Quaternary of the Levant
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The Late Neolithic Colonization of the Eastern Badia of Jordan
The Late Neolithic colonization of the Eastern Badia of Jordan 1 Gary Rollefson1, Yorke Rowan2 and Alexander Wasse Pioneering research by Betts and by Garrard in the eastern steppe and desert of Jordan demonstrated the presence of Late Neolithic (c. 7000–5000 cal BC) pastoral exploitation of this currently arid/hyper-arid region, but the scale of Late Neolithic presence in the area was difficult to assess from the reports of their surveys and excavations. Recent investigations by the Eastern Badia Archaeological Project at Wisad Pools and the Wadi al-Qattafi in the Black Desert have shown that conditions during the latter half of the 7th millennium and into the 6th, permitted substantial numbers of pastoralists to occupy substantial dwellings recurrently, in virtual village settings, for considerable amounts of time on a seasonal basis, relying heavily on the hunting of wild animals and perhaps practising opportunistic agriculture in addition to herding caprines. Keywords Late Neolithic, pastoralism, architecture, palaeoclimate, caprines Introduction The combination of high demands for farmland and The middle of the 8th millennium in the southern pasturage on unstable resources resulted in drastically Levant witnessed considerable turmoil: substantial reduced populations at some of the sites (e.g. ‘Ain 2numbers of Middle PPNB settlements in the Jordan Ghazal and Wadi Shu’eib) and the outright abandon- Valley and areas to the west were abandoned, and ment of other population centres. With population large numbers of people migrated to -
Nile Valley-Levant Interactions: an Eclectic Review
Nile Valley-Levant interactions: an eclectic review The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Bar-Yosef, Ofer. 2013. Nile Valley-Levant interactions: an eclectic review. In Neolithisation of Northeastern Africa, ed. Noriyuki Shirai. Studies in Early Near Eastern Production, Subsistence, and Environment 16: 237-247. Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:31887680 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Open Access Policy Articles, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#OAP In: N. Shirai (ed.) Neolithization of Northeastern Africa. Studies in Early Near Eastern: Production, Subsistence, & Environment 16, ex oriente: Berlin. pp. 237-247. Nile Valley-Levant interactions: an eclectic review Ofer Bar-Yosef Department of Anthropology, Harvard University Opening remarks Writing a review of a prehistoric province as an outsider is not a simple task. The archaeological process, as we know today, is an integration of data sets – the information from the field and the laboratory analyses, and the interpretation that depends on the paradigm held by the writer affected by his or her personal experience. Even monitoring the contents of most of the published and online literature is a daunting task. It is particularly true for looking at the Egyptian Neolithic during the transition from foraging to farming and herding, when most of the difficulties originate from the poorly known bridging regions. A special hurdle is the terminological conundrum of the Neolithic, as Andrew Smith and Alison Smith discusses in this volume, and in particular the term “Neolithisation” that finally made its way to the Levantine literature. -
High Resolution AMS Dates from Shubayqa 1, Northeast Jordan
www.nature.com/scientificreports OPEN High Resolution AMS Dates from Shubayqa 1, northeast Jordan Reveal Complex Origins of Late Received: 2 October 2017 Accepted: 22 November 2017 Epipalaeolithic Natufan in the Published: xx xx xxxx Levant Tobias Richter 1, Amaia Arranz-Otaegui1, Lisa Yeomans1 & Elisabetta Boaretto2 The Late Epipalaeolithic Natufan (~14,600 − 11,500 cal BP) is a key period in the prehistory of southwest Asia. Often described as a complex hunting and gathering society with increased sedentism, intensive plant exploitation and associated with an increase in artistic and symbolic material culture, it is positioned between the earlier Upper- and Epi-Palaeolithic and the early Neolithic, when plant cultivation and subsequently animal domestication began. The