Late Pleistocene and Holocene sedimentary record of the Bouqaia Basin (central Levant, Syria): A geoarchaeological approach

In this work new data on the archaeological and palaeoenvironmental evolution of one of the main foci for the neolithization, the central Levant region is provided. The study of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene sedimentary record of the Bouqaia Basin (Homs Gap, Syria) makes it possible to define a general stratigraphical framework for the Late Pleistocene and Holocene of the studied area. The sedimentological characterization of the identified fluvio-alluvial sedimentary sequences suggests a Late Pleistocene/Holocene aridification phase. Progressive aridification is reflected by rapid changes in fluvial sedimentary dynamics that can be ascribed to an increasingly seasonal precipitation pattern combined with lowering precipitation rates. The integration of sedimentological and archaeological information from the studied area shows that palaeoenvironmental changes contributed to differentiate settlement strategies in the study area.