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Joel Klenck, Noah's Ark Prehistoric Site Exhibits Unique Placement of Artifacts

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Abstract

Archaeologist Joel Klenck describes archaeological remains, from a monumental wood structure on Mount Ararat, indicating that later cultures venerated the locale by placing artifacts at an entrance to the prehistoric site.
10/14/2020 "Noah's Ark" Prehistoric Site Exhibits Unique Placement of Artifacts | Jan 25, 2013 - ReleaseWire
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Archaeological remains, from a monumental wood structure on Mount Ararat, indicate later cultures venerated the locale
by placing artifacts at an entrance to the site.
Miami, FL -- (ReleaseWire) -- 01/25/2013 --Harvard University educated archaeologist and president of the archaeological
contract rm PRC, Inc., Dr. Joel Klenck, reports that a prehistoric site on Mount Ararat in Turkey, associated with Noah’s Ark
by several religious organizations, exhibits a unique division of artifacts.
Klenck remarks, “Archaeological sites on Ararat, which comprise a monumental wood structure, smaller wood edices, and
a cave, originate from the Late Epipaleolithic Period (13,100 to 9,600 B.C.). Inside the monumental wood structure, there is
a very interesting placement of artifacts.”
The archaeologist states, “To access the structure, later cultures excavated a sharply angled passage through rocks and
glacial ice to access an entrance to an ancient monumental wood structure. This entrance, Locus 4, is also sharply angled
and features a rudimentary stair-like feature, a notched log, in the center of a narrow passage made of cypress wood. The
base of Locus 4 comprises a rectangular installation, exhibiting a series of cypress planks on the oor covered by a dark
bitumen or resin material, which leads to four other loci at the site. In Locus 4, cultures from the Pottery Neolithic Period
(7,000-5,800 B.C.) to the time of the Bronze-Iron Age transition (around 1,350 B.C.), deposited ceramic containers and other
artifacts. These mostly small bowls were lled with libations or other materials as evidenced by stains in the interiors of
several of these containers. Other artifacts found at the base of Locus 4 include a basalt gure resembling a claw or foot, a
limestone artifact, and an artifact of unknown composition—perhaps originating from a naturally occuring petroleum-
based substance.”
Klenck continues: “It is extremely interesting that the ceramic bowls from later periods were only found in Locus 4. Farther
into the interior of the structure there appears to be no ceramic remains but artifacts from the Late Epipaleolithic Period
comprising stone bowls, wild grains and legumes, a non-ceramic container, and bone and ax artifacts. The placement of
the artifacts suggests that later visitors venerated the locale by leaving ceramic artifacts and other objects at an entrance to
the site without signicantly disturbing the interior of the wood edice with their own material culture.”
The archaeologist remarks, “The deposition of small ceramic objects at temples is a very familiar practice in the Levant
during the Bronze Age (3,000-1,200 B.C.). During this period, worshippers would leave small votive bowls or juglets in pits
within a cult area. Two examples of this practice are the archaeological sites of Byblos in Lebanon and Tel-Haror in Israel.
What is interesting about Locus 4, in the monumental wood structure on Ararat, is that the ceramic artifacts represent
cultures temporally separated by thousands of years. The ceramic artifacts evidence that cultures, from the Pottery
Neolithic Period (7,000-5,800 B.C.) to the time of the Bronze-Iron Age transition (around 1,350 B.C.), considered the
monumental wood structure on Mount Ararat to be special—so special that they deposited whole ceramic bowls and other
artifacts at the entrance to the structure without signicantly disturbing the interior of the edice.”
The archaeologist concludes, “The placement of the artifacts in the monumental wood structure on Mount Ararat is unique
and reveals that the site was considered a place of veneration for thousands of years by dierent cultures. These acts of
veneration helped preserve the more ancient material culture, from the Late Epipaleolithic Period (13,100 to 9,600 B.C.),
within the interior of the structure.”
About PRC, Inc.
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10/14/2020 "Noah's Ark" Prehistoric Site Exhibits Unique Placement of Artifacts | Jan 25, 2013 - ReleaseWire
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Founded in 2007, PRC, Inc. provides comprehensive worldwide archaeological services including surveys, excavations, and
research.
Joel Klenck
President
PRC, Inc.
786-277-4844
Email | Web | Prole
Late Bronze to Early Iron Age jar (Artifact 5).
10/14/2020 "Noah's Ark" Prehistoric Site Exhibits Unique Placement of Artifacts | Jan 25, 2013 - ReleaseWire
www.releasewire.com/press-releases/noahs-ark-prehistoric-site-exhibits-unique-placement-of-artifacts-196500.htm 3/3
Source: PRC, Inc.
Posted Friday, January 25, 2013 at 2:28 PM CST - Permalink
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