Design and performance of microlith implemented projectiles during the Middle and the Late Epipaleolithic of the Levant: experimental and archaeological evidence

The study comprises an experimentally based investigation of interaction between temporal change in the morphology of microlithic tools and transformations in projectile technology during the Late Pleistocene in the Levant. Archery experiments with differently designed arrows fitted with various types of microliths representing subsequent Epipaleolithic cultures of the Levant allowed analyzing performance abilities of the arrows, identifying projectile damage types characteristic of particular hafting modes, detecting factors influencing the frequency of projectile damage and estimating the frequency of projectile damage expected to be found in archaeological samples. The data obtained through the experiments applied in the analysis of the archaeological microliths from Geometric Kebaran and Natufian sites in Israel indicate different approaches to the design of projectiles fitted with microliths characteristic for these cultures. The shift in design, associated with such important economic and social transformations as transition to sedentary settlements and a broad-spectrum economy, may reflect a demand for light, flexible and efficient projectile weapons requiring low time and labor investment for preparation and retooling. The use of such efficient weapons in conditions of growing population density and restricted areas available for Natufian hunter–gatherers can be considered as one of the factors that could have affected the subsequent transition to food production that took place in the early Holocene.     

Characterizing the rural landscape during the Iron Age and Roman period (ca. 1200 b.c.–a.d. 400): An intensive survey of Wadi al-Feidh,southern Jordan

Abstract

Archaeological surveys in the southern Levant have traditionally focused on areas with favorable climates and flat terrain where large urban sites are found, corresponding with a research focus on social complexity and state formation. Fewer surveys have explored the rocky, difficult-to-reach areas where large-scale agriculture was rare. This article uses survey data from the 2009 survey of Wadi al-Feidh, southern Jordan, to demonstrate the importance of exploring these environmentally marginal areas. Employing an intensive survey methodology, we recorded a range of sites and features previously unrecognized in this region. These findings suggest that subsistence patterns shifted from small-scale, mixed agro-pastoralism in the Iron Age (1200–586 b.c.) to a more intensive, top-down strategy of agricultural production by the Roman period (ca. 100 b.c.–a.d. 400). The results provide new insight into regional socioeconomic change in the southern Levant from the perspective of peripheral communities.     

Beyond Boundaries: Nature,Culture and a Holistic Approach to Domestication in the Levant

The main objective of this paper is to suggest an alternative approach for the investigation of domestication in the Levant. First, basic data regarding domestication in the Levant are presented. Then the various traditional approaches towards domestication in the prehistoric Levant, labeled (1) environmental, (2) social and anthropological, and (3) cognitive, are briefly reviewed. This discussion forms the basis for a proposal of a “holistic approach,” in which domestication is regarded as a long-term, multidimensional and multirelational phenomenon, including many elements—such as plants, animals, humans, material culture and ancestors—with increasing human manipulation of these various constituents. After a presentation of the theoretical framework, a growth metaphor is used to reconstruct the process of domestication (ca. 20,000–6500 B.P.) as a number of phases: (1) germination in the Kebaran; (2) development in the Early Natufian; (3) retreat/dormancy in the Late/Final Natufian; (4) growth in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A; (5) florescence in the Early- and Middle Pre-Pottery Neolithic B: (6) further development in the Late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B; (7) dispersal in the Final Pre-Pottery Neolithic B and the Pottery Neolithic. In each of these phases, relations between the various elements are dealt with, special attention being paid to symbolical relations, as evidenced by “art” and ritual.     

