The Italian-Lebanese archaeological mission led by researcher Marco Iamoni of the University of Udine and May Haider of the Lebanese University Third Branch of Tripoli, has discovered settlements in northern Lebanon dating back to 3000 BC previously unknown. The campaign, which began following the encouraging results from extensive and intensive surveys, began on October 20th thanks to the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the University of Udine and the NGO Cosv. The results obtained "are revealing a very rich and hitherto completely unknown archaeological landscape in the area of Northern Lebanon, whose study promises to provide a totally new picture of the ancient settlement in the studied region and, more generally in central Levant" according to Iamoni.