Tell Ramad
# Tell Ramad

Tell Ramad (Arabic: تل رماد) is a prehistoric, Neolithic tell at the foot of Mount Hermon, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) southwest of Damascus in Syria. The tell was the site of a small village of 2 hectares (220,000 sq ft), which was first settled in the late 8th millennium BC.

The tell was discovered by French customs officers, M Company and Lieutenant Potut. Laurisson Ward visited again in 1939 and collected material from the surface, now in the Peabody Museum. Tell Ramad lay somewhat forgotten until it was rediscovered by W.J. van Liere and Henri de Contenson, the latter leading excavations in 8 seasons between 1963 and 1973.

Notable features from the earliest stage include a number of 3–4 metre diameter, lime-plaster floored, clay lined oval pits with ovens & clay bins that were suggested to have been used as houses.

Tell Ramad is notable as one of the few sites fundamental to the understanding of the origin of agriculture with finds including various types of domesticated wheat, barley and flax. Emmer wheat is an important characteristic of Basin sites in this area, where it is thought to have been introduced. Wild plant foods include pistachios, almonds, figs and wild pears.

## Footnotes

* 1 2 Akkermans, Peter M. M. G.; Schwartz, Glenn M. (2003). The Archaeology of Syria: From Complex Hunter-Gatherers to Early Urban Societies (c. 16,000–300 BC). Cambridge University Press. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-521-79666-8.
* ↑ Moore, A.M.T. (1978). The Neolithic of the Levant. Oxford University, Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. pp. 192–198.
* 1 2 Hillman, Gordon (1978). "On the Origins of Domestic rye: Secale Cereale: The Finds from Aceramic Can Hasan III in Turkey". Anatolian Studies. 28: 157–174. doi:10.2307/3642748. JSTOR 3642748.
* ↑ Fu, Yong-Bi (2011). "Genetic evidence for early flax domestication with capsular dehiscence". Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. 58 (8): 1119–1128. doi:10.1007/s10722-010-9650-9.
* ↑ Harris, David R. (1996). The origins and spread of agriculture and pastoralism in Eurasia. Routledge. p. 253. ISBN 978-1-85728-538-3.
