Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Pre-Pottery Neolithic'

During the Pre-Pottery Neolithic - Pottery Neolithic transition in the Levant, several centuries after the widespread adoption of agriculture and shortly after the adoption of mixed farming, a number of large, formerly successful communities seem to have been abandoned. These apparent settlement transformations are reported to have occurred alongside changes in technology and production, ideological behaviour and the treatment of the dead, and subsistence economy. Whether one views these purported changes as evidence of 'collapse' or not, particular transformations do seem to have taken place and require explanation. Several proposed models attempt to explain why these changes may have occurred, but the anthropogenically induced ecological degradation argument is the most pervasive. While this model has already been tested in a preliminary manner, detailed evaluation of the degradation argument partly based on agronomic research on the ecological impacts of mixed farming is still due.

An understanding of population dynamics is essential for reconstructing the trajectories of central and southern Levantine Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) villages during the Neolithic Demographic Transition (NDT). Whilst pre-existing population estimates of PPN villages have made a valuable contribution to our understanding of the Neolithic, these are based on limited methodological and theoretical frameworks, reducing the efficacy of these estimates for exploring the relationship between demographic parameters and socio-cultural development during this period. The aim of this investigation is to derive more empirically and statistically robust absolute demographic data than currently exist and to produce a more precise chronology of population size, density and growth of these early villages. Several methodologies are explored, including those based on dwelling unit size and dwelling number; residential floor area per person; population density; and allometric growth formulae. The newly devised storage provisions formulae, based on the space available for sleeping individuals within structures, was found to be the most robust and viable method. A major contribution of this research is the production of precise structural contemporaneity values derived from building use-life and phase length estimates based on a combination of archaeological, ethnographic and experimental research, and Bayesian chronological modelling of radiocarbon dates. From the results of micro-level analysis of 15 villages/village phases, a site type classification system and constants for several variables are developed for systematic application of methodologies to reconstruct population parameters of a large database of central and southern Levantine PPN villages (n = 106). Based on the final population estimate ranges, new allometric growth formulae are proposed for estimating PPN village populations in future from an assigned site type and total site extent. This research has major implications for current theory relating to PPN village population density. In particular, the commonly utilised ethnographically derived population density coefficients are found to be too low to accurately estimate the population of central and southern Levantine PPN villages. In addition, the notion that nuclear families formed the predominant dwelling unit type within these villages is dismissed in favour of more variable dwelling unit composition. Finally, the population estimates produced in this investigation were assessed against the archaeological evidence to evaluate the suitability of previously hypothesised group size thresholds and to propose additional thresholds for this period relating to changing subsistence practices, the introduction of mechanisms for reducing scalar stress and the emergence of social complexity.

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, 2015.
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 175-180).
This thesis describes the results and findings of an investigation of stone bead production at el-Hemmeh, a Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) site in Jordan. The PPNA in the Near East is uniquely characterized by the invention of agriculture and a transition to a sedentary lifestyle, and has therefore been the focus of much research in the region. El-Hemmeh uniquely exhibits multiple phases of occupation during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A and again during the Late Pre-Pottery neolithic B, and so presents an opportunity to track changes over time at a single site and to highlight aspects of technological style in the PPNA. Stone beads and raw stone material from both the PPNA and LPPNB at el-Hemmeh are analyzed in this thesis. Patterns of typology, color and material are systematically explored, and manufacturing methods are reconstructed based on the close examination of perforations, polishing, and tool marks on ten PPNA beads carefully selected as case studies. The typology of PPN stone beads at el-Hemmeh falls into place with a regional range of shapes and sizes, although I propose here the establishment of a distinct category of rectangular beads. These rectangular beads may have one or two perforations, are only found in the PPNA, only made of greenstone, and may have a distinct cultural significance. Selection of raw material seems motivated primarily by color considerations, and color in the LPPNB sees a shift from green to red. Stone bead production at el-Hemmeh is one characterized by local production influenced by a regional style and motivated by social and cultural developments.
by Danielle Raad.
S.M.

