Cremation in Southern Levant and Lebanon: Review of literature

The ancient Southern Levant and Lebanon are not usually considered regions in which cremation burial rites were practiced. Following a comprehensive literature review, it has become clear that examples of cremations are known from at least eighty archaeological sites in the region dating from the Epipaleolithic until the Byzantine Period. A large proportion of cremation burials have been discovered in the Southern Levant in urns and most of them date to the Iron Age. In addition, many cremation burials have been deposited in close proximity to pyres located inside caves, all dating to the Early Bronze Age. In all periods when cremation was relatively popular, all categories of the dead (males, females and subadults) were cremated. Children were usually buried together with adult individuals. The aim of the article is to present a catalogue of sites where cremated remains have been discovered in the Southern Levant and Lebanon.