Prepottery Neolithic

ABSTRACT
Site HK/361 is a pre-pottery Neolithic B site recently excavated during the 2007 and 2008 seasons at Har Karkom (Negev, Israel). The site lies at the foot of a low hill on the western side of the Har Karkom plateau, along a well defined path heading toward the well of Beer Karkom. The site is set on an alluvial terrace deposited at the confluence of a small stream with the main valley of Nahal Karkom.
The stratigraphic investigation revealed that the Neolithic settlement lies above the alluvial events that have built the terrace. Neolithic levels were found only in the colluvial silts. Two different Neolithic levels were identified, characterized by the same lithic industry.
The major architectural feature is a small oval structure. On western side, an open courtyard covered by a roof is suggested by the finding of postholes and a stone pier base. The rich flint assemblage included thin blades with a sharp distal edge, bipolar naviform cores, Jericho points and Amuq points. No faunal remains were found, apart from two gastropods, Cypraea spp. At the present state of the research, HK/361 appears to be a settlement living out of a mixed economy, where hunting and gathering still continued in presence of an early agriculture.

RIASSUNTO
HK/361 è un sito neolitico preceramico-B scavato di recente durante le campagne del 2007 e del 2008 a Har Karkom (Negev, Israele). Il sito giace ai piedi di una piccola collina sotto il versante occidentale dell’altopiano di Har Karkom, lungo un sentiero che porta a nord verso il pozzo di Beer Karkom. Il sito è posto su un terrazzamento alluvionale alla confl uenza fra un piccolo torrente e il wadi Karkom.
La stratigrafi a rivela che l’insediamento neolitico insiste su vari episodi alluvionali che hanno formato il terrazzamento, mentre i livelli neolitici sono presenti solo nei limi colluviali. Sono stati identifi cati due differenti livelli neolitici, caratterizzati dalla stessa industria litica. La struttura in pietra più evidente è una piccola struttura ovale. Sul lato occidentale, la presenza di buche di palo e della base di un pilastrino suggerisce la presenza di un cortile aperto coperto da un tetto. È stata rinvenuta una ricca industria litica su lama, con lame caratterizzate da un tagliente distale, oltre a nuclei naviformi bipolari, punte di Gerico e punte di Amuq. Non sono stati rinvenuti resti di fauna, ad eccezione di due gasteropodi, Cypraea spp..Allo stato attuale della ricerca HK/361 appare come un insediamento basato su una economia mista di caccia e raccolta di cibo, in presenza di una agricoltura iniziale.

RÉSUMÉ
HK/361 est un site néolithique précéramique fouillé récemment pendant les campagnes de recherche du 2007 et du 2008 à Har Karkom (Negev- Israël). Le site se trouve aux pieds d’une petite colline sous le versant occidental du haut-plateau de Har Karkom, le long un sentier qui amène au Nord en direction du puits de Beer Karkom.
Har Karkom se situe sur un terrassement alluvial à la confl uence entre un petit torrent et le wadi Karkom. La stratigraphie nous montre que le village néolithique se place sur des épisodes alluviaux qui ont formé le terrassement, tandis que les niveaux néolithiques sont présents seulement dans les dépôts colluviaux.
On a été identifié deux différents niveaux néolithiques caractérisés par la même industrie lithique. La structure en pierre plus évidente est une petite structure ovale. Au coté ouest l’existence de trous de piliers en bois et de la base d’un petit pilier en pierre, va suggérer la présence d’une cour ouverte et couverte par un toit. On a retrouvé une riche industrie lithique sur lame. Des lames plus caractéristiques ont un distal au bord brut, très affilé; il y a aussi des nucleus naviformes bipolaires, des point de Jericho e d’Amuq. On n’a pas retrouvé des restes de faune, sauf deux gastéropodes: Cypraea spp. Actuellement HK/361 se présente comme un village qui vivait d’une économie mixte de chasse et de récolte d’aliments, et d’une agriculture au début.

Özdoğan, M., Karul N. Özdoğan E. 2011
2002 Yılı Mezraa-Teleilat Kazıları. In N. Tuna and O. Doonan (eds.), Ilısu ve Karkamış
Baraj Gölleri Altında Kalacak Arkeolojik ve Kültür Varlıklarını Kurtarma Projesi 2002 Yılı Araştırmaları, 1. cilt. Tarihsel Çevre Araştırma ve Değerlendirme Merkezi (TAÇDAM), Ankara, 35-96.

Sheep and goats (caprines) were domesticated in Southwest Asia in the early Holocene, but how and in how many places remain open questions. This study investigates the initial conditions and trajectory of sheep and goat (caprine) domestication at Aşıklı Höyük, which preserves an unusually high-resolution record of the first 1000 years of Neolithic existence in Central Anatolia. Our comparative analysis of caprine age and sex structures and related evidence reveals a local domestication process that began around 8,400 cal BC. Caprine management at Aşıklı segued through three viable systems. The earliest mode was embedded within a broad-spectrum foraging economy and directed to live meat storage on a small scale. This was essentially a “catch-and-grow” strategy that involved seasonal capture of wild lambs and kids from the surrounding highlands and raising them several months prior to slaughter within the settlement. The second mode paired modest levels of caprine reproduction on site with continued recruitment of wild infants. The third mode shows the hallmarks of a large-scale herding economy based on a large, reproductively viable captive population but oddly directed to harvesting adult animals, contra to most later Neolithic practices. Wild infant capture likely continued at a low level. The transitions were gradual but, with time, gave rise to early domesticated forms and monumental differences in human labor organization, settlement layout, and waste accumulation. Aşıklı was an independent center of caprine domestication, and thus supports the multiple origins evolutionary model.

The conference will focus on the long-term development an
diffusion of Prehistoric technology in the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. Two major fields will be tackled:

1. The relevance of Hunter/Gatherer-networks in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic for the adaption and diffusion of key technologies enbling the Neolithic way of life.
2. The Impact the Neolithic Revolution had on long-distance
networks, and whether these changed significantly or continued to exist.
Florian Klimscha, Svend Hansen, Jürgen Renn