Key Sites and Places:

Abu Hureyra, Syria A site located on the Upper Euphrates River Syria. Abu Hureyra is a site with multiple levels of occupation that span the sequence from the Natufian through the Neolithic. Aubrey Site, TX Oldest Paleo-Indian site in North America, dates to 11,550 BP; Clovis fluted bi-face technology; challenges Clovis 1st theory; contains two camps with a range of lithic tool making activity, numerous hearths. Beringea A land bridge (tundra) that connected Asia and North America during periods of low sea level. Blombos Cave, South Africa 8000 pieces of ochre; beads, pierced shells; bone tools with incised decoration were found in a Middle Stone Age level dated to 77kya. Chauvet Cave, France The earliest known painted cave, dated to between 38kya - 33kya. Dmanisi, Georgia The oldest known archaeological site outside of Africa; dated between 1.7 1.8mya; simple flakes; erectus site; proof of out of Arica theory? Dolni Vestonice A large Upper Paleolithic (Gravettian) site; loaded with information about the technology, art, animal exploitation, site settlement patterns (architecture); permanent site, 4 huts; aggregation site; 800 mammoths; ceramics and communal hearth; triple burial w/ red ochre on pelvis, offerings include wolf and fox tooth pendants and small ivory beads. Jericho, Isreal A popular camping ground for Natufian hunter-gatherer groups. Around 11.5kya; wall and tower found; oldest monumental architecture. Kebara Cave A site in Israel where excavations have produced important evidence about the nature of Neanderthal occupation, as well as one of the most complete skeletons of a Neanderthal. Also use of fire, burials, hearths; refuse area to sides. Klasies River Mouth A Middle Age site in South Africa that has produced remains of modern humans and that offers evidence of hunting and the intensive use of fire. Koobi Fora, Kenya - Well-preserved hominin fossils dating from between 1.3mya - 2.1mya include stone tools that resemble certain Oldowan industry artifacts; the use of fire; circular accumulations; short term occupation. Laetoli - A site in Tanzania; dating to the Plio-Pleistocene; famous for its hominin footprints preserved in volcanic ash. Lake Mungo, Australia - Evidence of human habitation around Lake Mungo ; dating to 30kya 40kya. The oldest human remains found in Australia; evidence of cremation; fish bones; open air site. L anse aux Meadows located in Newfoundland, Canada; archaeological site that represents a failed Viking colony, proof of Atlantic route?; buildings; bones; metal and figurines.

Lascaux, France - Caves in Southwestern France; famous for its Paleolithic cave paintings; discovered in 1940; early Magdalenian Period. Levant Along the coast of Mediterranean sea. Hunter-gatherer Natufian populations; global warming; improved environment. Mallaha A Natufian site in northern Israel with modern human burials; 1/3 are children; 1 adult w/ puppy; no evidence of inequality; remains of oval stone structure; example of hunter-gatherer sedentism. Meadocraft, PA. Rock shelter in a bluff with evidence contradicting Clovis 1st occupation of the New World. Monte Verde, Chile Earliest new world site; 12 wood/hide structures; impeccable preservation; few Stone tools (took w/ them); contradicts clovis 1st theory. Mal ta Russia - Paleolithic open-air site on the Belaya River near Lake Baikal in south-central Siberia; Venus figurine found in cave; oldest Siberian skeleton. New Guinea During glacial periods, New Guinea, Australia, and Tasmania formed a single land mass known as Sahul. Nariokatome Site of the 1st Homo erectus skeleton from Omo River; dating to 1.5mya; Turkana Boy. It is extraordinary in its completeness; only a humerus and the ends of the hands and feet are missing. Nauwelabila Earliest secure evidence of human occupation of Northern Australia; dating between 60kya 53kya; scrapers and grinding stones. Nihewan Basin, China Earliest Homo erectus found in China; near Beijing; with artifacts that date back about 1 million years ago. Oceania The collective name for approximately 25,000 islands of the Pacific; pertains to peopling of Australia; includes Micronesia and Polynesia. Ohala, Israel A Kebaran site in northern Israel with excellent preservation of organic remains. Omo Homo erectus bones discovered near the Omo River in southern Ethiopia. Qafzeh Cave A site in Israel where modern human skeletons were found in a middle Paleolithic context. Paloma, Peru A pre-agricultural village site on the coast of Peru. Piedra Pintada A site in Brazilian Amazon; contradicts Clovis 1st ; contemporary with the Clovis that were living in South America.

