Between Land and Sea: The Chekka Region in Lebanon

Lebanons participation in the maritime trade during the 2nd millennium BC in the Eastern Mediterranean is known to us mainly from ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian texts. The region of Mount Lebanon provided a lions share of the timber for the Near East, especially the highly sought- after cedar wood. However, hardly any archaeological information for that period is available from the country itself. Due to the long lasting civil war (19751990) archaeological work in the country had virtually come to a standstill. The project Between Land and Sea: The Chekka Region in Lebanon. An archaeological and paleo-environmental Approach towards the Potential of an East Mediterranean coastal Region is concentrating on a small but archaeologically untouched part of the coast between Beirut and Tripoli, boasting a natural harbour and a hinterland once covered with coniferous forests. The basic environmental conditions that allowed a region to participate in international trade is under investigation, introducing climate studies, as well as soil analyses and the examination of the local fauna and flora. Infrastructure and settlement patterns in the region will be investigated with airborne laser technique by scanning the landscape and the attached coastal strip including the shallow water line. This technique penetrates the canopy of the forest and maquis with the potential to reveal archaeological features e.g. buildings and roads. The project aims to gain insight into the regional and transregional trading-landscape of the Bronze Ages focusing on the famous cedar and timber production of the region. In a first time established co-operation of archaeologists with forest engineers the project seeks to investigate the timber trade from the cutting of the trees to their lading in a harbour. The site of Tell Mirhan at the coast next to a river mouth might have served as the main harbour of the region. Excavations will help to understand the cultural settings of the area, analyses of the faunal and floral remains shall provide information about the prevailing climate. Pollen and soil samples from core drilling will allow to draw conclusions concerning the extensions of the timber forests and the quality of the arable land of the Chekka region. Last but no least - the manifestation of cultural remains will also help to protect archaeological sites from getting destroyed by modern construction activities. This research will be conducted by the Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in co-operation with the American University of Beirut and the Ludwig Bolzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospections and Virtual Archaeology.