Knowra Tell Tell A tell is an archaeological mound formed as people repeatedly occupied and rebuilt a settlement in the same place. Its accumulated layers preserve traces of successive communities and structures.
Stratigraphy : The study of layered deposits and their sequence, used to establish the relative chronology of archaeological remains. Successive occupation layers let excavators reconstruct the mound’s sequence of settlement.
Ancient Near East : A historical region encompassing parts of Southwest Asia and adjacent areas, home to many early states and urban societies. Many of the best-known tells lie within this broad historical region.
Jericho : An ancient city near the Jordan River, whose archaeological remains include a long sequence of settlement layers. Its mound preserves a widely studied sequence of occupation and rebuilding.
Kurgan : A burial mound built over one or more graves, especially in Eurasian archaeological contexts. A kurgan is primarily a funerary monument, unlike a tell formed by settlement accumulation.
Archaeological excavation : The controlled investigation and recording of archaeological remains through the removal of deposits. Excavation exposes a tell’s buried structures and occupation layers in sequence.
Levant : The eastern Mediterranean region, including modern-day Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. The Levant contains numerous tells formed by millennia of settlement.
Çatalhöyük : A large Neolithic settlement in central Anatolia, occupied from about 7100 to 6000 BCE. Its densely rebuilt houses formed a settlement mound without conventional streets.
Burial mound : An artificial mound constructed to cover or mark one or more burials. Burial mounds result chiefly from deliberate funerary construction, not repeated habitation.
Cultural layer : A deposit containing material evidence of human activity, such as artifacts, ash, or building debris. Cultural layers accumulate as settlement activity leaves debris and deposits behind.
Mesopotamia : A historical region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, centered in modern Iraq and parts of neighboring countries. Its ancient settlement mounds document the growth of some of the earliest cities.
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