In view of the objective of our investigation, the sites which contain deposits of the Middle Palaeolithic industry would be the most hopeful ones. The sites which fall into this category numbered more than 10, both cave and open-air sites.

The sites which were determined as coming under the Middle Palaeolithic are such that many of the flint implements collected at respective sites are Levallois flakes, which are made from the so-called prepared flint cores, and sometimes with secondary retouching and usually called "Levalloiso-Mousterian" or "Mousterian of Levallois facies" in the field of Western Asia (HOWELL, 1959).

The Levallois technique in flint working already appears in the later phase of the Lower Palaeolithic, and the evidence of this technique is already recognized in the Tayacian flake (GARROD, 1965:9). Or at the other end of the scale, the technique existed prominently up to the Upper Palaeolithic and, according to the classification of NEUVILLE (1951), in Stage 1 of the Upper Palaeolithic, it can be said that the Levallois technique was typical and well developed. It is said that it still remains even in Stage 2 (HOWELL, 1959:26-28, GARROD, 1953). In the Middle East, the Levallois technique and even the old Palaeolithic techniques are considered to survive in to the Mesolithic and the Neolithic (VAN LIERE & H. DE CONTENSON, 1963:177).

For these reasons, on the evidence alone that flint implements of Levallois or Levalloiso-Mousterian technique are discovered, it cannot be definitely ascertained that the site contains deposits which belong to the Middle Palaeolithic. Therefore, the description of a site in the present report as belonging to the Middle Palaeolithic means that many Levallois flakes (with Mousterian retouch) are recognized in the flints collected there.

A considerable quantity of Middle Palaeolithic flint implements were discovered on both Lebanon and Syria. Those found in the former country were patinated from buff to mahogany color, while those found in the latter were mostly dark brown.

In Lebanon, most of the flints were found in cave sites, but in Syria, a considerable number were discovered in open-air sites. In the latter case, they were characterized by the stronger abrasion compared with the flints found in the former. Especially, flints from Tell el Madar (Site 79), Tell Hassan Unozi (Site 80), and Tell Oumn Teil (Site 81) are presumed to have been affected by water action. Their flake edges and platforms are extremely abraded and are strongly lustrous all over (Fig. 41).

Figure 41     Flint Implements of the Middle Palaeolithic 1. Elongated retouched Levallois flake with retouched striking-platform. (Mugharet el Douara I, Site 34) 2. Scraper on broad Levallois flake with retouched striking-platform. (Mugharet el Douara I, Site 34) 3. Triangular point on Levallois flake with retouched striking-platform. (Mugharet el Douara I, Site 34) 4. Double side scraper on square-ended thick Levallois flake with small retouched striking platform. (Mugharet el Douara I, Site 34) 5. Triangular point on retouched Levallois flake. (Mugharet el Douara I, Site 34) 6. Roughly triangular point on Levallois flake with retouched striking-platform. (Mugharet el Douara I, Site 34) 7. End-scraper on Levallois flake with small faceted striking-platform. (Mugharet el Douara I, Site 34)