Area of Study

The area of study lies between the city of Homs in the east, Krak des Chevaliers in the west, the Lebanese border in the south and the city of Shin in the north. It has a surface area of 560 square kilometres.

The region being surveyed is quite varied in its geography and geomorphology. In the western area, Bouqaia is an alluvial plain formed in a tectonic depression filled with Holocene sediments, the continuation of the Lebanese Beqaa. The central area is formed by basalt plateaus and hills with a Pliocene substrate, thin soils and steppe-like vegetation. Further east, these plateaus and hills descend towards the River Orontes valley on the edge of the study area, which has been explored less because of the urban, agricultural and industrial development around the nearby city of Homs.