Settlement and Landscape Development in the Homs Region, Syria: Research Questions, Preliminary Results 1999–2000 and Future Potential

Abstract

This report describes the results of the first and second seasons of field work by an interdisciplinary research team studying the landscape history of the upper Orontes Valley near Homs in western Syria. Initial discussions address the value of survey data to Syrian archaeology, the research aims of the project and describe the survey area. The project methodology, which includes a combination of both extensive and intensive survey methods, is outlined, and the use of satellite imagery as a means of site location discussed. Work on geomorphological processes and off-site artefact distributions has facilitated the development of sampling strategies for intensive surface collection planned for 2002 and 2003. A test core has established that pollen is well-preserved in the silts of Lake Qattine, which appear to offer a west Syrian palaeoenvironmental sequence. Preliminary work in the basalt terrain west of Homs has allowed the refinement of methodologies for the mapping and analysis of cairns and field systems which predominate in this area, and has highlighted the threat resulting from current bulldozing. The report concludes with some preliminary observations on the main trends as these are emerging from the data.