Natufan has thus often been seen as a necessary pre-adaptation for the emergence of Neolithic economies in southwest Asia. Previous work has pointed to the Mediterranean woodland zone of the southern Levant as the ‘core zone’ of the Early Natufan. Here we present a new sequence of 27 AMS radiocarbon dates from the Natufan site Shubayqa 1 in northeast Jordan. The results suggest that the site was occupied intermittently between ~14,600 − 12,000 cal BP. The dates indicate the Natufan emerged just as early in eastern Jordan as it did in the Mediterranean woodland zone. This suggests that the origins and development of the Natufan were not tied to the ecological conditions of the Mediterranean woodlands, and that the evolution of this hunting and gathering society was more complex and heterogeneous than previously thought. Te lack of secure, continuous sequences of radiocarbon dates from Natufan sites has been a long running prob- lem for researchers working on the Late Epipalaeolithic of the Levant1–4, particularly when it comes to the Early Natufan. -
Comments on Mezmaiskaya"
Eurasian Prehistory, 5 (1) : 131- 136. GETTING BACK TO BASICS: A RESPONSE TO OTTE "COMMENTS ON MEZMAISKAYA" Lubov Golovanova, Vladimir Doronichev and Naomi Cleghorn Marcel Otte recently argued (In "Comments Jar to the Ahmarian tradition, and particularly the on Mezmaiskaya, North Caucasus", Eurasian lithic assemblages from Abu Noshra and the La Prehistory, this issue) that the Early Upper Paleo gaman, dating between 30 and 35 ky BP (Gilead, lithic (EUP) at Mezmaiskaya Cave can be defined 1991 ). This preliminary conclusion is based on as Aurignacian (versus Golovanova et al., 2006). the prevalence of micro-laminar (bladelet) debi This raises an old methodological problem con tage, a high percentage of tools made on bladelets cerning the correct use of scientific terms and the (compared with 45 .7 percent at Lagama), and a definition of the Aurignacian. Lithic definitions rather low representation (about 20 percent) of such as Aurignacian and Gravettian, which were endscrapers and burins. It is important to note that ori ginally based on specific materials, have been only the later Ahmarian assemblages provided a rather more loosely applied to assemblages dis basis for this comparison. Moreover, despite tant in time and space. We believe that the wider many similarities, the EUP industry from Layer application of these original terms not only sim 1C at Mezmaiskaya is not identical to the Ahmar plifies them by a subjective reduction of their pri ian. mary determining attributes, but also confuses our Ongoing excavations of EUP levels in Mez understanding of cultural processes within and maiskaya Cave now permit a more accurate com between various regions. -
The Aurignacian Viewed from Africa
Aurignacian Genius: Art, Technology and Society of the First Modern Humans in Europe Proceedings of the International Symposium, April 08-10 2013, New York University THE AURIGNACIAN VIEWED FROM AFRICA Christian A. TRYON Introduction 20 The African archeological record of 43-28 ka as a comparison 21 A - The Aurignacian has no direct equivalent in Africa 21 B - Archaic hominins persist in Africa through much of the Late Pleistocene 24 C - High modification symbolic artifacts in Africa and Eurasia 24 Conclusions 26 Acknowledgements 26 References cited 27 To cite this article Tryon C. A. , 2015 - The Aurignacian Viewed from Africa, in White R., Bourrillon R. (eds.) with the collaboration of Bon F., Aurignacian Genius: Art, Technology and Society of the First Modern Humans in Europe, Proceedings of the International Symposium, April 08-10 2013, New York University, P@lethnology, 7, 19-33. http://www.palethnologie.org 19 P@lethnology | 2015 | 19-33 Aurignacian Genius: Art, Technology and Society of the First Modern Humans in Europe Proceedings of the International Symposium, April 08-10 2013, New York University THE AURIGNACIAN VIEWED FROM AFRICA Christian A. TRYON Abstract The Aurignacian technocomplex in Eurasia, dated to ~43-28 ka, has no direct archeological taxonomic equivalent in Africa during the same time interval, which may reflect differences in inter-group communication or differences in archeological definitions currently in use. Extinct hominin taxa are present in both Eurasia and Africa during this interval, but the African archeological record has played little role in discussions of the demographic expansion of Homo sapiens, unlike the Aurignacian. Sites in Eurasia and Africa by 42 ka show the earliest examples of personal ornaments that result from extensive modification of raw materials, a greater investment of time that may reflect increased their use in increasingly diverse and complex social networks. -
