GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LATE UPPER PALEOLITHIC AND EPI-PALEOLITHIC PERIODS: RAPID CULTURAL CHANGES

1. increase in number of open sites and decrease in cave occupations

2. population increases

3. trend toward generalized subsistence

4. intensification of plant use, especially domesticate progenitors

5. specializations in hunting, especially domesticate progenitors plus gazelle

6. increased use of aquatic resources where available

7. increase in number of ground stone and bone tools, suggesting changes in settlement-subsistence systems

8. increase in composite tools

9. increased use of "facilities" (storage pits, ovens, etc.) as opposed to just "implements" for subsistence

10. experimentation with baked clay objects

11. more year-round settlements in Levant, still mostly seasonal in Zagros although are some villages (due to environmental differences)

12. increase in burials

13. increase in representation art

LEVANT AREA - KEBARAN CULTURE

10,000 to 14,000 BC

latest of six phases of cultural development

blade technology plus ground stone tools

cave and rockshelter sites common, also open sites

Kebara Cave, Israel.

efficient use of wild plants and animals that were later domesticated

some protovillage sites

population increase
 

ZAGROS AREA

several phases of cultural development, including:

Baradostian culture, with first microlith blade technology

Zarzian culture, of terminal Upper Paleolithic and last generalized hunting-gathering adaptation

Shanidar Cave sequence provides best documentation of Upper Paleolithic in Zagros area

early evidence of origins of food production during terminal Upper Paleolithic

EPI-PALEOLITHIC PERIOD

LEVANT AREA - NATUFIAN CULTURE

10,000 to 8,000 BC

extended from Beirut to Cairo

technology:

-more storage facilities

-diversification of tool types

-chipped stone tools include microliths, lunates, sickle blades

-more bone tools and more ground stone tools, many of latter for food processing

-experimentation with domesticate progenitors, especially cereal grains and cattle

-no true food production yet

-first permanent settlements; example is 'Ain Mallaha (50 houses, 200-300 people)

-increase in number of open sites but still using caves for habitation

-more substantial architecture; round houses, stone foundations, some semisubterranean

-13 major Natufian sites, including Kebara and El Wad cave sites and Jericho, Beidha, Tel Abu Hureyra, 'Ain Mallaha and Nahal Oren open sites

-population increase, burials common

-egalitarian band or tribal level of organization

Natufian dentalia shell collar from adult male
burial at El Wad, Israel.

LEVANT AREA - DERIVED NATUFIAN CULTURE

also known as Proto Neolithic or PrePottery Neolithic A

8,000 to 7,000 BC

same distribution as Natufian, extending from Beirut to Cairo

technology:

-microliths become rare

-first arrowheads

-ground stone tools continue to increase

-stone vessels (precursors to ceramic vessels)


Decorated chlorite stone bowl.

-more food processing tools like ax, adze, pick

-continued use of sickles, knives, burins, etc as before

-continued intensified use of wild plant and animal progenitors of domesticates, especially cereal grains and herd animals

-continued increases in site size, permanence, and substantial architecture

-continued occupations at sites like Beidha, Nahal Oren, and El Khiam

-occupations at well-known Tel Abu Hureyra characterized by circular stone foundation houses on four artificial terraces, 50-100 people


-occupations at Tel Mureybit in Syrian desert characterized by three phases of development, shift from circular to rectangular houses, blade tools and heavy chipped stone tools, continued emphasis on gathering and especially hunting with possible evidence of grain cultivation

-occupations at Jericho, Israel were intense at this time with perhaps 500 or more people, more construction, stone wall and tower, clay heads, still hunter-gatherers, growth may be related to nearby spring and trade routes


Aerial view of Tel Jericho within modern city.


Stone tower at Jericho.


Plaster-covered human skull from Jericho.

-population continues to increase

-egalitarian band or tribal level of organization

ZAGROS AREA

10,000 to 7,000 BC

-less advanced developments than in Levant

technology:

-variety of tools for exploitation of plant resources:  quern, mortar, pestle, celts, etc.

-blade and flake tools

-fewer stands of cereal grains compared to Levant

-more emphasis on sheep and goats rather than cattle emphasis in Levant

-possible early evidence of sheep herding, based on age distributions in bones, at Zawi Chemi Shanidar, 9000-8550 BC [first animal
domesticate after dog]

-seasonal round likely so less permanent than Levant

-are some village sites, including Karim Shahir, Tel M'lefaat, Tepe Asiab

-occupations at terrace site of Zawi Chemi Shanidar in northern Iraq characterized by circular homes with stone foundations, storage pits

-egalitarian band or tribal level of organization

REFERENCES

Redman, Charles L.
1978  The Rise of Civilization. W.H. Freeman, San Fransisco.

Fagan, Brian M.
2002   People of the Earth. Pearson/PrenticeHall, Saddle River, NJ.