Sha'ar Hagolan
שער הגולן · Shaar Ha-Golan · Tell Sha'ar Hagolan
Pottery Neolithic / Yarmoukian·Yarmoukian (Levantine Pottery Neolithic)·🇮🇱 Northern District, Israel
About
About Sha'ar Hagolan
Type-site of the Yarmoukian culture (6400–5800 BCE), the first Pottery Neolithic culture of the southern Levant, on the Yarmouk River. Famous for the largest assemblage of prehistoric art in Israel: 300+ anthropomorphic figurines, clay vessels with incised herringbone, and a planned village of courtyard houses (up to 300 houses, ~20 ha) with streets. Garfinkel's excavations revealed craft specialization and cult objects including figurines with exaggerated eyes.
Why it mattersLargest Yarmoukian village; first Pottery Neolithic art; village planning.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Meaning of cowrie-eyed figurines — ancestor cult?
- 02Why abruptly abandoned then flooded by Yarmouk?
Theories
- 01Matriarchal fertility cult
- 02Proto-urban craft specialization
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.6400–5800 BCE
- Period
- Pottery Neolithic / Yarmoukian
- Culture
- Yarmoukian (Levantine Pottery Neolithic)
- Builders
- Yarmoukian farmers/potters
- Purpose
- Large planned farming village with art production
- Abandoned
- c.5800 BCE (Ghapta flood?)
- Rediscovered
- 1949 Stekelis; 1989–2004 Garfinkel
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
1949
Naharin village site identified
1998
Yarmoukian art cache found
On the ground
Structures & features
32.5430° N · 35.5520° E · -180 m · 3 mapped features
Courtyard house block
houseRectilinear courtyard complex
32.5432° N · 35.5521° EFigurine workshop
workshopCache of 300+ clay figurines
32.5429° N · 35.5519° EIncised pottery kiln area
kilnHerringbone pottery production
32.5431° N · 35.5523° E
Gallery