Beisamun: An Early Pottery Neolithic Site in the Hula Basin

The excavation was conducted along the western fringes of the site of Beisamun. Three areas were opened (Areas A–C), revealing four layers. Layer I, the upper layer, is a dark brown clayey soil, which contained few archaeological finds. Layer II is a gray-brown clayey soil, rich in organic material and ash—most of the artifacts and architectural remains, dating to the Pottery Neolithic, were found in this layer. Layer III (in Area C) was rich in architectural remains dating to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period. The lowest layer (Layer III in Areas A and B; Layer IV in Area C) is of reddish brown terra rosa soil; it is devoid of archaeological finds. Most of the buildings were rectilinear in plan, and at least one complex displayed a well-organized structure with two rooms around an open space (a courtyard?), with associated circular stone installations and hearths. The walls comprised thick stone foundations; superstructures were possibly of mud brick. The material culture consists of homogenous flint and stone assemblages and poorly preserved potsherds, which date the site to the Early PN period, along with a wide range of animal bones, dominated by fully domesticated caprovines, cattle and pigs. The Layer II occupation was attributed to a local cultural entity dated to the earliest stages of the PN period in the southern Levant, during the second half of the seventh millennium BCE, preceding the Yarmukian culture. (From the article)