Site description

Substantial mound on the northern shore of the qa. Early prehistoric lithics and later structures, including a cairn, were visible on the surface. Excavations revealed two buried Late Epipalaeolithic structures.

Geographic & taphonomic context: The visibility of prehistoric material on the surface may have been due to a recent burial (Betts 1998, p. 27). Two linear walls running south from the site are visible on satellite imagery – possibly a kite, but how the mound is related to the putative 'head' is unclear.

Heritage value & conservation: The area immediately to the east and south of the site was cleared for agriculture in the 20th century, possibly damaging it. Most of the site remaining after excavation was destroyed by looters in 2017 or 2018.

Remarks: First recorded and briefly excavated by the Black Desert Survey in 1994 (Betts 1998, pp. 27–28). Betts describes the site as being on the "at the southern edge of the Qa' Shubayqa near to the point where the Wadi Rajil debouches into the mudflat" but this must be an error; the coordinates she gives are on the northern shore. Relocated by TR in 2012 and extensively excavated between 2013 and 2015.

Finds & chronology

Epipalaeolithic structures date to the Early and Late Natufian, c. 14,600 – 12,000 cal BP (see Richter et al. 2017).