Ch. 4. NEOLITHIC PERIOD in JORDAN 25 4.1
Borsa di studio finanziata da: Ministero degli Affari Esteri di Italia Thanks all …………. I will be glad to give my theses with all my love to my father and mother, all my brothers for their helps since I came to Italy until I got this degree. I am glad because I am one of Dr. Ursula Thun Hohenstein students. I would like to thanks her to her help and support during my research. I would like to thanks Dr.. Maysoon AlNahar and the Museum of the University of Jordan stuff for their help during my work in Jordan. I would like to thank all of Prof. Perreto Carlo and Prof. Benedetto Sala, Dr. Arzarello Marta and all my professors in the University of Ferrara for their support and help during my Phd Research. During my study in Italy I met a lot of friends and specially my colleges in the University of Ferrara. I would like to thanks all for their help and support during these years. Finally I would like to thanks the Minister of Fournier of Italy, Embassy of Italy in Jordan and the University of Ferrara institute for higher studies (IUSS) to fund my PhD research. CONTENTS Ch. 1. INTRODUCTION 1 Ch. 2. AIMS OF THE RESEARCH 3 Ch. 3. NEOLITHIC PERIOD IN NEAR EAST 5 3.1. Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) in Near east 5 3.2. Pre-pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) in Near east 10 3.2.A. Early PPNB 10 3.2.B. Middle PPNB 13 3.2.C. Late PPNB 15 3.3. -
Exploring the Concept of Home at Hunter-Gatherer Sites in Upper Paleolithic Europe and Epipaleolithic Southwest Asia
UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Previously Published Works Title Homes for hunters?: Exploring the concept of home at hunter-gatherer sites in upper paleolithic Europe and epipaleolithic Southwest Asia Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9nt6f73n Journal Current Anthropology, 60(1) ISSN 0011-3204 Authors Maher, LA Conkey, M Publication Date 2019-02-01 DOI 10.1086/701523 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Current Anthropology Volume 60, Number 1, February 2019 91 Homes for Hunters? Exploring the Concept of Home at Hunter-Gatherer Sites in Upper Paleolithic Europe and Epipaleolithic Southwest Asia by Lisa A. Maher and Margaret Conkey In both Southwest Asia and Europe, only a handful of known Upper Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic sites attest to aggregation or gatherings of hunter-gatherer groups, sometimes including evidence of hut structures and highly structured use of space. Interpretation of these structures ranges greatly, from mere ephemeral shelters to places “built” into a landscape with meanings beyond refuge from the elements. One might argue that this ambiguity stems from a largely functional interpretation of shelters that is embodied in the very terminology we use to describe them in comparison to the homes of later farming communities: mobile hunter-gatherers build and occupy huts that can form campsites, whereas sedentary farmers occupy houses or homes that form communities. Here we examine some of the evidence for Upper Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic structures in Europe and Southwest Asia, offering insights into their complex “functions” and examining perceptions of space among hunter-gatherer communities. We do this through examination of two contemporary, yet geographically and culturally distinct, examples: Upper Paleolithic (especially Magdalenian) evidence in Western Europe and the Epipaleolithic record (especially Early and Middle phases) in Southwest Asia. -
ARCL 0141 Mediterranean Prehistory
INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY ARCL 0141 Mediterranean Prehistory 2019-20, Term 1 - 15 CREDITS Deadlines for coursework: 11th November 2019, 13th January 2020 Coordinator: Dr. Borja Legarra Herrero [email protected] Office 106, tel. (0) 20 7679 1539 Please see the last page of this document for important information about submission and marking procedures, or links to the relevant webpages 1 OVERVIEW Introduction This course reunites the study and analysis of prehistoric societies around the Mediterranean basin into a coherent if diverse exploration. It takes a long-term perspective, ranging from the first modern human occupation in the region to the start of the 1st millennium BCE, and a broad spatial approach, searching for the overall trends and conditions that underlie local phenomena. Opening topics include the glacial Mediterranean and origins of seafaring, early Holocene Levantine-European farming, and Chalcolithic societies. The main body of the course is formed by the multiple transformations of the late 4th, 3rd and 2nd millennium BC, including the environmental ‘mediterraneanisation’ of the basin, the rise of the first complex societies in east and west Mediterranean and the formation of world-system relations at the east Mediterranean. A final session examines the transition to the Iron Age in the context of the emergence of pan-Mediterranean networks, and this also acts as a link to G202. This course is designed to interlock with G206, which explores Mediterranean dynamics from a diachronic and comparative perspective. Equally, it can be taken in conjunction with courses in the prehistory of specific regions, such as the Aegean, Italy, the Levant, Anatolia and Egypt, as well as Europe and Africa. -
Ain Difla Rockshelter (Jordan) and the Evolution of Levantine Mousterian Technology
Eurasian Prehistory, 5 (1): 47- 83. QUANTIFYING DIACHRONIC VARIABILITY: THE 'AIN DIFLA ROCKSHELTER (JORDAN) AND THE EVOLUTION OF LEVANTINE MOUSTERIAN TECHNOLOGY Mentor Mustafa' and Geoffrey A. Clark2 1 Department ofAnthropology, Boston University, 232 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215; [email protected] 2 Department ofAnthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona; 85287-2402; [email protected] Abstract Typological, technological, and metrical analyses of a lithic assemblage from the 'Ain Difla rockshelter in west central Jordan are consistent with the results of previous studies that align 'Ain Difla with the Tabun D-type Levantine Mousterian. Technological and typological affinities are discernible from a direct comparison of tools from this assem blage with those found in Tabun layer D, as well as metrical and categorical comparisons between 'Ain Ditla and other well-known Tabun D Mousterian sites. The 'Ain Difla sample is dominated by elongated Levallois points. Blanks were obtained from both uni- and bipolar convergent and predominantly Levallois cores that show evidence of bidirectional flaking. The typological and technological comparisons reported here suggest that the evolution of the blade-rich Mouste rian can be viewed as a continuum between the early (Tabun) and late (Boker Tachtit) Mousterian; that (on any index) 'Ain Difla falls somewhere around the middle of this continuum, and that Mousterian laminar technologies develop more or less continually into the early Upper Paleolithic Ahmarian. INTRODUCTION rich technologies -
Primary Sources of Archaeobotanical Datasets and Radiocarbon Dates from Southwest Asia
Asouti, Eleni, and Dorian Q Fuller. A Contextual Approach to the Emergence of Agriculture in Southwest Asia: Reconstructing Early Neolithic Plant-Food Production. Supplement A: Primary Sources of Archaeobotanical Datasets and Radiocarbon Dates from Southwest Asia. Current Anthropology 54(3). Supplement A: Primary Sources of Archaeobotanical Datasets and Radiocarbon Dates from Southwest Asia We have assembled in this supplement the primary sources of archaeobotanical datasets retrieved from sites in Southwest Asia (Part 1) and the radiocarbon dates by which these sites have been assigned calendrical ages (Part 2). Part 3 presents the radiocarbon dates for early PPN sites that, to date, have not produced relevant published archaeobotanical assemblages. Part 1: Sites with Published Archaeobotanical Datasets For general overviews see Asouti and Fuller (2012), Charles (2007), Colledge and Conolly (2007), Colledge, Conolly, and Shennan (2004), Fuller et al. (2012), Garrard (1999), Willcox (1999, 2007) and Zohary, Hopf, and Weiss (2012). Sources for individual sites are indicated below, listed alphabetically by site name, followed by a short assessment of plant domestication status for all sites listed in Tables 3-4, and a list of bibliographic references. 