghoraife — DFBW pottery horizon
horizonEarly pottery Yarmukian level, upper 1 m
33.4100° N · 36.4405° ETell Ghoraife — Oasis midden
middenFaunal/floral dump at lake-edge
33.4095° N · 36.4395° E
Gallery