HK23b, Har Karkom, Israel, North West Corner

HK23b. 7 heaps of stones. Each one has a standing stone with anthropomorphic shapes. Behind this to the south is another heap, which might be a tomb. To the west there is a trail, which seemingly leads to nowhere, but in fact leads to a flat stone with a group of stones arranged in a triangular shape. The 3 corners are oriented to north, southeast, northwest. Finds: Flint (Bronze Age C) in small quantity.

Further up on the plateau, site HK23 is a large Paleolithic statin with 4 flint workshops, 7 hutfloors in a row connected by a trail, a semicircle of flat stones, possibly a hearth, an altar with anthropomorphic stone, 3 flint nodules and a stone circle, several geoglyphs, and a white pebble with 5 engraved dots. Finds are Early Paleolithic (handaxe), Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian of Acheulian Tradition), Upper Paleolithic and BAC (E. Anati at http://www.harkarkom.com/Hkcorpus1-99.php).

This gallery shows various geometric stones associated with the 23b stone heaps. While 23b tools may belong to the BAC tradition, these geometrics seem more ancient, some handaxe-like, or perhaps more recent, analogous to Islamic patterns.

Photo © James Harrod. All James Harrod site photos taken on Emmanuel Anati Har Karkom Expedition, April 1996.
4/13/1996