Chapter 6: Neolithic 4 KARAOUN (Page 443-444)

Pre-History and Archaeology Glossary

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Karaoun II is immediately south of the Karaoun dam across the Litani. It is on the lip of the gorge on the right side of the river. The site is now largely obliterated but several workers have collected much material from it in the past. Roughed-out rectangular, oval and almond-shaped axes and rectangular and trapezoidal chisels were abundant. Scrapers were also quite numerous consisting of thick discoids, side scrapers on flakes and end-scrapers on flakes or massive blades. There were also some picks and a few burins as well as numerous retouched flakes and blades. Waste material was abundant at Karaoun II and included the full range of cores and other pieces found on Heavy Neolithic sites.

The Cauvins believe that the typology of the axes and other tools found at Karaoun II and elsewhere is similar to that of the assemblage from Neolithique Moyen Byblos. They have accordingly dated all the Heavy Neolithic sites to the earlier part of Neolithic 4. The types of axes, adzes, chisels, picks, scrapers and other tools encountered on Heavy Neolithic sites may have been found at Neolithique Moyen Byblos, Muktara and other contemporary sites but they also occur on later Neolithic 4 sites and even on some in Neolithic 3. It may be true that many Heavy Neolithic stations were used early in Neolithic 4 but I believe they were also visited later in this stage and possibly earlier as well.

There is one other Heavy Neolithic site in the immediate vicinity of Karaoun II and that is Karaoun I. It is on the left bank of the Litani a little further downstream from the dam. Like Karaoun II it is on open ground at the top of the cliffs above the river. The flints found here resembled those from Karaoun II and included roughed-out axes, picks and scrapers as well as many waste flakes, blaades and cores, some of them of Levallois type ...

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