The excavations at Baaz Rockshelter are part of the Tübinger Damaskus Ausgrabungs- und Survey Projekts (TDASP, Tübingen Damascus excavation and survey project). The project was founded in 1999 following a survey in May of the same year. The site was discovered in this survey and was excavated in three campaigns in 1999, 2000 and 2004.
The site Baaz is located 50 km north-northeast of Damascus at the foot of a oligozene calcite cliff between Ma`aloula and Jaba`deen in the foothills of Antilibanos. It is 1530m above ocean level. The Rockshelter measures about 6x10 m and faces southwest. The highland and the lower plains are easily accessed from the site, the former through a passageway. Nearby springs provide constant access to water. Undoubtedly, this convenient location was important in prehistoric times. During the survey, it was documented that most caves and rock shelters along this cliff do not contain any sediments due to geological and anthropogenic factors. The preservation of sediment in Baaz can be attributed to the protected location of the entryway. Even in heavy rainfall as observed on October 25th 1999, the rock shelter remains unaffected by the elements.
The main excavation area in 1999 measured 2x2 m (Qu. 20/32, 20/33, 21/32, 21/33), the secondary area 1 m to the south measured 2x1 m (Qu.20/30, 21/30), which was not further excavated in the 2001 campaign. The main are however was expanded by 2x1 m in the north, west and south, connecting the 2 areas. In both campaigns, a Leica-Laser-Theodolite in combination with a Husky field computer were used to document the most important finds three dimensionally. The software used was a modified version of the EDM program by H. Dibble and S. McPherron, which was developed particularly for use at Palaeolithic sites and enables the excavators to efficiently document a large quantity of finds.
In total, 10 000 finds were documented; stone artefacts, bone and botanical remains being the most common find categories. Further, ceramics, ornamental shells, painted plaster and grinding tools made from stone were found. All stone artefacts larger than 2 cm, animal remains larger than 5 cm and charcoal pieces larger than 1 cm were documented and measured, as well as all tools and fauna which could be determined, regardless of size. All archaeological sediments were sieved so no small finds would be lost. Additionally, a cast of the ground with a fireplace and mortar was made.
Barth, M. M. 2006. Die Silexartefakte von Baaz: eine epipaläolithische und neolithische Fundstelle in der Damaskus Provinz, Syrien. In Tübingen-Damascus Excavation and Survey Project 1999 – 2005. Edited by N. J. Conard. Kerns Verlag: Tübingen. [pdf]
Conard, N. J., A. W. Kandel and M. Masri. 2006. The 2004 excavation at Baaz Rockshelter. In Tübingen-Damascus Excavation and Survey Project 1999 – 2005. Edited by N. J. Conard. Kerns Verlag: Tübingen. pp. 179-185. [pdf]
Conard, N. J., A. W. Kandel and A. Abdulrachman. 2006. The 2000 excavation at Baaz Rockshelter. In Tübingen-Damascus Excavation and Survey Project 1999 – 2005. Edited by N. J. Conard. Kerns Verlag: Tübingen. pp. 171-178. [pdf]
Conard, N. J., A. W. Kandel and A. Dyab. 2006. The 1999 excavation at Baaz Rockshelter. In Tübingen-Damascus Excavation and Survey Project 1999 – 2005. Edited by N. J. Conard. Kerns Verlag: Tübingen. pp. 161-169. [pdf]
Wahl-Groß, C. 2004. Der Schmuck aus der epipaläolithischen und neolithischen Abrifundstelle Baaz in der Damaskus Provinz, Syrien. In Tübingen-Damascus Excavation and Survey Project 1999 – 2005. Edited by N. J. Conard. Kerns Verlag: Tübingen. [pdf]
Our website uses cookies. Some of them are mandatory, while others allow us to improve your user experience on our website. The settings you have made can be edited at any time.
or
Essential
in2cookiemodal-selection
Required to save the user selection of the cookie settings.
3 months
be_lastLoginProvider
Required for the TYPO3 backend login to determine the time of the last login.
3 months
be_typo_user
This cookie tells the website whether a visitor is logged into the TYPO3 backend and has the rights to manage it.
Browser session
ROUTEID
These cookies are set to always direct the user to the same server.
Browser session
fe_typo_user
Enables frontend login.
Browser session
Videos
iframeswitch
Used to show all third-party contents.
3 months
yt-player-bandaid-host
Is used to display YouTube videos.
Persistent
yt-player-bandwidth
Is used to determine the optimal video quality based on the visitor's device and network settings.
Persistent
yt-remote-connected-devices
Saves the settings of the user's video player using embedded YouTube video.
Persistent
yt-remote-device-id
Saves the settings of the user's video player using embedded YouTube video.
Persistent
yt-player-headers-readable
Collects data about visitors' interaction with the site's video content - This data is used to make the site's video content more relevant to the visitor.
Persistent
yt-player-volume
Is used to save volume preferences for YouTube videos.
Persistent
yt-player-quality
Is used to save the quality settings for YouTube videos.
Persistent
yt-remote-session-name
Saves the settings of the user's video player using embedded YouTube video.
Browser session
yt-remote-session-app
Saves the settings of the user's video player using embedded YouTube video.
Browser session
yt-remote-fast-check-period
Saves the settings of the user's video player using embedded YouTube video.
Browser session
yt-remote-cast-installed
Saves the user settings when retrieving a YouTube video integrated on other web pages
Browser session
yt-remote-cast-available
Saves user settings when retrieving integrated YouTube videos.
Browser session
ANID
Used for targeting purposes to profile the interests of website visitors in order to display relevant and personalized Google advertising.
2 years
SNID
Google Maps - Google uses these cookies to store user preferences and information when you view pages with Google Maps.
1 month
SSID
Used to store information about how you use the site and what advertisements you saw before visiting this site, and to customize advertising on Google resources by remembering your recent searches, your previous interactions with an advertiser's ads or search results, and your visits to an advertiser's site.
6 months
1P_JAR
This cookie is used to support Google's advertising services.
1 month
SAPISID
Used for targeting purposes to profile the interests of website visitors in order to display relevant and personalized Google advertising.
2 years
APISID
Used for targeting purposes to profile the interests of website visitors in order to display relevant and personalized Google advertising.
6 months
HSID
Includes encrypted entries of your Google account and last login time to protect against attacks and data theft from form entries.
2 years
SID
Used for security purposes to store digitally signed and encrypted records of a user's Google Account ID and last login time, enabling Google to authenticate users, prevent fraudulent use of login credentials, and protect user data from unauthorized parties. This may also be used for targeting purposes to display relevant and personalized advertising content.
6 months
SIDCC
This cookie stores information about user settings and information for Google Maps.
3 months
NID
The NID cookie contains a unique ID that Google uses to store your preferences and other information.
6 months
CONSENT
This cookie tracks how you use a website to show you advertisements that may be of interest to you.
18 years
__Secure-3PAPISID
This cookie is used to support Google's advertising services.
2 years
__Secure-3PSID
This cookie is used to support Google's advertising services.
6 months
__Secure-3PSIDCC
This cookie is used to support Google's advertising services.
6 months