On ‘sedentism’ in the Later Epipalaeolithic (Natufian) Levant

Boyd, Brian

doi:10.1080/00438240600688398

Cited by 104 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 24 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Certainly the apparent increased degree of sedentism in the Early Natufian period suggests that people were able to reduce seasonal food risks to the point where they could live in the same areas for 1 or more seasons of the year. There is, however, surprisingly little direct evidence for food storage (2,3). The strongest is from 'Ain Mallaha (4), where pits are often termed silos although their specific function is unclear.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for food storage and predomestication granaries 11,000 years ago in the Jordan Valley

Kuijt

Finlayson²

2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

201

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Food storage is a vital component in the economic and social package that comprises the Neolithic, contributing to plant domestication, increasingly sedentary lifestyles, and new social organizations. Recent excavations at Dhra' near the Dead Sea in Jordan provide strong evidence for sophisticated, purpose-built granaries in a predomestication context Ϸ11,300 -11,175 cal B.P., which support recent arguments for the deliberate cultivation of wild cereals at this time. Designed with suspended floors for air circulation and protection from rodents, they are located between residential structures that contain plant-processing instillations. The granaries represent a critical evolutionary shift in the relationship between people and plant foods, which precedes the emergence of domestication and large-scale sedentary communities by at least 1,000 years.Near East ͉ Neolithic ͉ forager-farmer transition N ew archaeological work at the PPNA (Pre-Pottery Neolithic A; Ϸ11,500-10,500 cal B.P.) site of Dhra', located next to the Dead Sea in Jordan, reveals clear evidence for large-scale storage in sophisticated, purpose-built granaries before the domestication of plants. Evidence for PPNA food storage illustrates a major transition in the economic and social organization of human communities. The transition from economic systems based on collecting and foraging of wild food resources before this point to cultivation and foraging of mixed wild and managed resources in the PPNA illustrates a major intensification of human-plant relationships.People in the PPNA were the first in the world to develop systematic large-scale food storage. In the Early Natufian period (Ϸ15,000/14,500-12,800 cal B.P.), people used a remarkably wide range of wild plants and animals, lived in relatively large well-made semisubterranean buildings for much of the year, and undoubtedly had a detailed knowledge of the seasonality and availability of these resources (1). Certainly the apparent increased degree of sedentism in the Early Natufian period suggests that people were able to reduce seasonal food risks to the point where they could live in the same areas for 1 or more seasons of the year. There is, however, surprisingly little direct evidence for food storage (2, 3). The strongest is from 'Ain Mallaha (4), where pits are often termed silos although their specific function is unclear. There is indirect evidence in the Natufian for plant food processing, including the presence of sickles, mortars, and pestles. Although Natufian people probably engaged in some form of low-level food storage, they also situated their settlements where they were able to use high-yield food resources from multiple natural ecotones in different seasons. With the onset of the climatic downturn of the Younger Dryas, people in the Late Natufian period (Ϸ12,800-11,500 cal B.P.) returned to more mobile economic and subsistence strategies. Late Natufian people abandoned earlier settlements, adopted new systems seasonal residential movement, and rarely built residential structu...

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for food storage and predomestication granaries 11,000 years ago in the Jordan Valley

Kuijt

Finlayson²

2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

201

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This new burial practice is related to a dramatic socioeconomic change associated with the central role of the Natufian culture in the transition from foraging to farming. The Natufians were the first society to adopt a sedentary lifestyle (3)(4)(5) and thus, experienced substantial socioeconomic reorganization and innovation necessitated by the demand of aggregation for long periods of time. First and foremost amongst these changes is the beginning of the shift from a foraging to a farming economy (6).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A 12,000-year-old Shaman burial from the southern Levant (Israel)

Grosman

Munro

Belfer‐Cohen

2008

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

144

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Natufians of the southern Levant (15,000 -11,500 cal BP) underwent pronounced socioeconomic changes associated with the onset of sedentism and the shift from a foraging to farming lifestyle. Excavations at the 12,000-year-old Natufian cave site, Hilazon Tachtit (Israel), have revealed a grave that provides a rare opportunity to investigate the ideological shifts that must have accompanied these socioeconomic changes. The grave was constructed and specifically arranged for a petite, elderly, and disabled woman, who was accompanied by exceptional grave offerings. The grave goods comprised 50 complete tortoise shells and select body-parts of a wild boar, an eagle, a cow, a leopard, and two martens, as well as a complete human foot. The interment rituals and the method used to construct and seal the grave suggest that this is the burial of a shaman, one of the earliest known from the archaeological record. Several attributes of this burial later become central in the spiritual arena of human cultures worldwide.Hilazon Tachtit Cave ͉ Natufian ͉ mortuary practices ͉ origins of agriculture

show abstract

“…Such an interpretation has, however, never been fully accepted (e.g. Olszewski 1991;Kaufman 1992;Byrd 2005;Boyd 2006). Wild cereals may have played a noteworthy role in Epipalaeolithic diet well before Natufian times (e.g., Nadel and Hershkowitz 1991;Weiss et al 2004), and a broad spectrum of other plants may, in fact, have overshadowed the importance of cereals even during the Natufian (Olszewski 1993).…”

Section: The Natufian Examplementioning

confidence: 97%

“…On the one hand, evidence for yearround sedentism during the Natufian is problematic at best (Boyd 2006). On the other hand, even during the Early Epipalaeolithic, evidence for a reoccupation of specific locations exists, for example at Ohalo II (Nadel and Werker 1999).…”

Section: The Natufian Examplementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The materiality of dung: the manipulation of dung in Neolithic Mediterranean caves

Mlekuž

2009

Doc. praeh.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

IntroductionNeolithic, Copper and Bronze age occupation levels in Mediterranean caves often consist of curious white powdery sediments. They were recently identified as layers of burnt herbivore dung. They represent the remnants of complex manipulations of matter, which includes the burning of dung to create white ash. These sediments pose a number of interesting question, not only on how and why they were produced, but also what meanings are objectified in the materiality of dung and the daily practices associated with it. Overview: burnt animal dungThe pioneering work of Jacques É. Brochier (1991; has demonstrated that mineralized dung residues in archaeological deposits can be identified by the occurrence of spherulites, microscopic crystals of calcium salt and grass phytolits. This leads to the identification of herding strategies and penning practices in Mediterranean caves from the Neolithic onwards. Thus, in the Neolithic, Eneolithic and the Bronze Age, caves were used as pens for domestic animals, mostly sheep and goat. This is further supported by the identification of shed milk teeth often found in stable deposits. However, there is also evidence that caves were probably used simultaneously for domestic activities. Caves were obviously seasonal stations in the system of transhumance (Boschian and Montagnari Kokelj 2000; Mleku∫ 2005;Miracle and Forenbaher 2005).A unique depositional practice identified in many of these caves consisted of the burning of animal dung. This practice can be recognized in layers of either alternating black and white lenses (so called 'layer-

show abstract

On ‘sedentism’ in the Later Epipalaeolithic (Natufian) Levant

Cited by 104 publications

References 24 publications

Evidence for food storage and predomestication granaries 11,000 years ago in the Jordan Valley

Evidence for food storage and predomestication granaries 11,000 years ago in the Jordan Valley

A 12,000-year-old Shaman burial from the southern Levant (Israel)

The materiality of dung: the manipulation of dung in Neolithic Mediterranean caves

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About