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Settlement and Landscape Development in the Homs Region, Syria
A research project of the Department of Archaeology.
Background
This is a multidisciplinary field project undertaken in co-operation with the Syrian Directorate of Antiquities and Museums. The study area in the Orontes Valley was chosen to assess the impact of key cultural and environmental developments in adjacent, but contrasting, landscapes. The project began in 1999, and with the co-operation of Dr. Danny Donoghue (Geography) has pioneered archaeological prospection through satellite imagery.
Emergent conclusions are:
- 1) That the timing of phases of settlement expansion and contraction in western Syria are noticeably different from those documented in both northern Syria and Palestine/Jordan.
- 2) There is a striking contrast between the nature of human activity in the marl and the basaltic landscapes which lie respectively on the east and west sides of the Orontes River.
The project is directed by Dr. Graham Philip and Dr. Michel al-Maqdissi (DGAM, Damascus) and has been supported by the Council for British Research in the Levant, The British Academy and Durham University. Dr. Paul Newson (British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, Durham) is investigating the nature of the Roman-Byzantine landscape in the basalt area.
Published Results
Journal papers: academic
- Philip, G, Bradbury, J & Jabbur, F (2011). The Archaeology of the Homs Basalt, Syria: the main site types. Studia Orontica 9: 38-55.
- Philip, G & Bradbury, J (2010). Pre-classical activity in the basalt landscape of the Homs region, Syria: the implications for the development of “sub-optimal” zones in the Levant during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age. Levant 42(2): 136-169.
- Newson, P. Abdulkarim, M. McPhillips, S., Mills, P., Reynolds, P. & Philip, G. (2009). Landscape study of Dar es-Salaam and the basalt region north west of Homs, Syria. Berytus 51-52: 1-35.
- Beck, A., Philip, G., Abdulkarim, M. & Donoghue, D (2007). Evaluation of Corona and Ikonos high resolution satellite imagery for archaeological prospection in western Syria. Antiquity 81(311): 161-175.
Edited works: conference proceedings
- Philip, G. (2008). Natural and cultural aspects of the development of the marl landscape east of Lake Qatina during the Bronze and Iron Ages. Urban and Natural Landscapes of an Ancient Syrian Capital. Proceedings of the International Conference held in Udine, 9-11 December 2004, Udine, Forum Editrice.