Syria - Tell Fares al Sharqi

Tell Fares (the Mare’s Tell) is found in the northeast of Syria, in the Khabur Basin, between Hassake and Qamishli. Located within the 300m isohyets, the region is conducive to dry agriculture and is actually covered in grain fields, in the Spring, today. The site, first noted by H.T. Wright, when he prospected around Tell Brak, covers a surface of nearly 4 ha and culminates at 7 metres above the level of the surrounding plain. Judging from the shards scattered across the surface, it was occupied at the end of the 5th millennium at least (so-called Obeid culture) until the start of the 3rd (so-called Nineveh 5 culture).

The first campaign, financed primarily by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, took place in Autumn 2006. Four squares were opened up on the tell’s northern slope and have yielded fragmented architectural remains, a lithic industry dominated by obsidian from Turkey, dark green stone tools (axes and hammers) and, naturally, a large number of shards.