Nowadays, the oldest traces of human cultures are found in Eastern Africa, the likely cradle of humankind. New discoveries in Asia and Transcaucasia reopen the questions about human and animal migrations into Eurasia. Issuing from Africa, the first humans migrated at different periods. During these migrations, the Middle East played a leading role as a crossroads between the three continents.

In fact, for over 1.5 million years Man has been present in the Levant. Alongside the corridor stretching from the River Jordan to the Orontes Valley, early Palaeolithic humans already found favourable places for settlements and a natural route towards new horizons.

The Institute for Prehistory and Archaeological Science of the Basel University, together with the General Directorate of Syrian Antiquities, for 20 years have been carrying out an extensive program of surveys and excavations in the Syrian Desert, showing that this part of the world was also a very ancient land of settlement.

Because our work, that of other teams in Syria and neighbouring Lands brought about so many results, we thought that time has come to share our discoveries and knowledge gained in Near and Middle Eastern countries in order to achieve a new synthesis. This is the purpose of this international symposium, The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic in the Middle East and Neighbouring Regions, which welcomes 75 participants and 30 papers from leading, high level researchers from around the world, in particular Syria, Israel, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Europe, Japan and the USA.

 

!!! Pictures now available !!!

Last update: 12.05.2008