This grant will support the publication of the Neolithic (Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B) site of Tell Qarassa North and the Natufian site of Qarassa 3, excavated by the director of this publication project, Dr. Juan José Ibáñez, in collaboration with Dr Frank Braemer, from the French National Research Council (CNRS), between 2009 and 2010. The ancient lake of Qarassa was, for several millennia, a focal point concentrating human occupations in the south of the basaltic Leja plain, in the arid region of Sweida, in Southern Syria. There, a group of Natufian hunter-gatherers settled 13,000 years ago, at the site of Qarassa 3, where they left the remains of 12 dwellings arranged in an arc and more than 80 bedrock mortars in the basaltic flow. Qarassa 3 offers very relevant information on the characteristics of Natufian architecture, the organization of Natufian hamlets, the use of bedrock mortars and hunting activities. This information is very important for understanding the process of sedentarization, growing social complexity and the experiences in plant exploitation which heralded the Neolithic Revolution.
In the nearby site of Tell Qarassa North, a community of early farmers settled in the middle and late 11th millennium BP, in the Early Pre-pottery Neolithic B period. In 2009 and 2010 a total of 250m2 in two areas of the mound were excavated. Several domestic structures with stones walls, one of them with well-preserved burnt roof remains, proved to be the first squared architecture documented in this area of the Levant. The excavation of a necropolis and two skull caches allowed an analysis of the funerary customs of these communities, while the study of the faunal and plant remains yielded valuable information on the origins of agriculture and livestock. 