The analysed faunal assemblages are coming from Tell AbuSuwwan Neolithic site in Jordan. Tell AbuSuwwan is one of the Neolithic mega-farming sites. Radiocarbon datings show a continuous occupation of the site from the Pre-pottery Neolithic A until the Pottery Neolithic. Archaeological excavation recovered 16194 faunal assemblages from Tell AbuSuwwan. Identified taxonomical specimens are 1950. Archaeozoological and taphonomical analyses were applied to reconstruct the paleo-economy and environment of Tell AbuSuwwan. First archaeozoological preservation of Tell AbuSuwwan faunal remains view presence of domestic sheep/goat faunal remains. Several wild animals species were found within the faunal assemblages like auroch, wild boar, gazelle and wild goat. During the faunal assemblages study a variety of animal hard tissues artefacts were found. 64 tools referable to different bone tools typologies have been recognized. These artifacts have been analysed to recognize the traces produced during their manufacturing. Then an experimental work has been carried out in order to reconstruct the manufacturing processes of Tell AbuSuwwan bone tools.

This study presents the results of an analysis of mortuary practices as reflected in 637 burials from 19 Natufian and Pre-pottery Neolithic sites in the southern Levant. The analysis focuses on selected dependent variables such as primary or secondary state, position, orientation, location, skull presence or absence, and grave goods presence or absence. It analyzes their frequency against such independent variables as age and sex of the deceased, period, and site. The analysis reveals that Natufian burial practices differed fundamentally from Prepottery Neolithic practices in that they reflect a much lower level of ritual involvement in disposing of the dead than is seen in the Pre-pottery Neolithic. The unstandardized burial practices and seemingly expedient nature of Natufian burials are found to be consistent with, but not exactly parallel to, the types of practices found in Woodburn's (1982a) "immediate return" societies and Douglas' (1970) "weak grid and group" societies. Increased standardization of burial practices in the Pre-pottery Neolithic, and greatly increased emphasis on skull removal and reburial, indicates a greater emphasis on ritual through which the body was a symbol of society. In the Middle and Late PPNB, mortuary practices emphasized an increasingly "group" oriented society with well defined social boundaries with respect to outside groups. Internal differentiation, however, was slight: some difference based on age is present but differentiation based on sex is not reflected in burial practices. Skull removal practices accelerated through the PPNA and Middle PPNB. Such practices represent ancestor cults that may have provided mechanisms of social negotiation over control of critical but restricted resources in an otherwise egalitarian society. With the advent of the PPNC, the ancestor cult symbolized by the skulls disappeared. This undoubtedly reflects the disappearance of the PPNB agricultural and herding way of life and the advent of a more pastorally based economy. In the face of new economic opportunities presented by such a shift, ancestors were less necessary in attempts to control local resources.

Many significant cultural transitions, including the beginnings of sedentism, domestication, and farming, are thought to have taken place during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) in southern Jordan. The settlement sites of this period (often referred to as the first villages) are rich in architectural remains, and this evidence is frequently used to support hypotheses on the degree of sedentism and how societies were structured. This research reexamines these issues through the construction, maintenance, destruction and decay of four experimental reconstructions built between 2001 and 2006 at the PPNB site of Beidha. The results of the experiments provide a more intimate understanding of PPNB architecture, including prehistoric construction methods and techniques, maintenance costs, spatial organisation, and post-abandonment events. The results also contributed to the conservation and presentation of early prehistoric sites to the public.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University
The Pre-Pottery Neolithic period (ca. 11,700-8250 cal. B.P.) marks an era of monumental social and economic development in Southwest Asia. The beginnings of cultivation transformed subsistence practices in the region, reflecting both changes in human diet and the activities of collecting, preparing, and consuming plant foods. Archaeobotanical studies have provided critical evidence of the physiological processes of plant domestication, yet so far have rarely shed light on the specific tasks associated with early agriculture in the southern Levant. The site of el-Hemmeh, located in central Jordan, offers a unique perspective on the development of agriculture as it is one of the few archaeological sites occupied during both the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (ca. 11,700-10,500 cal. B.P.) and Late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (ca. 9250-8700 cal. B.P .) periods. This dissertation presents macrobotanical evidence collected from el-Hemmeh using a novel flotation tank design to recover charred plant remains from a total of 15 PPNA contexts and 32 Late PPNB contexts. These plant remains are pertinent to understanding the mechanisms of early Neolithic plant domestication and the local environmental setting in which cultivation occurred at el-Hemmeh. The assemblage provides evidence of the purposeful cultivation of predomesticated barley during both the PPNA and Late PPNB periods, as well as fully domesticated emmer wheat during the Late PPNB. Many of the weedy, opportunistic plant species found in the PPNA deposits are edible or useful medicinally and may have been collected as secondary food sources alongside cultivated plants. Additionally, ripped cereal chaff and large numbers of broken grains provide evidence of routine cereal processing tasks, including harvesting, threshing, dehusking, and intensive grain grinding during the Late PPNB. This research answers calls by archaeologists to identify the ways in which large-scale economic changes of the Neolithic are reflected at the local level through an examination of context-by-context patterns in macrobotanical data reflecting plant processing, cooking, and discard activities at el-Hemmeh.

