The Tell Banat settlement complex is located on the left bank of the Euphrates river in Syria and will soon be inundated by the flood waters of a recently constructed dam. The site dates to the first half of the third millennium BC and has been the focus of excavation by Dr. McClellan and his team for five field seasons. Over the course of this work the team has discovered two `monuments`- features which are extremely rare in the Near east. The first is a single man-made mound approximately 20 meters high and conical in shape. Its corrugated surface has a step-like appearance. The top of a second structure was found in the middle of the site beneath an extensive public complex. While the purpose of these monuments is still unclear it is likely that they operated as high places or loci for cultic activities, similar to later temples in Mesopotamia or as grave markers. It is quite likely that they served the function of dolmen or burial mound and that further excavation will reveal interior burial chambers of megalithic construction. With NSF support Dr. McClellan and collaborators will conduct a geophysical survey in an attempt to locate such underground structures. Both conductivity and magnetometer surveys will be conducted. The prime goal is to locate underground earthen and stone features and the two techniques compliment each other. Conductivity survey is particularly good at locating contrasts between different soil types and some structures are constructed of materials significantly different from the surrounding earth. Magnetic survey is excellent for locating fired earth features such as ceramic kilns or rooms which have been destroyed by fire. Given the imminent destruction of the site such survey is necessary to focus the limited time left for excavation. The underlying goal of the project is to gain insight into the processes which gave rise to civilization in the Near East. Archaeological evidence has indicated that both settled agriculturists and nomadic or semi-nomadic pastoralists were present throughout this period. Because settled peoples usually leave more permanent and visible remains prehistorians have focused primarily on their role in the civilization process and pastoralists have been generally ignored. Evidence indicates that Tell Banat was primarily a pastoral site and the monuments may in fact reflect the same process evidenced in agricultural regions. McMlellan postulates that the dynamic which led to civilization in the Near East is more complicated than most archaeologists realize and that the pastoralist input has been underestimated. The information collected at Tell Banat is directly relevant to this question. This research is important because it will increase our understanding of how complex civilizations arise. It will rescue from imminent destruction important archaeological information.