Ochre,Ground Stone,and Wrapping the Dead in the Late Epipalaeolithic (Natufian) Levant: Revealing the Funerary Practices at Shubayqa 1, Jordan

The appearance of rich and diverse funerary practices is one of the hallmarks of the Late Epipalaeolithic Natufian in the Levant. Numerous burials at a number of sites excavated mostly in the Mediterranean zone of the southern Levant have fed into the interpretation of the Natufian as a sedentary society of complex hunter-gatherers. Here, we report on the human remains recovered from Shubayqa 1, a well-dated early to late Natufian site in northeast Jordan. The majority of the minimum of 23 individuals that are represented are perinates and infants, which represents an atypical population profile. Ground stone artifacts and traces of colorants are associated with some of these individuals, providing a rare insight into funerary treatment of subadults in Natufian contexts. We interpret the Shubayqa 1 evidence in the light of current and ongoing debates concerning Natufian burial practices and the issue of social complexity.     

OLYNTHUS MILLSTONES IN THE SOUTHERN LEVANT: THE BACKDROP TO THE MARITIME TRADE OF OLYNTHUS MILLSTONES

Abstract

This article aims to illustrate the background behind the maritime trade of Olynthus-type millstones in the eastern Mediterranean region. A look at the distribution of southern Aegean Olynthus millstones, whose provenances were identified by Williams-Thorpe and Thorpe’s petrographic analysis, reveals that millstones were not a major import into the southern Levant, where local Olynthus millstones were produced and distributed. They were more frequent in Cyprus, where they were valued locally due to the dearth of stones appropriate for use as millstones. The analysis of Williams-Thorpe and Thorpe also suggests that southern Levantine millstones, in contrast to millstones from earlier and later periods, were not exported to other Mediterranean regions. Shipwreck remains from the eastern Mediterranean, as well as the distribution of commercial Rhodian amphorae, reveal that Rhodian merchants carried wine and millstones from the southern Aegean to Cyprus. The southern Levant, where a number of locally produced Olynthus mills were unearthed, was self-sufficient in millstones. Hence, the Rhodian merchants, who dominated eastern Mediterranean trade, used the southern Aegean millstones as saleable ballast.     

Technological Change and Economy in the Epipalaeolithic: Assessing the Shift from Early to Middle Epipalaeolithic at Kharaneh IV

Epipalaeolithic hunter-gatherer communities in the Southern Levant exhibit numerous complex trends that suggest that the transition to the Neolithic was patchy and protracted. This paper explores the changing nature of occupation at the Epipalaeolithic site Kharaneh IV, Jordan, through an in-depth analysis of the lithic and faunal assemblages. Focusing on the analysis of a single deep sounding (unit AS42), we address how Kharaneh IV occupations link to the local landscape and environmental changes. As an aggregation site, Kharaneh IV represents an interesting locale to explore the changing nature of aggregation and social cohesion prior to the origins of agriculture, as well as changes in technology and subsistence between the Early and Middle Epipalaeolithic. We explore the tempo and nature of transition from one archaeological culture to the next through changes in technology and how this reflects the people making and using tools, to understand how foragers adapted to a changing landscape.     

Plant remains from Roman period town of Obulco (today Porcuna) in Andalusia (Spain)—distribution and domestication of olive in the west Mediterranean region

The aim of this work is (1) to identify the key characteristics of agriculture and the role of olive in Porcuna (Andalusia) of Roman period and (2) to derive a conclusion about the origin of cultivated olive. The study of the literature showed that the olive is one of the most esteemed fruit species in the Classical Mediterranean world and is considered to have been domesticated first in Levant region. The signs of cultivation appear since the Neolithic. The authors analysed 18 samples from archaeological sites. Sorting and identification were carried out using a binocular microscope with the help of comparative collection of seeds/fruits and identification atlases (Digital Seed Atlas of the Netherlands: Cappers et al. 2006). A total number of 19,616 remains was studied. The remains belong to groups of fruit trees, cereals, pulses and synanthropic plants. The cultivated species were used for domestic purposes. The cereals, pulses and mesocarps of the fruits served as food. Important characteristic trait was the overrepresentation of olives. The authors give a summary of the development that led to the cultivation and domestication of the olive tree and to reconstruct its early diffusion using different sources of information, such as archaeobotanical analysis, archaeological data and genetical studies. As a result, a better understanding of the domestication and use of olive on a Mediterranean scale is given. This study also discusses cultivated and synanthropic species in Roman settlements on the Iberian Peninsula.     

