Archaeologists working at Tal al-Ashari in Daran, southern Syria, have found 13 Middle Bronze Age cemeteries so far this year. Hussein Mashhadawi, the Head of Dara Archaeology Department, revealed that the 800 objects found included bronze tools, pottery and other items.
     Emergency excavations have also been carried out in the past two months at the towns of Mehajjeh and Jassem, and at the city of Sheikh Maskin. As well as building foundations, grape and olive mills, and service facilities for monks, a Byzantine period mosaic painting was found.
     Mashhadawi also reported that excavations at the site of Sheik Saad in the town of Nemr, where a natural cave had been found, showed that its archaeological heritage stretched back to Greco-Roman times.

Source: Global Arab Network (3 May 2010)