In:
Paléorient, PERSEE Program, Vol. 30, No. 1 ( 2004), p. 89-99
Abstract:
Since 2001 , the remains of 11 individual desert kites have been discovered on the eastern border of the Hemma basaltic plateau (Hassake, Syria). The enclosure is polygonal or sub-rectangular. One of the guide walls generally runs along the border of the plateau, while the other goes down to the wadi. At Hemma, as in Jordan, desert kites are generally built on a slope, balanced on a natural crest with guide walls on one side, enclosure on the other. The dating of these structures is still discussed : in Southern Syria and Jordan, some have been assigned to the Neolithic, others to the Chalcolithic or the EBA, but later dates and uses cannot be excluded. Peripheral cells have been placed at the angles of the polygon, along its lower wall or at the far end of the enclosure. No definitive solution has been reached regarding the function of these buildings but they were probably intended to accommodate animals. Some 70 carved depictions of desert kites have been discovered. Their rocky support is often used as a natural landscape. The carvings belong to the same cultural phases as the buildings, but show a more diversified typology. Anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures associated with them refer to hunting, divinities or uninterpretable scenes. Similar representations discovered in Jordan often show the same stylistic characteristics as those of the Hemma, which raises the question of their possible attribution to mobile populations.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0153-9345
DOI:
10.3406/paleo.2004.4774
Language:
English
Publisher:
PERSEE Program
Publication Date:
2004
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2317127-3
SSG:
6,22
SSG:
6,11