SHRINES AND CERAMICS IN CHALCOLITHIC ISRAEL: THE VIEW THROUGH THE PETROGRAPHIC MICROSCOPE

The question of the nature of social and economic life in the Chalcolithic southern Levant has recently been the subject of increasing interest. Several archaeological sites and features in Israel have been interpreted as elements of religion. These include the shrines at En-Gedi and Gilat and the Nahal Mishmar hoard. The results of petrographic analyses of the pottery assemblages of these three sites, as well as the ceramic cores of copper artefacts from Nahal Mishmar and additional sites, are presented. In light of these results some previous hypotheses are tested. Alternative suggestions are offered as to the role of these sites in the life of the inhabitants of the Chalcolithic southern Levant.     

Managing the risk of climatic variability in late prehistoric northern Chile

The concept of risk management encompasses the diverse strategies employed in preventing and mitigating losses associated with social and environmental calamities. Building on the growing literature on risk, we use archaeological data from the Tarapacá Valley, located in northern Chile, to document the risk-reduction tactics mobilized by the valley’s inhabitants to navigate the increasingly volatile environmental and social conditions of the Late Intermediate Period (AD 1000–1450). With the onset of exceptionally unpredictable environmental conditions after AD 1100, residents of the Tarapacá Valley chose strategies such as increased trade and agricultural diversification and extensification to minimize shortages in staple resources. Threats of raiding and intra-community strife exacerbated the risks associated with subsistence shortfalls. Valley communities elected a number of strategies to curtail conflict-induced risk, including movement of settlements and field systems to defensible locations, construction of walls and other defensive features, and the introduction of plazas. Rock art data suggest that trade was increasingly embedded in ritually sanctioned events involving groups from different ecological zones. While studies of risk have focused disproportionately on environmental hazards, subsistence-related crises are often compounded by social hazards that require their own risk-mitigating strategies, further constraining options for coping with subsistence stress.     

Mobility patterns and core technologies in the Middle Paleolithic of the Levant

Mobility is thought to be a significant source of Middle Paleolithic archaeological variability in the East Mediterranean Levant. However, models of Levantine Middle Paleolithic land-use have historically been based on rare and taphonomically sensitive evidence from a limited number of sites. Because lithic artifacts are the most ubiquitous archaeological remains available to the prehistorian, relationships between stone tool technology and mobility patterns can improve tests of hypotheses about prehistoric land-use strategies. This paper examines variation in Middle Paleolithic mobility strategies in the Levant from the perspective of core technology. A model linking expedient core reduction techniques and decreased mobility is adapted from one developed for late prehistoric contexts in the New World. Incorporating core data from numerous Levantine Middle Paleolithic assemblages, this study tests hypotheses about diachronic change, synchronic geographic variation, and possible hominin behavioral differences in mobility strategies.     

A provenance study of Mycenaean pottery from Northern Israel

The occurrence of imported Mycenaean pottery in the Late Bronze Age southern Levant is one of the most conspicuous aspects of Eastern Mediterranean trade connections during this period. A group of 183 Mycenaean pottery vessels from 14 sites in northern Israel, from both coastal and inland settlement contexts were analyzed by Neutron Activation Analysis. The results indicate that the vast majority of these vessels have a similar profile and can be provenanced to the north-eastern Peloponnese or more specifically, to the Mycenae/Berbati workshop in the Argolid. Possible interpretations of these results are presented and discussed against the historical and cultural background of the Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean.     