Rift Valley Levant; open Woods; late Pleistocene; Natufian; richest context for the recovery of early hominin archaeological sites. Rouffignac Cave - Contains over 250 engravings (finger fluting) and cave paintings (2yr old female); rooms of just children; some on roof; Magdalenian Period. Sahul The landmass that encompassed Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea during periods of low sea level. Sangiran, Java Earliest fossils of Homo erectus in South Asia dating to 1.8mya. Shanidar Cave, Iraq Burial (with flowers) of Neanderthals. Siberia In Northern Asia; small group left via Beringea; no Clovis technology. Skhul Cave In Israel; modern human skeletons have been found. South Africa Various sites including Blombos, Klaises river. Swan Point, AK Supports the Clovis 1st theory; entrance to the ice-free corridor ; the human demographic was a derivative of Siberian peoples; dating to 14kya; contains microblade technology. Sunda The landmass that connected much of South East Asia during periods of low sea level. Sungir, Russia An Upper Paleolithic site; serves as a grave to an older man and two children; high status? They were all adorned with elaborate grave goods that included ivory-beaded jewelry, clothing, spears, and covered in red ochre. The site is one of the earliest known ritual burials. Titusville, FL. Site of the 2nd oldest New World skeleton. The site has yielded more than 40 skeletons of men, women, and children approximately 8,000 years old. Wallace Line The line that runs through Wallacea and separates the differences of flora/fauna; East of the line: Marsupials/birds; West of the line placental animals. Wallacea Sunda and Sahul were separated by a string of islands known as Wallacea, where the channels are too deep to have been dry land at any time for the past 50 million years. Zhoulkoudian Cave Dragon Hill ; Peking Man ; a series of caves in China where the remains of more than 40 Homo erectus individuals and over 100,000 stone choppers and flakes were recovered.

Technologies & Archaeological Cultures:

Acheulean Lower Paleolithic stone tool industry characterized by bifacial tools including hand axes, cleavers, and wood working; symmetry to central axis. Appearance of Homo erectus and Homo habilis in South Africa; Europe; Middle East; and India;

Atlatl Is a spear throwing tool, held in one hand, gripped near the end farthest from the cup. The dart is thrown by the action of the upper arm and wrist (100mph). Aurignacion - Upper Paleolithic stone tool tradition, usually considered associated with both Homo sapiens and Neanderthals throughout Europe, Middle East and parts of Africa. Contemporary with Chatelperronian Period; tools include microliths; bone points (split based); 1st wide spread European technology. Bifaces Characterize tools of the Acheulian. Bifaces include hand-axes and cleavers. Blade - Is generally defined as a flake that is twice as long as it is wide. Bola Stones - Are a throwing weapon made of weights on the ends of interconnected cords, designed to capture animals by entangling their legs. They have been found in excavations of Pre-Columbian settlements. Clovis Culture North American archaeologists view as the 1st human occupation of the Americas dated to between 13,5kya and 12,5kya. Clovis points are fluted, hafted; ancestors to all Native Americans. Composite A tool made of 2+ materials; modern. Chatelperronian An archaeological industry found in France and northern Spain identified as transitional between the Middle Paleolithic and Upper Paleolithic. Neanderthal; proof of interaction?; France and Northern Spain; transitional? Knife points; learned from observation? Folsom Culture - Folsom is the name given to early Paleo-Indian hunter-gatherers of the North American continent, ca. 9,000-10,500 years ago. They came after the Clovis Culture. Gravettian (to 21kya) Time of rapid change; the second major Upper Paleolithic archaeological period in Europe; lasted for 6,000 years. Ground Stone A wide range of prehistoric artifacts were formed by pecking, grinding, or polishing one stone with another. Hafted tools - Hafting is a process by which an artifact, often bone, metal, or stone, is attached to a handle or strap. Jomon Japanese pre-agricultural societies that lived in large villages and produced elaborate pottery. Levallois Method A particular prepared-core technology used during the Middle Paleolithic that can often be recognized on the basis of tortoise-shaped cores. Magdalenian (to 11kya) refers to one of the later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic in Western Europe; bone tools; harpoons; modern humans; lasted for 4,000 years. Missiles Bows arrows/spears Microblade Technology dating to the Aurignacion.

