Surface survey and geophysical prospection in the micro-region of Tell Arbid, NE Syria : a preliminary report
| Authors | |
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| Year of publication | 2012 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Proceedings of the 7th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East (ICAANE), London, April, 12th-16th 2010 |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Archaeology, anthropology, ethnology |
| Keywords | surface survey; Syria; Tell Arbid Abyad; Tell Arbid; geophysical prospection; Khabur region; Late Neolithic; Bronze Age |
| Description | One of the aims of the Czech Prehistoric Archaeological Project, attached to the Syria-Polish Expedition at Tell Arbid in the Upper Khabur area of NE Syria, is a field survey of the surrounding area. Results of the 2008-2009 field seasons are reported here. The survey covered a 133 hectare area near Wadi Abyad. In addition, two sites with Neolithic and Chalcolithic remains, Khirbet Bezi and Khirbet Shane, have been surveyed for surface finds. During the 16-day-survey, more than 21,000 sherds as well as lithics and pottery slag were retrieved, and their distribution was used to create interpolated raster layers of their density. We also have tested satellite-derived sites of high/low probability predicted by Jason Ur and Bjoern Menze (Menze, Ur 2007). Geophysical surveys at sites showing Neolithic to Iron Age remains were also carried out during the 2008 campaign in Syria. The Scintrex Navmag SM-5 Cesium Magnetometer measured the vertical gradient of the magnetic field over an area of 11.25 ha with a resolution of 1.0 x 0.15 m. The informative value of the geophysical survey varied from site to site, depending on the degree of (recent) soil- modification. |
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