This thesis aims to investigate the social structure of Neolithic Period. To do this, both physical anthropological and archaeological data are used, and it is sought after whether burial customs and skeleton biology can be a parameter to understand social organization of a concerned area in a given time period. For this thesis the data comes from Abu Hureyra and Ç
ayö
nü
. Quantified data of burial types and grave goods are used in order to create descriptive statistical graphics. Then, correspondence analysis is employed to detect statistical significance in data sets, if exists. Anthropological data is stemmed from previous researchers. On the other hand, they were still used to investigate sex and age distributions with the same tools employed before. As a final study two settlements are compared within and with each other to chase the clues for social differentiation.

Cette étude porte sur le «Skull Building» de Çayönü (Sud-Est anatolien, Néolithiqueprécéramique), qui est l’un des plus anciens bâtiments à usage funéraire au Proche-Orient. Les restes humains provenant des différents dépôts osseux (110.460fragments) du «Skull Building» ont été étudiés au travers d’une approche archéoantropologiqueet taphonomique qui n’avait encore jamais été appliquée à un sitepréhistorique anatolien. Nous avons mis au point un logiciel de dénombrement,estimé le nombre minimum d’individus inhumés lors de chacune des deux phasesd’utilisation (NMI = 97 pour le bâtiment ovalaire, NMI = 231 pour le bâtimentrectangulaire) et mis en évidence un changement des pratiques entre le bâtimentovalaire (le plus ancien) et le bâtiment rectangulaire (le plus récent). Les résultatsobtenus permettent de proposer une nouvelle interprétation du fonctionnement de cebâtiment, dans la mesure où les analyses ont montré que les différents dépôts de laseconde phase d’utilisation (bâtiment rectangulaire) étaient liés entre eux
This study focuses on the "Skull Building" of Çayönü (Southeast Anatolian PrepotteryNeolithic), which is one of the oldest buildings for burial use in the MiddleEast. Human remains from different bone deposits (110,460 fragments) of the "SkullBuilding" have been studied through an archaeo-anthropological and taphonomicapproach which had never been applied to a prehistoric site in Anatolia. We havedeveloped a software for counting, estimated the minimum number of individualsburied in each of the two phases of use (NMI = 97 for the Oval Building, NMI = 231for the Rectangular Building) and highlighted a change in practices between the ovalbuilding (the oldest) and the rectangular building (most recent). The results obtainedallow proposing a new interpretation for the functions of this building, insofar as theanalysis showed that different deposits of the second phase of use (RectangularBuilding) were interrelated

