Archaeologists Unearth a War Zone 5,500 Years Old

War is a natural function of any state, as history has substantiated and recorded time and time again in the History of Man.

Anyone interested in reading the article will have to register, but here is some of it:

Architectural remains in Syria from the fourth millennium B.C. Those at lower left were excavated in 2001,
and those at top center this year. The location is said to be the oldest known excavated site of a large battle.

In the ruins of an ancient city in northeastern Syria, archaeologists have uncovered what they say is substantial evidence of a fierce battle fought there in about 3500 B.C.

The archaeologists, who announced the find yesterday, described it as the oldest known excavated site of large-scale organized warfare. It was a clash of northern and southern cultures in ancient Mesopotamia, the land where urban civilization began, in a region that includes Iraq and parts of Syria.

snip... The ruins are in the upper fringes of the Tigris and Euphrates Valleys, near the Iraq border and within sight of the Taurus Mountains of southern Turkey.

"The whole area of our most recent excavation was a war zone," Dr. Reichel said in the announcement, made jointly by the University of Chicago and the Department of Antiquities in Syria.

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This is a wonderful find for the archaeological community, and I feel for us, in general. Any thoughts or comments welcome.
Here is a link to an academic source concerning this:
The Hamoukar Expedition: Hamoukar--Early City in Northeastern Syria






seekerof

[edit on 16-12-2005 by Seekerof]