Unwrapping the Neolithic Package: Wadi Shu'eib and Kholetria-Ortos in Perspective" (1996)
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UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-1996 Unwrapping the neolithic package: Wadi Shu'eib and Kholetria- Ortos in perspective Jason Brandon Cooper University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Cooper, Jason Brandon, "Unwrapping the neolithic package: Wadi Shu'eib and Kholetria-Ortos in perspective" (1996). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 3269. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/k3qn-1k7i This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. 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UNWRAPPING THE NEOLITHIC PACKAGE: WADI SHU'EIB AND KHOLETRIA-DRTOS IN PERSPECTIVE by Jason Brandon Cooper A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology Department of Anthropology University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 1997 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 1385167 Copyright 1997 by Cooper, Jason Breuidon All rights reserved. UMI Microform 1385167 Copyright 1997, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zedb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. © 1997 Jason Brandon Cooper All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The Thesis of Jason B. Cooper for the degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology is approved. Chairperson, Alan H. Simmons, Ph.D. Examining Committee Member, Claude Warren, Ph D. Examining Committee Member, Paul Buck, Ph.D. Graduate Faculty Represenitive, Andrew Bell, Ph.D. Dean of the Graduate College, Ronald W. Smith, Ph.D. University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 1997 11 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Archaeological research of the Neolithic period in Southwest Asia depicts socio cultural developments and proto-urban villages, resulting from an intensifying agro economy, emerging simultaneously during the first 5,000 years of the Holocene (11,000 to 6,000 bp). Kholetria-Orfoj, Cyprus and Wadi Shu'eib, Jordan are highlighted in this thesis to illustrate variability found in a proposed "Neolithic package." The "Neolithic package" is a time capsule of items and ideas centered on sedentary villages participating in a domesticated plant/animal driven economy that provided subsistence and surplus to a growing population. Analysis of the recovered artifacts from both sites finds evidence of cultural variability across time and space. Environmental and cultural interactions are speculated upon as possible causation for differences seen between these two sites. A world view for the Neolithic experience is hypothesized by incorporating components of a core/periphery model. Keywords: Neolithic package. Southwest Asia, proto-urban village, agro-economy, and core/periphery dependency relations. m Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................... üi LIST OF HGURES ...................................................................................................... vi LISTOFTABLES.......................................................................................................... vü ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................vüi CHAPTER 1 VILLAGES ON THE PERIPHERY........................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................1 1.2 Framework ...................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Wadi Shu'eib, Jordan ........................................................................................4 1.4 Kholetria-Orrof, Cyprus ....................................................................................6 1.5 Theoretical Perspective ....................................................................................7 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW..........................................................................14 2.1 Introduction .....................................................................................................14 2.2 What is the "Neolithic Package"?................................................................... 19 2.3 Wadi Shu'eib................................................................................... 25 2.4 Kholetria-(9/to5 ..............................................................................................28 2.5 Mainland/Island Interaction ........................................................................... 31 CHAPTER 3 ENVIRONMENTAL DATA ...................................................................35 3.1 Why Emphasize the Environment? ...............................................................35 3.2 The Geology, Climate, and Biota of Cyprus and Jordan: Past and Present . 36 3.2.1 Cyprus ..............................................................................................37 3.2.2 Jordan ..............................................................................................43 CHAPTER 4 WADI SHU'EIB SITE REPORT.............................................................47 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 47 4.2 Excavation Results ..........................................................................................47 4.3 Cultural Package Identified at Wadi S hu'eib ................................................ 50 4.3.1 Chipped Stone..................................................................................50 4.3.2 Ceramics..........................................................................................54 4.3.3 Human Remains ............................................................................. 54 4.3.4 Architecture ....................................................................................55 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 4.3.5 Economie Animal and Plant Remains .........................................................58 4.4 Chronology ..................................................................................................59 CHAPTER 5 KHOLETRIA-ORTOS SITE REPORT.....................................................61 5.1 Introduction ...................... 61 5.2 Ortos' Cultural Package ................................................................................. 66 5.2.1 Chipped Stone ................................................................................. 66 5.2.2 Ground Stone ................................................................................. 75 5.2.3 Economic Animal and Plant Rem ains ............................................ 80 5.2.4 Human Remains ............................................................................