Jerablus-Tahtani, Syria, 1992–4: Preliminary Report

Results of rescue excavations carried out for a total of 18 weeks at Jerablus-Tahtani, by Carchemish, are reported here. The principal research aims of the project are to determine the role of small Uruk-related sites in the Syrian Upper Euphrates River valley, to investigate the causes of the appearance of hierarchical settlement patterns and their recession in the 3rd / 2nd millennia B. C. and to assess the impact on nearby settlements of the growth of Carchemish to a great trading kingdom. Jerablus has so far yielded five major periods of occupation,jrom Uruk to Islamic. Deeply buried Uruk deposits consist of rectangular architecture and almost exclusively Late Uruk grit-tempered pottery. Relatively massive fortification systems, and an exceptionally large and richly furnished tomb with satellite pithos burials, are the main Early Bronze Age discoveries.