Material Movement in the Near Eastern Epipalaeolithic: Implications of the Shell and Stone Beads of Direkli Cave,Turkey

Direkli Cave is an Epipalaeolithic site in the central Taurus mountain range in southeastern Turkey that was used by mobile hunter-gatherer communities. The assemblage of beads from the cave, made primarily from shell (marine and freshwater) and stone, shows new evidence both that bead materials were brought to the site from the shores of the Mediterranean and that the material culture of the site has relationships to the Levant, northern Mesopotamia, and inner Anatolia. This article questions how such a bead assemblage should be interpreted in the light of existing evidence for the Near Eastern and Anatolian Epipalaeolithic and what it adds to our understanding of the better known contemporary Natufian culture of the Levant. It considers the long-distance movement of materials, interregional material cultural influences, and the way the Epipalaeolithic period is conceptualized more broadly.     

Foreign ceramic tradition,local clays: the Handmade Burnished Ware of Tell Kazel (Syria)

Late Bronze Age Handmade Burnished Ware (HMBW) from Tell Kazel was studied by thin-section petrography and neutron activation analysis in order to investigate its manufacturing technology and origin of production. Results show that the majority of the HMBW fabric groups point to a local area of production while a few petrographic loners might have been produced elsewhere in the Akkar Plain or imported. The manufacturing technique, in terms of clay paste recipe, forming and finishing techniques, is however new in the Tell Kazel pottery assemblage, hinting at the work of foreigners present at the site. The historical and archaeological contexts further suggest that these foreigners were some of the Sea Peoples and the stylistic and analytical data further reinforce the link between the northern Levant and the western Mediterranean.     

Subsistence and mobility strategies in the Epipalaeolithic: a stable isotope analysis of human and faunal remains at 'Uyun al-Hammam,northern Jordan

This paper investigates evidence for subsistence and settlement activities in the Levantine Middle Epipalaeolithic through the application of stable isotope analysis to human and non-human remains from the site of 'Uyun al-Hammam, northern Jordan. In general, bone from the site suffers a high degree of diagenesis and collagen could not be extracted for analysis here. Carbon and oxygen isotopic values from human tooth enamel samples were variable, but within expected values for the Middle Epipalaeolithic, whereas animal carbon and oxygen isotopic values varied widely, most likely due to hydrological and climatological factors. Carbon and isotopic values for the human samples indicated a predominantly C₃ plant dietary input, while animal samples appeared to have varying amounts of C₄ inputs into their diet. This is the first isotopic analysis conducted on material from the Middle Epipalaeolithic of the southern Levant and, as such, even results constrained by temporal and climatological variants within the region contribute to the overall knowledge of settlement and subsistence strategies during this cultural period.     

Cabotage at Aperlae in Ancient Lycia

Aperlae was a small remote maritime city in ancient Lycia with a millennial floruit (late 4th century BC through the late 7th century AD). The harsh terrain of its hinterland forced a reliance on the Mediterranean from its founding to its demise. The Aperlites stabilized and enhanced their urban waterfronts in modest ways over the centuries, but basically they maintained and sustained their intimate relationship with the sea without elaborate docking or harbour installations. Fishing, probably a primary industry, centred on the harvest of murex trunculus , the marine mollusk from which purple dye was made. This valuable commodity appears to have been produced in Aperlae for export to Andriake, the international emporium of nearby Myra, for transshipment to textile centres throughout the Mediterranean. There, coastal traders also acquired the necessities and luxuries the city needed but did not produce. Proxy evidence, impressive archaeological features on land and under the sea, speaks to moments of prosperity for Aperlae well beyond mere subsistence. Cabotage was this secondary port's enduring lifeline.     

INCENSE, CAMELS AND COLLARED RIM JARS: DESERT TRADE ROUTES AND MARITIME OUTLETS IN THE SECOND MILLENNIUM

Summary. The camel-borne incense trade, from Arabia to the Levant, was an important element in the economy of the eastern Mediterranean region in the first millennium BC. This paper suggests that its origins can be traced back to the Late Bronze Age, and that the junction of overland and maritime routes explains the wealth of coastal sites such as Tel Nami, Israel. The occurrence there of Collared Rim Jars in contexts dating to the thirteenth century BC suggests that the form began as a transport container, capable of being carried on board ship or on land by camels.     

