Human remains from Tell es-Sin, Syria, 2006-2007

Abstract

Tell es-Sin or “Hill of Teeth” is an Early Byzantine archaeological site (5–7 century CE) located on the left bank of the Euphrates River (35◦19′10.8′′N, 40◦14′58.9′′E), ca. 10km southeast of the modern Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor (Figure 1) (Montero Fenollós et al. 2006). ough it is clear the original settlement area would have been larger as soil erosion has partially destroyed the tell, the remaining portion of the site occupies approximately 25 hectares and consists of three parts: the main hill or acropolis, the lower city and the necropolis (Figure 2). Being a typical settlement mound located in the southwestern part of the site and the most visible of the three areas, Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB), Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine archaeological remains have been documented at the main hill (Montero Fenollós et al. 2006; alShbib 2009:172-175; Zobler 2014). Beyond the main hill, the lower town spreads in an irregular pentagonal shape, similar to Tell el-Kasra (Abdullah 2011) and is delimited by a mud brick wall along the north, northeast and east. On both the southern and western sides, the wall that once surrounded the city has completely disappeared due to extreme soil erosion; beyond the walls of the lower town, a defensive moat was dug into the rock.