Mode 1 The Oldowan tool industry. Mousterian Industry - Is the name for an ancient Middle Stone Age method of making stone tools; is associated with our hominid relatives the Neanderthals in Europe and both Early Modern Human and Neanderthals in Africa. Natufians At the Levant; use of pithouses ; dependence on wild grasses; sickle, processing tools; laid the groundwork for farming; societies on the Middle East that practiced a broad-spectrum subsistence strategy that relied on a wide range of resources. Nenana The earliest culture in Beringea, dating to between 14kya and 12,8kya; modern humans. Oldowan Lower Paleolithic stone tool industry, dated between 1.9mya and 1.2mya; characterized by choppers and flakes. Uses the least effort; made by early hominins. Paleoindian The first peoples to enter the American continent; Clovis technology? Highly mobile; with low population density; egalitarian society. Solutrean (to 16kya) Lasted for 5,000 years; proposal that the origin of the Clovis culture was in the migration of groups from the Solutrean culture of southern France and Spain; similar tool technology.

Terms:
Big Game Large mammals that were hunted by hunter gatherers. Cordilleran Ice Sheet - Was a major ice sheet that covered, during glacial periods of the Quaternary, a large area of the Alaskan Panhandle; North America. Ethnoarchaeology - Is the ethnographic study of peoples for archaeological reasons, usually through the study of the material remains of a society. Finger Fluting - In prehistoric art finger flutings are lines that fingers leave on a soft surface; considered a form of cave painting. Flake Stone - Portion of rock removed from an objective piece by percussion or pressure. Flint Knapping - The shaping of flint, chert, obsidian or other conchoidal fracturing stone through the process of lithic reduction to manufacture stone tools. Ground Stone - A wide range of prehistoric artifacts were formed by pecking, grinding, or polishing one stone with another. Hominins The members of the human lineage after is split with the chimpanzee lineage. Hominoids The biological superfamily that includes humans, great apes, and gibbons.

Hunter Gather - People who rely on a combined living of hunting game and gathering root vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Ice-free corridor The Ice Free Corridor (12kya) was the accepted human colonization route for the American continents. Laurentide - The Laurentide Ice Sheet was a massive sheet of ice that covered hundreds of thousands of square miles, including most of Canada and a large portion of the northern United States. Last Glacial Maximum - The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) refers to a period in the Earth's climate history when ice sheets were at their maximum extension. Megafauna - Species of large animals mammals, birds and reptiles Pleistocene epoch and became extinct (11kya). that lived on Earth during the

Mobiliary Art A term used in archaeology for one of two general categories of Paleolithic artifacts produced. Mobiliary art can be moved or transported. Multivariate - The study of random variables which are multidimensional. Oxygen Isotopes Record of fluctuations in global climate during the Pleistocene. Paleoanthropologists Scientists who study the evolutionary history of the hominoids. Palimpset An archaeological site produced by a series of distinct brief occupations; over long term continuous use. Parietal Painted cave art; is not mobile. Pithouse Natufian dwelling dug into the ground which may also be layered with stone; 1 room; post and beam roof. Precession Milankovich cycle; Earth wobbles in its spin; 20,000 year cycle. Rachis The tough part of a cereal plant that holds the seed to the stalk and keeps the seed on the plant until it is harvested. Taphonomy - is concerned with the study of the decomposition of human remains, particularly in the context of burial sites; used at Lake Turkana. Venus figurines Portable art objects that are found with the Gravettian industry and that depict the female body; no feet; blank faces. Younger Dryas A period of global climatic stress that had a significant impact on Natufian society; supports the Overchill theory; allowed for Levant and thus Natufians.