Tell Aswad, situé à environ 30km à l’Est / Sud-Est de Damas, est un grand tell d’environ 6 hectares dont la hauteur maximale ne dépasse pas de 4,50 m la grande plaine lacustre qui l’entoure. Le site de Tell Aswad datant entièrement du Néolithique Précéramique B (entre 8200 et 7500 av. J.-C.) est un site de référence du Levant Central. Ces populations, complètement agriculteurs/éleveurs, montrent des liens entre les populations et les cultures du Levant Nord et Sud. Les niveaux attribués à l’horizon PPNB ancien, période mal connue au Levant Sud, lui donne une grande importance historique au niveau régional. Ainsi, ce site offre une documentation rare qui peut être utilisées dans la recherche des origines du PPNB dans la région et les identités culturelles qui lui correspondent. Il nous a offert une riche documentation sur les pratiques funéraires. Répartis sur presque la totalité de son occupation, plus de 119 individus ont été exhumés. Les résultats nous indiquent la présence d’une continuité diachronique des pratiques funéraires tout au long de l’occupation, celles-ci étant originaire d’une tradition ancestrale. Elles révèlent le recours aux funérailles uniques mais se spécifient par des funérailles multiples, à travers le prélèvement des crânes. Chacun de ces deux modèles résulterait d’un choix imposé et sélectif issu du système social (hiérarchisé), indiquant la manière dont le défunt doit être inhumé. Les différents traitements des crânes prélevés, dont le surmodelage, correspondraient à des « rituelles» et pratiques funéraires hautement culturalisées. Elles témoignent de l’ordre social et de l’intégrité du groupe et matérialisent l’un des traits majeurs de l’identité culturels des sociétés Néolithiques du PPNB à Tell Aswad. L’étude de l’organisation spatiale des sépultures au cours de l’occupation PPNB de Tell Aswad, révèle un changement des lieux d’inhumations, depuis l’inhumation dans des maisons, à l’intérieur de la cellule familiale, jusqu’à la conception de lieux spécifiques dédiés aux pratiques funéraires. L’organisation spatiale de ces lieux devient pour nous une source supplémentaire témoignant de l’organisation sociale dans ce site
Tell Aswad, located 30 km East/South-East of Damascus, is a nearly 6 hectares tell not exceeding 4,5 meters height above the great lacustrian plain surrounding. The whole stratigraphy of the site dates from PPNB (8200-7500 B.C.), it's a reference site for the Central Levant because of the farmer/cattle breeder population showing connections between Southern and Northern Levant. The ancient PPNB levels, poorly understood in South Levant, give to the site an important historical status on a regional level. Thus, Tell Aswad offers us a rare documentation used for a better understanding of the PPNB period origins in the area and the cultural identities corresponding. The data are especially rich for the funeral practices. More than 119 individuals have been excavated spread on the entire occupation. Our results indicate the presence of a diachronic continuity of the funeral practices throughout the occupation due to an ancestral tradition. They reveal the use of simple burials but also specificity in the multiple burials by means of the skull withdrawal. Both models result from a selective choice imposed by the social system (hierarchical), indicating how the deceased had to be buried. The variability inside the skull treatment including the modeled skulls correspond to "ritual" and funerary practices highly culturalized. They reflect a social order and a group integrity materializing one of the major feature of the cultural identity of Neolithic PPNB society in Tell Aswad. Studying the spatial organization of the burials during the PPNB occupation of Tell Aswad reveals changes in burial sites, from burials in the house inside the family unit until the creation of specific area dedicated to funerary practices. The spatial organization of these areas becomes for our research a supplementary testimony of the social organization in the site

Archaeologists working in the Eastern Mediterranean do not fully understand the relationship between the earliest known farming communities of the Early Neolithic and the earliest known proto-urban communities of the Late Neolithic, despite more than a century of intensive study. The ongoing excavations at Beisamoun Pond 11, in the Hula Valley of northern Israel (ca. late 8th – early 7th millennia BCE), provide a rare opportunity to better understand this transition. For this study, micromorphological analyses were performed on the earthen construction materials and the surrounding sediments from a large, multiphase structure and several partially preserved architectural features. These analyses were performed alongside excavation in order to clarify the stratigraphic relationships, site formation processes, and degree of preservation of context at the site. Five main conclusions are drawn. First, the earliest exposed layers were built on a sloping, irregularly surfaced wetland soil. Second, construction material at the Pond 11 area was composed of local silty clay loam mixed with ashes, dung, and plant temper. Third, construction material and archaeological accumulation degraded during a period of semi-abandonment, ca. 6700 – 6600 BCE, and the degradation products (e.g., adobe, ash, coprolites, and charcoal) are spread over 175 m. Fourth, several walls of the early Pond 11 structure survived for centuries and were reused during later periods of rebuilding. Finally, bioturbation and pooling water have greatly disturbed the upper layers; the earlier layers are better preserved. The micromorphological results lead to a discussion of community continuity and social memory during this period. The extent of the deposits indicates a large early site, which may have continued elsewhere after ca. 6600 BCE. The reuse and reoccupation of the main structure suggest continuity social values in the wider Beisamoun site, even as new forms of mortuary practice suggest social change. The conclusion adds to recent data that the Early to Late Neolithic transition was more gradual and subtle than claimed previously. At the methodological level, this dissertation provides a further example of the benefits of integrating micromorphology during ongoing excavation.

