Tell Qarqur — Orontes Valley Multiphase Tell
Tell Qarqur · Qarqur Höyük · Tell Qarqur South
PPNB to Mamluk (8500 BCE–1300 CE)·PPNB → Pottery Neolithic → EBA Amorite → Iron Syro-Hittite → Roman → Crusader·🇸🇾 Hama Governorate, Ghab Plain, Orontes valley, Syria
About
About Tell Qarqur — Orontes Valley Multiphase Tell
Tell Qarqur is a 10 ha 30 m high Orontes tell excavated by T. Harrison (Chicago) and later Danish-American teams (1983–2008) spanning PPNB 8500 BCE to Mamluk 1300 CE — one of longest sequences in Levant. EBA fortified palace (2400 BCE) with charred cedar beams, Iron Age II syro-Hittite building, Crusader fort of Homs gap, and 4000-y ear sedentism with deforestation evidence. 5 m deep sounding shows uninterrupted Pottery Neolithic to MBA.
Why it mattersHolocene Longest Levantine tell sequence proving 10,800-year sedentarism and Anthropocene deforestation stratigraphy.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01PPNB sedentism on swamp Orontes margin?
Theories
- 01Fisher-Casana: Ghab drainage and olive transition reflected in pollen cores
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.8500 BCE (PPNB)
- Period
- PPNB to Mamluk (8500 BCE–1300 CE)
- Culture
- PPNB → Pottery Neolithic → EBA Amorite → Iron Syro-Hittite → Roman → Crusader
- Builders
- PPNB farmers then Syro-Hittite chiefs
- Purpose
- Ghab valley farming town controlling Orontes ford below Jebel Zawiye
- Abandoned
- 13th c. Mongol deserification
- Rediscovered
- 1983 E. Olzewski Damson reconnaissance; 1993 Harrison
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
1983–2008
ASOR–Danish campaigns; 30 m stratigraphy
c.2400 BCE
EBA palace and burn destruction with charred beams
On the ground
Structures & features
35.7300° N · 36.3200° E · 170 m · 4 mapped features
Qarqur EBA Palace Burn
palaceEBA palace with carbonized cedar roof over courtyard
35.7307° N · 36.3206° EQarqur PPNB Basal Houses
habitationPre-pottery pisé pits with lime floors 8500 BCE base
35.7293° N · 36.3208° EQarqur Crusader Fort Keep
fortress12th c. crusader ashlar tower on acropolis
35.7310° N · 36.3194° EQarqur Iron Age Citadel Gate
fortificationSyro-Hittite gate orthostat with sphinx
35.7305° N · 36.3210° E