A Variation on a Basic Theme: The Transition to Farming in Southern Central Europe

This paper attempts to summarize the past years of research on the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in Central Europe and to review recent discussions about the origin and spread of the Early Neolithic. Particular emphasis is given to the debate about migration or diffusion. A combined migrationist/diffusionist model is presented, arguing for an emergence of a farming economy among hunter-gatherer populations in Transdanubia and the subsequent spread of this economy through migration. The new settlers interacted with local Mesolithic groups and adopted and incorporated local material culture and sometimes even aspects of local Mesolithic economy, a process which continued throughout the Early Neolithic. With time, population increase, subsequent competition for resources, and climatic instability led to a destabilization of traditional Early Neolithic society and finally to the outbreak of severe intercommunity violence. The only escape from mutual extinction was a rearrangement of subsistence and social and political structures, possibly with contributions from surviving Terminal Mesolithic groups.     

The implications of water storage for human settlement in Mediterranean waterless islands: The example of Pantelleria

Abstract

Consistent water supply is a common issue in the history of Mediterranean civilizations, where hydraulic solutions, such as cisterns, wells, reservoirs and aqueducts, were adopted for private and public supply. In this context, the island of Pantelleria, where surface freshwater is virtually non-existent, represents a unique case for understanding human–environment interaction in waterless environments. Here, in historical times, year-round water supply was only possible through the storage of rainwater in underground cisterns. An intensive field survey carried out across the island led to the discovery of hundreds of cisterns dated from the Punic and Roman periods to the present day. The study of the spatial distribution of the cisterns was compared with archaeological data on the island to gain new insights on historical settlement and demographic patterns. The present work focusses on a semi-quantitative assessment of water storage on the island of Pantelleria based on the evaluation of potential volumes of stored water for different periods. Data available for cisterns in Pantelleria have been analysed and compared with those from coeval Mediterranean regions. Calculations on the seasonal fluctuation between water demand and supply have been estimated to evaluate the efficiency of such system for sustaining human population and subsistence activities through time.     

The excavation of hayonim terrace: an examination of terminal pleistocene climatic and adaptive changes

The investigation of the epipalaeolithic site of Hayonim Terrace contributes new evidence relative to our understanding of the series of adaptive changes which took place among populations of Palestine during the terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene. The study defines a cultural continuity between the Geometric Kebaran A and Natufian archaeological complexes against a changing environmental background. A succession of environmental oscillations which occurred between c. 12,500 and 10,000 BP is identified and discussed in regard to changes in epipalaeolithic economic and adaptive patterns. An episode of climatic amelioration (c. 12,000-11,000 BP) apparently contributed to the expansion of cereals into the Mediterranean hill zone and the abandonment of palaeolithic hunting and gathering strategy by Natufian cereal collectors. Subsequent environmental deterioration associated with the onset of drier conditions (c. 11,000 BP) prompted Natufian populations to attempt to maintain their habitable territory artificially, through the cultivation of cereals.     

Culinary Crafts and Foods in Southwestern Ethiopia: An Ethnoarchaeological Study of Gamo Groundstones and Pottery

Few ethnoarchaeological studies have combined the production and use of groundstones and pottery as indicators of household variation in subsistence and socioeconomics. This ethnoarchaeological study explores how the Gamo people who live in southwestern Ethiopia interact with their culinary tools of pottery and groundstones. One of the unique cultural features of the Gamo is their strict caste system, which forces artisans such as potters and groundstone makers into a full-time specialization. This paper uses a chaîne opératoire analysis regarding groundstone and pottery production and then addresses their use by drawing from household studies from three Gamo communities. The analysis discusses the role that social hierarchy can have on cooking and craft variation within households. Thus, these artisans bring to life crafts that give the Gamo tools to create their daily subsistence, and these tools and foods allow us to explore two key archaeological issues: subsistence and socioeconomic variation of people’s households.