Although this was an industrial com

Although this was an industrial complex, it was also a ritual center, a fact that became clear after the discovery of thirty pits about 60 meters (196 ft) west of the main mound (tell). Covering an area of around 0.2 hectares (0.49 acres) researchers have found evidence that these pits were associated with a fertility cult dedicating their worship to a salt god or an agri-mother goddess. A second ritual pit complex was found in a vast prehistoric necropolis containing graves and stone structures about 250 meters (820 ft.) southwest of the main settlement, closer to the salt production center, and this further confirmed the deeply-sacred nature of the ancient complex.