The General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums announced Friday the completion of the work of the joint Syrian-Italian archaeological mission at Tell al-Samhana site in Lattakia Governorate. The Directorate stated that Tell al-Samhana, which is registered by the Directorate as an archaeological bloc , is considered one of the important sites on the Syrian coast where works began nearly ten years ago, adding that pervious works included conducting some archaeological investigations that demonstrated the importance of settlement on the hill since the Middle Bronze Age. The mission's work for this season was to prepare a topographical maps and conduct surveys around the hill with the aim of knowing its boundaries. Previous sounds were also cleaned and documented, and new ones were carried out with the aim of clarifying the stratigraphic sequence and historical periods that succeeded each other on the hill. The results of the preliminary work and studies showed a clear diversity and revealed the presence of human settlement that testify to the agricultural exploitation of the adjacent plain near the al-Kabir al-Shamali River dating back to the second millennium BC. A national team including students of Archaeology department from Damascus University participated in the works, alongside the Italian team. Source: Syrian Arab News Agency