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10 SuMMArIES
10.1 SuMMAry
e well-site of Hummal, located in the arid steppe region
of El Kowm (Central Syria), is scientifically important because
of its long archaeological sequence. Beginning probably
over a million years ago, humans visited the spring during a
range of environmental conditions, and their remains can be
found in more than 60 archaeological levels. is book focuses
on the Mousterian deposits, which comprise the uppermost
and longest section of the Hummal sequence. Over
30 archaeological levels display evidence of intermittent site
frequentation by Mousterian hominids. e hominids had
various purposes in gathering at the water source: depending
on the local and regional resource distribution and topography,
the spring could serve either for long-term encampments
or as a place for resource exploitation.
e fragmentation of the archaeological database makes
it difficult to reconstruct the activities that the hunter-gatherers
carried out at Hummal. While imperishable lithic artefacts
dominate the excavated find samples, animal bones and
other organic remains are frequently scarce and severely degraded.
Nevertheless, the results gained by a detailed technotypological
analysis of stone artefacts can be taken for a preliminary
model of site-use patterns. e technological and
typological features of lithic artefacts are likely to prove a valuable
source of information in defining the local and regional
traditions of technology and the relative positioning of the
site in the currently known Levantine Mousterian period.
e Mousterian deposits of Hummal have been under
regular excavation since 2002. Since that time, the western
and southern parts of the well have been examined more
closely, and the two current stratigraphies comprise a sequence
more than 5 m thick. e littoral deposits mirror a steady shift
between water transgressions and regressions, which caused
the development of a broad ecological spectrum ranging from
extended, oxygen-rich lake systems to marshy ponds or waterdepleted
depressions filled with aeolian sands. Colluviated deposits
show evidence of recurring sediment collapses and erosion
processes that were provoked by instabilities in the karstic
bedrock, water flows and weathering.
e changing biotope varied in its attractiveness to both
animals and humans as they searched for drinking water and
food. resource diversity was probably higher in the vicinity
of the artesian springs than in the steppe surrounding El
Kowm, for herds of grazing ungulates gathered at these waterholes
in the course of their annual migration through the
El Kowm gap in the mountain ranges that stretch across
Syria. e animal bones found in the Mousterian levels of
Hummal show that Middle Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers encountered
steppe-adapted species such as horses, gazelles, ostriches,
and camels. Among the camel remains, evidence of
a large-sized species that is now extinct shows Mousterian
hunters had access to considerable masses of meat at times.
In their hunt for these large mammals, the mobile human
groups would have benefited from the strategic position offered
by the El Kowm area.
e hunter-gatherers also benefited from ready access to
the high-quality flint distributed along the Cretaceous and
Tertiary formations to the north and south of Hummal.
Analysis of the lithic assemblages excavated at Hummal suggests
variable patterns of raw material provisioning and use,
and these in turn provide information about technological
strategies in relation to the site’s role in the Mousterian hominids’
land-use system. e principal parameters used for
reconstructing different strategies of the raw-material economy
include the density of lithic waste in a given level and
the composition of artefact assemblages. From the presence
or absence of specific products such as cores, cortical flakes
and tools, as well as their quantity and size, it is possible to
decipher variable provisioning strategies that involved targeted
forays, the transportation of raw material, opportunistic
exploitation of secondary outcrops, or a strong reliance
on personal gear. A statistical test for assemblage types corresponding
to these different strategies for raw material import
and consumption proposes four different assemblage
types. Together with the relevant environmental context,
these types are informative test cases that can be used for a
reconstruction of site functions and land-use systems.
Off-site as well as on-site core reduction saw a systematic
application of the Levallois method to obtain standardized
blanks. e lowermost Mousterian levels of Hummal reflect
the need for a wide spectrum of blank forms that was met
by the application of different flaking methods. Common
features found across the whole sequence, irrespective of
flaking strategy, are the marked elongation of Levallois
blanks, the scarcity of Levallois cores and retouched tools,
and the systematic recycling of flakes and tools into cores.
Although the sample size is small, the oldest lithic industry
(labeled HM-B) is characterized by broad, centripetally
prepared preferential flakes and large blades with
uni- or bidirectional scar patterns. In the upper two-thirds
of the Hummal sequence, a special blank type gains more
and more importance: the Levallois point. is coincides
with a marked uniformity as regards the choice of core reduction
strategies. Triangular blanks were struck exclusively
from one-axis Levallois cores with the recurrent unidirectional
or lineal method. ey are accompanied by elongated
flakes and blades for the production of which the