By Mahmoud Mardini, Associate editor for bioarchaeology
Lebanon was still part of the Ottoman Empire’s Greater Syria when archaeological expeditions began, but it was not until the 1960s that the presence of skeletal material started being noted. Until then, archaeological exploration in Lebanon was much focused on material culture and monumental architecture rather than organic remains. Only a few skeletal studies related to bioarchaeology were conducted in the 20th century; for example, in 1922 Charles Virolleaud made reference to dental caries, while Henry Victor Vallois in 1937 estimated the stature of Chalcolithic (Eneolithic) and Bronze Age skeletons from Byblos. Bioarchaeology’s history in Lebanon during the late 20th century is largely constricted to Manfred Kunter’s work, who published a comprehensive bioarchaeological report on a late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Lebanese skeletal sample from Kamid el-Loz (West Bekaa, Lebanon) in 1977. 
Figure 1. Archaeologists at the foot of a Mamluk period building in the
Souks area of Beirut (Perring, 2009: 303).
Figure 2. Workmen excavate an Ottoman (19th century) industrial building surrounding
damaged buildings (Perring, 2009: 304).
The civil war from 1975 – 1990 leapt the country into turmoil and attenuated the preservation of Lebanese cultural heritage. Indeed, Lebanese cultural heritage was ravaged during the civil war; chaotic urbanization, clandestine excavations, illegal construction works, and systematic looting of archaeological objects characterized this period when there was total absence of state control coupled with a crippling economic crisis. The systematic (or rather chaotic) destruction of the Lebanese archaeological heritage left many ancient sites (especially ancient burial grounds) entirely obliterated (Figure 1 and 2). To share a sad example from my personal experience, a couple of years ago I was excavating at the Bronze Age site of Tell Fadous-Kfarabida in the charming town of Batroun in Northern Lebanon. We set a 5 x 5 m trench abutting a Middle-Bronze Age collective burial and proceeded to excavate, only to encounter ‘archaeological’ remains of army badges, tuna cans, and bullets (probably from a Soviet PK machine gun) belonging to the Syrian army from back when they invaded Lebanon in the 1980s. The director of the site later explained that the Syrian army occupied the Tell along the Lebanese coast because it formed a strategic promontory over the flat coastal landscape and, to our dismay, the site has been partially destroyed by tanks and bulldozers. The fifteen-year civil war, coupled with the invasion of the Israeli army and occupation of the Syrian army, consequently affected archaeological research in Lebanon, let alone the study of human and animal skeletal remains. It was only after the Lebanese civil war, when large-scale offensives were undertaken to recognize the importance and preserve the Lebanese cultural heritage.
Despite the post-war large-scale excavation initiatives, there was a lack of systematically designed research studies of human and animal remains addressing how for example the economy, trade, and urbanism (just to name a few) affected life quality and ancient health. It is not until recently that bioarchaeology in Lebanon started gaining traction with the emergence of local specialists and rising interest of international teams in conducting long-term excavations in many important sites across Lebanon. All archaeological teams operating on any excavation site in Lebanon are required by the regulations of the Lebanese Department of Antiquities to hire a specialist if the need arises (e.g. when excavating a skeleton or retrieving animal remains). For example, during the ‘gap-year’ before starting my PhD, I was employed by the Lebanese Department of Antiquities to excavate and study multiple human and animal skeletal assemblages (Figure 3). As part of the effort to preserve the Lebanese cultural heritage, the results of all archaeological projects and activities taking place in Lebanon should first be published at the semi-annual academic journal series ‘Bulletin d'Archéologie et d'Architecture Libanaises’ (BAAL), and then scholars are allowed to publish internationally.
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| Figure 3. Fieldwork view while studying a Roman skeletal assemblage from Beirut. |
It is only after 2010 that a consistent rise in articles related to Lebanese bioarchaeology is attested. While the number of papers is somehow limited due to the reasons mentioned above, there is a positive trend of bioarchaeological articles getting published both in international journals and in BAAL.
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| Figure 4. Focused and working hard at analyzing skeletal assemblages in the bioarchaeology lab at the Cyprus Institute. |
Being currently an early career researcher and a PhD candidate at the Cyprus Institute in Nicosia offers me a great advantage as knowledge exchange and networking among neighboring institutions based in the Eastern Mediterranean is anticipated to increase the quality of research and visibility of Lebanese bioarchaeology. Cultural heritage encompasses the people who created it and, being an optimist in a problematic world, I am very keen to contribute to the study of the makers of the Lebanese and broader Eastern Mediterranean culture (Figure 4).
References
Kunter M. 1977. Kamid el- Loz: 4. Anthropologische Untersuchung der menschlichen Skelettreste ausdem eisenzeitlichen Friedhof. Bonn: Verlag.
Perring D. 2009. Archaeology and the post-war reconstruction of Beirut. Conservation and management of archaeological sites 11(3-4): 296-314.
Sader H. 2001. Lebanon's heritage: Will the past be part of the future? In: Neuwirth A, Pflitsch A (eds.) Crisis and memory in Islamic societies. Ergon Verlag in Kommission; pp. 217-230.
Vallois H. 1937. Note sur les ossements humains de la nécropole eneolithique de Byblos. Bulletin du Musee de Beyrouth 1: 23–33.
Virolleaud C. 1922. Découverte a Byblos d’un hypogée de la douzième dynastie Égyptienne. Syria 3: 273–290.
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