Remedy for an 8500 year-old plastered human skull from Kfar Hahoresh, Israel

Hershkovitz, Israel; Zohar, Irit; Segal, Irina; Speirs, M.; Meirav, O.; Sherter, U.; Feldman, Hannah; Goring-Morris, A. Nigel

doi:10.1016/0305-4403(95)90007-1

Cited by 21 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…It is, therefore, a process of recreating the physical structure that embodies both the living and the dead, one that transcends different realms through the application of plaster, clay, and paint. It is also clear that community or household members often replastered the removed skulls several times, applying multiple layers of plaster and paint (Hershkovitz et al 1995;Hershkovitz et al 1996). In this context, then, such skulls served as dynamic ritual objects probably used for many years if not generations.…”

Section: Images and Memorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Place, Death, and the Transmission of Social Memory in Early Agricultural Communities of the Near Eastern Pre‐Pottery Neolithic

Kuijt

2001

Archaeological Papers of the American

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Section: Images and Memorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Place, Death, and the Transmission of Social Memory in Early Agricultural Communities of the Near Eastern Pre‐Pottery Neolithic

Kuijt

2001

Archaeological Papers of the American

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“…The central funerary area comprises numerous lime-plastered surfaces, low bounding and slope-breaking walls, cists, platforms and associated features and installations, as well as human graves. Over 60 individuals have been identified from the three main grave clusters and other contexts (Eshed, GoringMorris, & Hershkovitz, in press;Goring-Morris & Horwitz, 2007;Hershkovitz et al, 1995;Horwitz & Goring-Morris 2004;Simmons et al, 2007). 2.…”

Section: The Site and Its Settingmentioning

confidence: 97%

Early pyrotechnology in the Near East: Experimental lime‐plaster production at the Pre‐Pottery Neolithic B site of Kfar HaHoresh, Israel

Goren

Goring-Morris

2008

Geoarchaeology

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A characteristic hallmark of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) in the southern Levant was the extensive use of lime plaster for architectural and other purposes. Yet no obvious kilns have been identified in archaeological contexts. Here we present details of an experimental pit-kiln modeling lime-plaster production based on observed burnt stone accumulations in pits at the PPNB site of Kfar HaHoresh in the lower Galilee. The experimental kiln was loaded in layers with ~500 kg of limestone (pebbles and stones) and ~1000 kg of fuel (branches and dung). Fired for 24 hours, and reaching a maximum 870ºC, the kiln yielded almost 250 kg of quicklime (calcium oxide, CaO). Micromorphological samples, general observations, and scaled plan view drawings made immediately following and nine years after ignition demonstrate that the original shape of the kiln and residual quicklime within and around it rapidly dissipated through bioturbation, trampling by animals, erosion, rain, and exposure to the elements. This could account for the seeming absence of kilns within sites, although they were probably located close to where lime-plaster was applied, given the unstable nature and toxic effects of handling quicklime. Calculations of the manpower and fuel involved indicate that PPNB lime-plaster production may have been less labor intensive and less detrimental to the environment than previously portrayed.

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“…Little attention has been devoted to considering how objects and the rituals in which they may have been employed might inform us about Neolithic perceptions of ancestry, memory, and commemoration. For the most part researchers have focused on developing detailed descriptions of the materiality of ritual (e.g., Bienert1991; Garfinkel 1994) or, more recently, the technology of the production of plastered skulls and anthropomorphic figurines (e.g., Bonogofsky 2002;Goren, Goring-Morris, and Segal 2001;Hershkovitz et al 1995).…”

Section: Early Neolithic Villages: Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other MPPNB settlements, such as Beisamoun, portrayed individuals with closed eyes shaped in clay, creating the appearance of someone sleeping, or with an open eye modeled in plaster (Griffin, Grisson, and Rollefson 1998). It is also possible that only Hershkovitz (1989), Griffin et al (1998), Goren et al (2001), Hershkovitz et al (1995), Stordeur (2003a, b) people at certain sites employed cinnabar and ochre for pigmentation (see Goren, Goring-Morris and Segal 2001). Thus, MPPNB skull plastering should be conceived of as a shared regional system of embodiment with variation in practice based on particular local histories ( fig.…”

Section: Regeneration Of Life From Plastermentioning

confidence: 99%