When studying the ancient Pre-Pottery Neolithic sites of the Fertile Crescent, Göbekli Tepe, Karahan Tepe and Jericho get the most attention – for good reason – they display incredible architecture and are also truly ancient, between 10 and 12,000-years-old.

But there is one site that so many have never even heard of, one that is even older than those mentioned, and one that is even more important. It displays some truly magnificent examples of ancient stone architecture and artefacts, a Proto-Neolithic settlement with continuous occupation for 2,000 years, with origins before the Younger Dryas and then continuous occupation during and after - charting the evolution of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic in one specific location.

This site is Tell Qaramel, located in Northern Syria, around 25km north of Aleppo, 175km to the southwest of Göbekli Tepe. It’s on the western bank of the River Qoueiq, very much in the Fertile Crescent, a site with truly ancient origins, yet experts have still only excavated a tiny portion of this ancient site.