Different Strokes for Different Folks: Near Eastern Neolithic Mortuary Practices in Perspective

Goring-Morris, A. Nigel; Belfer‐Cohen, Anna

doi:10.1017/cbo9781107239043.004

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Abundant cattle in the EPPNB is clearly also related to the role of this wild species in ritual practices at the site and elsewhere [11,36,109,110]. Cattle were recovered from more structured deposits than other taxa in the 2010–2012 faunal sample at KHH.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Göbekli Tepe and Çatalhöyük) [112–114]. Wild animal hunting likely held particular symbolic importance, which became especially poignant as the division of labor and labor scheduling were reconfigured during the development of animal management and cultivation [108,110,115,116]. Wild animal hunting may have sent a more costly signal of group membership than that of controlled animals during many types of rituals at KHH, such as feasts featuring the communal hunting of multiple dangerous wild cattle individuals [11].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Provisioning the Ritual Neolithic Site of Kfar HaHoresh, Israel at the Dawn of Animal Management

2016

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It is widely agreed that a pivotal shift from wild animal hunting to herd animal management, at least of goats, began in the southern Levant by the Middle Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period (10,000–9,500 cal. BP) when evidence of ritual activities flourished in the region. As our knowledge of this critical change grows, sites that represent different functions and multiple time periods are needed to refine the timing, pace and character of changing human-animal relationships within the geographically variable southern Levant. In particular, we investigate how a ritual site was provisioned with animals at the time when herd management first began in the region. We utilize fauna from the 2010–2012 excavations at the mortuary site of Kfar HaHoresh—the longest continuous Pre-Pottery Neolithic B faunal sequence in the south Levantine Mediterranean Hills (Early–Late periods, 10,600–8,700 cal. BP). We investigate the trade-off between wild and domestic progenitor taxa and classic demographic indicators of management to detect changes in hunted animal selection and control over herd animal movement and reproduction. We find that ungulate selection at Kfar HaHoresh differs from neighboring sites, although changes in dietary breadth, herd demographics and body-size data fit the regional pattern of emerging management. Notably, wild ungulates including aurochs and gazelle are preferentially selected to provision Kfar HaHoresh in the PPNB, despite evidence that goat management was underway in the Mediterranean Hills. The preference for wild animals at this important site likely reflects their symbolic significance in ritual and mortuary practice.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Provisioning the Ritual Neolithic Site of Kfar HaHoresh, Israel at the Dawn of Animal Management

2016

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“…From the wider Levant, the PPNB burial record is very well attested although the vast majority of the data derives from villages rather than from caves (Croucher 2012;Goring-Morris and Belfer-Cohen 2014;Kuijt 2000Kuijt , 2002Kuijt and Goring-Morris 2002). One of the exceptions to this is the remarkable Middle PPNB cache of human crania and other remains from Nahal Hemar Cave in the southern Judean Desert (Arensburg and Hershkovitz 1988;Bar-Yosef and Allon 1988).…”

Section: Pre-pottery Neolithic Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

Epipalaeolithic and Pre-Pottery Neolithic burials from the north Lebanese highlands in their regional context

Garrard

Edwards

Stock

et al. 2018

Levant

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Archaeological human remains and their funerary contexts provide valuable insights into social and ideological lives as well as the origins, health and activities of past communities. In the southern Levant extensive cemeteries from the Late Epipalaeolithic (Natufian) and Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) have been recognized, although burials from earlier periods are sparse. Elsewhere in the Levant the record from the whole Epipalaeolithic is poor. Excavations at two adjacent caves at Moghr el-Ahwal in the Qadisha Valley of northern Lebanon have provided a window into human lives and mortuary practices from an otherwise poorly known region. This includes material from contexts with radiocarbon dates ranging from the late Kebaran, Geometric Kebaran and Natufian (c. 19-13.8 ka cal BP) as well as directly dated skeletal material from the mid to late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (c. 9.9-9.5 ka cal BP). Although this forested mountain area may have been isolated from other regions in the Levant, the burial practices show links to the wider area.

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“…comm.). At the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B ritual site of Kfar Hahoresh, human skulls were found with numerous fox mandibles, and partly articulated fox bones were excavated from two child burials (Horwitz & Goring-Morris 2004;Goring-Morris 2005;Meier et al 2017). Small carnivores, especially foxes, are associated with human burials before the Neolithic, and seem to have been symbolic.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the pre-Natufian site (15 250–12 200 cal BC) of Uyun-al-Hammam, Jordan, a partly articulated fox skeleton was found in a human burial (Maher et al . 2011; Goring-Morris & Belfer-Cohen 2013). Fox teeth and mandibles are often found in Natufian burials (Davis & Valla 1978; Tchernov & Valla 1997; Goring-Morris 2005; Goring-Morris & Belfer-Cohen 2013).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Tails of animism: a joint burial of humans and foxes in Pre-Pottery Neolithic Motza, Israel

et al. 2019

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The recent discovery of a Late/Final Pre-Pottery Neolithic B burial of an adult and two children associated with fox bones at the site of Motza, Israel, demonstrates the broader socio-cultural perspective, and possibly continued animistic world views, of Neolithic foragers at the onset of the agricultural revolution.Recent excavations at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B mega-site of Motza (7600-6000 BC), central Israel, have revealed a rare human burial with two foxes. The fox bones were dismembered, except for one foot found in articulation, and scattered among the human remains. What could this burial reveal about interactions between humans and small carnivores in the eighth and seventh millennia BC? We propose that Neolithisation entails closer relations between humans and small carnivores, relations that find expression in ritual practice. This is an animistic reflection of an anthropogenic ecology, which is advantageous to such animals and can be related to the general transition to agriculture in the Levant during this period.Motza, located in the Judean Hills west of Jerusalem, is one of the largest sites in the southern Levant, approximately 40ha (Figure 1). It was previously excavated (Khalaily et al. 2007) and is remarkable for its architecture, plaster floors, a lithic assemblage rich in arrowheads, multiple graves and numerous animal bones. As one of the earliest and largest agricultural villages in the Mediterranean phytogeographic zone, Motza has much to

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Different Strokes for Different Folks: Near Eastern Neolithic Mortuary Practices in Perspective

Cited by 13 publications

References 38 publications

Provisioning the Ritual Neolithic Site of Kfar HaHoresh, Israel at the Dawn of Animal Management

Provisioning the Ritual Neolithic Site of Kfar HaHoresh, Israel at the Dawn of Animal Management

Epipalaeolithic and Pre-Pottery Neolithic burials from the north Lebanese highlands in their regional context

Tails of animism: a joint burial of humans and foxes in Pre-Pottery Neolithic Motza, Israel

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