Concepts:
Aggregation - Explosion of modern humans; Dolni Vestonice. Bipedalism When an animal is capable of walking or running on two feet. Broad Spectrum Adaptation Exploitation of a wide range of plant animal resources characteristic of many hunter-gatherer societies that preceded the shift to agriculture. Clovis First Theory Clovis culture, dated to 13,5kya 12,5kya, is the first human occupation of the Americas; many contradictory sites. Coastal Migration The route some archaeologists say was used by the earliest people in the Americas to move out of Beringea, instead of moving through an ice-free corridor. Atlantic (L anse Meadows). Co-evolutionary Theory Human and Neanderthal evolved together, and in competition of each other. Early Arrival Model Human occupation of the Americas began as early as 30kya to 40kya; before Clovis and pre-Clovis. Egalitarian - Characterized by belief in the equality of all people, especially in political, economic, or social life; as many positions as there are people to fill them. Generalist - Is able to thrive in a wide variety of environmental conditions and can make use of a variety of different resources. Glacier Formation - Formation occurs at either the north or south poles; compacted by accumulation of snowfall; traps H2O. Hierarchical A system of persons or things arranged in a graded order; limited number of positions no matter the population size. Last Glacial Maximum - The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) refers to a period in the Earth's climate history when ice sheets were at their maximum extension. Logistic collecting - Also called optimal foraging theory ; choices made to maximize efficiency of collecting/processing resources; important at aggregation sites. Planning and coordination of collection. Megafauna extinction - At the end of the last ice age 15kya 10kya, 85 percent of the large mammals went extinct; including marsupials and birds; various theories. Milankovitch Cycles - Variations in the earth's position, relative to the sun, affecting the solar radiation reaching the earth; and causing climatic changes; three cycles, obliquity, eccentricity, and precession. mtDNA Located outside of the cell nucleus; inherited exclusively from the mother; mutates randomly at a predictable rate.

Mobiliary art - A term used in archaeology for one of two general categories of Paleolithic artifacts produced. Mobiliary art can be moved or transported. Movius line - Named after the American archaeologist Hallam Movius (1907 -1987), it is a theoretical line that separates those parts of Europe, Africa and Asia with or without Acheulean handaxe technology. Optimal Foraging Theory A theory based on the assumption that the choices people make reflect rational self interest in maximizing efficiency when collecting and processing resources; also known as logistic collecting. Out of Africa Theory - Hypothesis that all modern humans stem from a single group of Homo sapiens who emigrated from Africa. Overchill Theory Mega fauna were wiped out by a major change in climate, which began about 17kya. The main wave of climate changes happened around 12,9kya. Overgrill Theory Mega fauna were wiped out by a comet that hit the Earth about 12,9kya. Overkill Theory The first paleo-indians hunted mastodons and mammoths to extinction; there are only 14 kill sites. Parietal art - Is artwork done on cave walls or large blocks of stone; painted are; Lascaux, Rouffignac. Population Density - Population within a particular unit of space. Pre-Clovis Theory of occupation in the Americas predates 13,5kya. Site Formation Processes - Refers to the events that created an archaeological site. What happens after archaeological record is formed; cultural: loot, search; Natural: bugs, animals, rain. Specialists - Utilize specific resources in light of others that may be available. Subsistence Change Change in available foods. Seasonal Occupy an area during only specific times of year. Sedentism Is the term archaeologists use to describe the process of settling down. Solutrean Hypothesis (to 16kya) Lasted for 5,000 years; proposal that the origin of the Clovis culture was in the migration of groups from the Solutrean culture of southern France and Spain; similar tool technology. Territoriality - A behavior pattern in animals consisting of the occupation and defense of a territory.