1A. Archaeobotanical primary data sources Abdul Hosein, Tepe Iran Hubbard 1990. ‘Abr, Tell Syria Willcox et al. 2009, Willcox et al. 2008. Abu Hureyra, Tell Syria Colledge and Conolly 2010; Hillman 2000; Hillman et al. 1989; Hillman et al. 2001; de Moulins 1997, 2000. ‘Ain Ghazal Jordan Rollefson et al. 1985. Ali Kosh Iran Helbaek 1969. Aşıklı Höyük Turkey van Zeist and de Roller 1995. Aswad, Tell Syria van Zeist and Bakker-Heeres 1985 [1982]. Ayios Epiktitos Vrysi Cyprus Kyllo 1982. -
These Large Cores (Termed "Macrocores" by P. Tolstoy, N.D
V. NOTES ON LARGE OBSIDIAN BLADE CORES AND CORE-BLADE TECHNOLOGY IN MESOAMERICA Thomas Roy Hester In this paper four very large obsidian polyhedral blade cores from archaeological sites in Mesoamerica are described. The small depleted (ex- hausted) obsidian blade cores abundant at most Mesoamerican sites have been discussed at length in the regional literature (Kidder, Jennings and Shook 1946; Coe 1959; Epstein 1964; MaqNeish, Nelken-Terner and Johnson 1967; Hester, Jack and Heizer 1971; Hester, Heizer and Jack 1971). These worn-out specimens represent the terminal phase of a blade production process which began with the removal of blades from much larger, roughly-shaped cores. These large cores (termed "macrocores" by P. Tolstoy, n.d.) have received little attention, although they, too, are a potential source of information on core-blade technologies in Mesoamerica. It is these cores which repre- sent the initial activities in blade manufacture, activities about which little of substance has been published. The macrocores are discussed in the following pages; one is from southeastern Mexico, and the others are from sites in Guatemala. The Papalhuapa Specimen This large core (Fig. 1,A) collected from the obsidian workshops near the site of Papalhuapa, Guatemala, has been previously described by Graham and Heizer (1968:104). However, a more detailed account of the core attributes seems warranted. Dimensions of this specimen are given in Table 2. The Papalhuapa core is pyramidal in shape. The striking platform is a broad flat surface, created by the splitting of a larger obsidian nodule (concentric force rings are evident on the platform surface). -
Stone Tools in the Paleolithic and Neolithic Near East: a Guide John J
Stone Tools in the Paleolithic and Neolithic Near East: A Guide John J. Shea New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013, 408 pp. (hardback), $104.99. ISBN-13: 978-1-107-00698-0. Reviewed by DEBORAH I. OLSZEWSKI Department of Anthropology, Penn Museum, 3260 South Street, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; [email protected] n reading the Preface and Introduction to Shea’s book Stone Age Prehistory,” and lists the origins of genus Homo Iwhere he discusses why he wrote this volume on Near in the Lower Paleolithic period, which is incorrect both Eastern stone tools, I had to smile because his experience as temporally and geographically (Homo ergaster appearing ca a graduate student was analogous to mine. Learning about 1.8 Mya in Africa, or Homo habilis ca 2.5 Mya in Africa, if one stone tools in this world region was not easy because no accepts this hominin as sufficiently derived as to belong to single typology had been developed, at least in the sense genus Homo). And the same is true in this table for several of a widely accepted set of terminology that could be ap- other major evolutionary events for which our earliest evi- plied to the Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic there, or even the dence is African rather than Levantine. Neolithic period. In retrospect, it is somewhat surprising For Chapter 2 (Lithics Basics), the reader is immedi- that in the several decades since no one, until this book by ately immersed in how stone fractures (using terminol- Shea, undertook producing a compendium of information ogy from mechanics), is abraded, and is knapped.