Chapter 4: Neolithic 2 Beisamun (Pages 231-232)

Pre-History and Archaeology Glossary

Excerpts and Definitions and Addendums:

This site lies on the west side of the upper Jordan Valley on the shores of Lake Huleh. It covers an enormous area of about 12 hectares but the archaeological deposit is only 0.8 metres thick. Part of the site consisted of rectangular stone-walled buildings with plaster floors which were widely spaced along the lakeside. One of these had two rooms with a hearth and the remains of two plastered skulls and several secondary burials were found beneath the floor. One of the plastered skulls could be identified as an adult female. The associated flint industry included tanged, notched and pressure-flaked arrowheads, sickle blades and flaked and polished axes that can be paralleled on other Neolithic 2 sites in Palestine and at Tell Ramad. It would appear that the site was first occupied in the late 7th millerinium. Four pieces of obsidian from this deposit have been analysed; three of them came from Ciftlik (2b) and one from Hemrut D4 (4c) (See Page 81 in *1 Below). Material has also been collected from the surface over many years and much of this is slightly later in date so it seems that the site continued to be occupied until early in the 6th millennium. Although the area of the site is very great by no means all of it was occupied at the same time .....