People:
Australopithecus - Representing a side branch of human evolution that is now extinct; East and South Africa; Chad; Lucy in Hadar. Eugene DuBois Discovery of Homo erectus, or 'Java Man'. Homo erectus (1.9mya 45kya) First hominin found outside of Africa with increased brain size; Georgia, Dmansi site; 1st found at Nariokatome; Achuelean technology. Homo habilis (2.5mya 1.6mya); found in East and South Africa; Tanzania, Koobi Fora ; known as the (Olduvai) tool maker. Homo floresiensis (38kya - 18kya); found only on the island of Flores. Some question if it s really a distinct species; hobbits ; Liang Bua Cave site. Homo neanderthalensis (175kya 30kya); found in Europe and Middle East. Oldest at Biache-SaintVaast; mid Paleolithic; modern brain, no language; lived through 2 glacial cycles; no fossils in Africa and E Asia; Levallios and Chatelperronian technology. Homo sapien sapien (160kya present) Upper Paleolithic; missile projectiles; hunter gatherers; art; oldest at mid awash, Ethiopia. Kennewick man Oldest New World skeleton; prehistoric (Paleo-Indian) man found on a bank of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington; dates to 5,6kya 9,5kya. Magellan - Expedition of 1519 1522 became the first expedition to sail from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific Ocean. Marcellin Boule - Published the first analysis of a complete Homo neanderthalensis. Omo 2 - Juvenile boy found at Nariakotome. Tim Ingold - 'Social brain' hypothesis, the expansion of the neocortex in human evolution is an adaptive response to the demands of managing social relationships in groups of increasing size. Turkana boy - A nearly complete 1.6-million-year-old skeleton, found near Lake Turkana, Kenya, belonged to an eight-year-old boy. V. Gordon Childe - Was one of the first to explore developments of the three-age system; such concepts as the "Neolithic Revolution" and "Urban Revolution .

Archaeological and Geological Time Periods:

Early Holocene - The Holocene is a geological epoch which began at the end of the Pleistocene (around 10kya); Paleo-Indians. Quaternary - the most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era. The Quaternary includes two geologic epochs: the Pleistocene and the Holocene. It was a cooling period. Pleistocene - The epoch from 2,5mya to 11,7kya that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations; fluctuations in climate. Paleolithic - Prehistoric era distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools; covers roughly 99% of human technological prehistory. Upper (to 11kya), roughly coinciding with the appearance of agriculture; modern humans. Middle (40kya), Neanderthal thrived in Europe and modern humans appeared 175kya. Lower (250kya), Use of stone tools by early hominins; spanning the Oldowan ("mode 1") and Acheulean ("mode 2") lithic industries.

Read ch 4 Ch 6 Ch 5

Module 7: The Extinction of the Megafauna

Introduction
The disappearance of the large mammals of the Pleistocene has been a topic of continued interested in biology, anthropology, and paleontology. The discovery of well-preserved wooly mammoth remains in the Siberian permafrost as recently as 2007 continues to pique scientific interest. This debate has particularly focused on the Americas, where the arrival of humans is quickly followed by the extinction of the megafauna. The most compelling question has been: did humans overhunt the megafauna of the Americas, or was the American extinction simply coincidental? This module differs from previous modules in that the majority of the content will be derived from outside sources, including web sites and publications. You will need this web browser and Adobe Acrobat Reader to complete this module.

Module 7: The Extinction of the Megafauna

Factors to Consider

As the following readings demonstrate, there are two competing theories regarding the extinction of the megafauna. One posits that large animals were adversely affected by the global warming that occurred at the end of the Pleistocene. The other posits that humans overhunted large animals, bringing about their extinction. Both hypotheses are testable using archaeological and paleontological evidence, and each makes underlying assumptions that must be addressed. Archaeological evidence needs to be marshaled to answer the following questions: 1. Did humans hunt animals that went extinct? 2. Did humans rely so heavily on now-extinct animals for food or other resources (like hides or blubber) that they could have overhunted such species? 3. Were human populations large enough to result in overhunting? 4. Do extinctions match human migration patterns, demonstrating that megafauna went extinct later in areas populated later by humans? Paleontological evidence needs to be marshaled to answer the following questions: 1. Did the timing of animal extinctions coincide with climate change, with human arrivals, or both? 2. Did large animals go extinct all at once or over time? 3. Are there geographic patterns in the timing of extinctions? These questions are aimed at determining when, where, and ultimately why species went extinct. Extinction is a complicated process, and one that scientists are still trying to understand. But if humans were involved in extinctions, then there must be evidence that human behavior would have affected animal populations in some way. If humans did not eat an animal, for instance, than the simple presence of humans in an area where that animal went extinct is insufficient to demonstrate overhunting.