Dysertacja poświęcona jest ewolucji architektury na obszarach Północnego Lewantu, Taurusu i Północnej Mezopotamii w początkach jej genezy, która przypada na okres od połowy XI do początku IX tys. B. C. Do niedawna był to jeden z najsłabiej rozpoznanych archeologicznie okresów, co spowodowało powstanie szeregu uogólnień na temat początków rozwoju architektury. Obecnie ta sytuacja uległa istotnej zmianie. Intensyfikacja badań nad rozwojem neolitu na Bliskim Wschodzie w okresie ostatnich dwudziestu pięciu lat doprowadziła do odkrycia wielu nowych stanowisk oraz pełniejszego zbadania lub weryfikacji innych, wcześniej już znanych. Dane uzyskane w ich wyniku rzuciły nowe światło na kwestię rozwoju architektury w początkach neolitu, a przede wszystkim ukazały ogrom jej zróżnicowania regionalnego. Zakres i nowocześniejsze metody badań umożliwiają prześledzenie procesu formowania się najstarszych form budownictwa oraz spojrzenie z innej perspektywy na ewolucję architektury w poszczególnych regionach Bliskiego Wschodu. W zaistniałej sytuacji zasadnym wydawało się podjęcie próby monograficznego opracowania architektury wspomnianych regionów w początkach neolitu, z uwzględnieniem odkryć ostatnich lat. Niniejsza praca systematyzuje i charakteryzuje poszczególne elementy architektury, takie jak: surowce i materiały budowlane, techniki konstrukcyjne oraz zróżnicowanie form i funkcji budowli na obszarze Lewantu Północnego, Taurusu i Północnej Mezopotamii do momentu wykształcenia się pierwszych społeczności neolitu preceramicznego o wykrystalizowanych formach gospodarki wytwórczej. Niezwykle istotnym elementem jest wykazanie zróżnicowanych lokalnie tradycji budowlanych oraz próba wskazania czynników środowiskowych, które wydają się w znacznym stopniu warunkować ten proces. Ważnym celem rozprawy było także porównanie form architektury wyżej wymienionych regionów i ukazanie policentrycznego charakteru rozwoju neolityzacji Bliskiego Wschodu, także w odniesieniu do tej dziedziny działalności człowieka w przeszłości. W świetle badań wykopaliskowych, niezwykle intensywny rozwój wykazują ośrodki Północnego Lewantu oraz sąsiadujące z nimi regiony Taurusu i Północnej Mezopotamii, powiązane siecią rzeczną środkowego oraz górnego Tygrysu i Eufratu. Mimo pewnych ogólnych podobieństw, architektura poszczególnych, wyżej wymienionych regionów wykazuje wiele cech indywidualnych, stanowiących swoiste zalążki lokalnych tradycji budowlanych.
This dissertation is dedicated to the evolution of architecture on the areas of Northern Levant, Taurus and Northern Mesopotamia in their beginning, which is dated on period between the middle of IX and beginning of IX millennia BC. Recently it was one of the worst recognized periods, which caused creation of many generalizations about architectures’ development. Actually, this situation has been changed considerably. Intensive archaeological fieldworks on the Middle East, which took place during the last 25 years, caused many new discoveries of the Early Neolithic sites and verification of the others, excavated previously. Available data showed development of the Early Neolithic architecture in the new light and presented magnitude of their local diversification. Range of investigation as well as much modern methods make possible to observe process of creation of the oldest architectural units and to look on the whole evolution of architecture of the main Middle Eastern regions from different point of view. In this case, to write a monographic study of architecture on the mentioned areas at the beginning of the Neolithic, including new discoveries, seemed to be legitimate. Present paper systematize characterize individual elements of architecture, like natural sources and construction materials, techniques as well as diversification of forms and functions of architecture in Northern Levant, Taurus and Northern Mesopotamia until beginning of the first pre-pottery agricultural societies. Essential element is to prove local diversification of architecture as well as indication of environmental factors, which seem to have large influence on this process. An important aim of dissertation was also comparison of architectural forms from the regions mentioned above and to show polycentric character of the Middle Eastern Neolithic, also in this part of humans’ activity in the past. In the light of archaeological investigations, the most intensive development represents the sites of Northern Levant as well as neighboring regions of Taurus and Northern Mesopotamia, connected together by the Euphrate and Tigris rivers. Despite of some general similarities, the architecture of each above mentioned region shows many individual features, which are special cradles of local architectural traditions.