MP Gallery #4a - HK86b Paleolithic Sanctuary, MP-UP Transition, c. 47-38,000 BP

Comment: Har Karkom site 86b "The Paleolithic Sanctuary" was discovered, surveyed and studied by Emmanuel Anati. It is one of the most extraordinarily Paleolithic palaeoart sites in the world. It is situated on the eastern, sunrise, facing side of the Har Karkom mesa, it is situated near the cliff edge with a panoramic view. The Jordanian hills are visible on the horizon. Early, Middle, and Upper Paleolithic sites occur all around the area. Just over the edge of the cliff is a flint quarry. The Sanctuary comprises of a spiral or concentric circles of standing stones, mostly of large pieces of fluid shaped tabular flint from the nearby quarry. The standing stones are set in depression; vegetation--which is exceedinly rare on the Karkom plateau--and a rockhole (or dry spring) add to its aura. Due west in the distance are two hills, the 'twin peaks' of the mesa top. The Sanctuary evokes the entire landscape as the female body, the birthgiver and lifegiver, the 'rebirth-giver'. The feeling-tone of the sanctuary is awesome and uncanny.

This is the first of a series of image galleries on the Sanctuary.

Photo © James Harrod; Emmanuel Anati, CCSP; or as otherwise cited. All James Harrod site photos taken on Emmanuel Anati Har Karkom Expedition, 2 April 1996. ß