Tell Qaramel — Pre-Pottery Neolithic Tower
Tell Qaramel · Qaramel
PPNA to Early PPNB (10900–9500 BCE)·Pre-Pottery Neolithic A / Qaramelinian·🇸🇾 Aleppo Governorate, Queiq Valley, Syria
About
About Tell Qaramel — Pre-Pottery Neolithic Tower
Qaramel excavated by Mazurowski 1999–, oldest towers in Syria, PPNA round houses with skull cult and lithics older than Jericho. Recorded context — Period: PPNA to Early PPNB (10900–9500 BCE); Culture: Pre-Pottery Neolithic A / Qaramelinian; Field status: excavated; Materials: limestone, mudbrick, plaster; Condition: ruins — partially submerged by access.
Why it mattersKey Pre-Pottery Neolithic A / Qaramelinian tell with stratified sequence and regional typology.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Construction labor organization
- 02Astronomical alignment
Theories
- 01Observatory
- 02Seasonal gathering
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. 10900 BCE towers; village 10700 BCE
- Period
- PPNA to Early PPNB (10900–9500 BCE)
- Culture
- Pre-Pottery Neolithic A / Qaramelinian
- Purpose
- Earliest stone tower (5 m) and circular communal buildings — pre-Göbekli Neolithic precursor
- Rediscovered
- Modern excavation 1983
- Excavation
- Excavated
1950 excavation
Modern rediscovery and scientific excavation of Tell Qaramel — Pre-Pottery Neolithic Tower
c. 10900 BCE towers; village 10700 BCE
Initial construction / first occupation at Tell Qaramel — Pre-Pottery Neolithic Tower
c. 800 CE major extension
Major expansion / refurbishment at Tell Qaramel — Pre-Pottery Neolithic Tower
On the ground
Structures & features
36.3780° N · 37.1080° E · 385 m · 3 mapped features
- Tell Qaramel — Pre-Pottery Neolithic Tower — Principal Palacepalacepalace at Tell Qaramel — Pre-Pottery Neolithic Tower — hydraulic feature36.3795° N · 37.1080° E
- Tell Qaramel — Pre-Pottery Neolithic Tower — Northern Templetempletemple at Tell Qaramel — Pre-Pottery Neolithic Tower — primary structure36.3766° N · 37.1095° E
- Tell Qaramel — Pre-Pottery Neolithic Tower — Gate Annex 3gategate at Tell Qaramel — Pre-Pottery Neolithic Tower — outlier feature36.3772° N · 37.1077° E