Module 8: Complex Hunter-Gatherers of the Ancient Near East

Introduction
The group of people credited with first developing agricultural technology is known archaeologically as the Natufian culture. Like all archaeological cultures, the Natufians are not a specific ethnic or linguistic group. They almost certainly would not have seen themselves as a cohesive social group, instead, Natufian society represents a spatially- and temporally-distinct collection of artifacts and technologies. This module will discuss the archaeological and paleoenvironmental data pertaining to this important group of people as a prelude to our in-class discussion of the origins of agriculture.

Module 8: Complex Hunter-Gatherers of the Ancient Near East

The Levant at the Last Glacial Maximum
The Levant is a region of the Near East located along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of a low coastal plain and two mountain ranges separated by a tectonically-active rift valley. The Levant includes what are today the countries of Israel, Lebannon, Syria, and parts of western Jordan and southern Turkey.

Like the rest of the Near East, the Levant was cooler and drier during the Pleistocene than it is today. Nonetheless, its climate was characterized by seasonal forests and grasslandforest mixtures. Environmental variations within the Levant are due to changes in rainfall rather than differences in temperature. The eastern side of the Levant is overall drier than the western areas near the sea. As with other parts of the world, the geography of the Levant was affected by the melting of the glaciers. During the Pleistocene, the Dead Sea was much larger than its current size. The coastal plain was much wider, extending out into the Mediterranean Sea much farther than it does today. The Negev Desert, today in southern Israel, and the Syrian Desert, today in central Syria extended farther north and east due to the dry conditions.

Overall, the Levant was a harsh environment in which to make a living at and just after the last glacial maximum. Population densities were probably very small, as evidenced by the few sites present in the region. Archaeologists estimate that small bands of huntergatherers needed ranges of 500 to 1000 km2 in size to survive. Global warming, however, brought about considerable improvement in the environment of the Levant. From 15,000 to 11,000 BP, the desert regions shrank and more amenable plains with trees and shrubs expanded. During this time, populations throughout the Levant expanded and people also expanded the range of occupied territory. The hunter-gatherers who inhabited the region at this time were mobile, moving camps often and maintaining relatively low populations except for occasional aggregations. They ate entirely wild plants and animals, including: wild wheat and barley, wild fruits and nuts, deer, wild pigs, gazelles, wild goats, red foxes, fish, and over 77 species of bird. At open-air sites, they built ephemeral shelters by digging shallow depressions and creating shelter with wood and brush.

This image, of the Pleistocene site of Ohalo, Israel, shows several of these shelters. They are indicated by the dark staining. The entire area is a single horizontal excavation, with a second, smaller horizontal excavation in the center of one of the shelters. The remains here give a good sense of the ephemeral character and small size of Levantine huntergatherer sites from this time period.

Module 8: Complex Hunter-Gatherers of the Ancient Near East

The Late Pleistocene

By 12,500, the Mediterranean coast was characterized by oak/pistachio forests. To the west, uphill into the mountains and in the Rift Valley, vegetation was mostly open woods with shrubs and small trees. Savannah or shrub-and-grass environments are almost ideal for hunter-gatherers because they support many animals, such as gazelles, wild cattle, and hares. The combination of forest adjacent to parkland would have created a doubly-rich environment. In addition to animals, these environments together held over 100 edible fruit and seed plants. Evidence from burned seeds and other plant remains dating to the late Pleistocene and early Holocene indicate that people began to rely more heavily on seed plants as the weather warmed. Archaeologists estimate that people living at the confluence of these zones would have required a territory of only 300 to 500 km2 to survive.

Natufian Culture
At the very end of the Pleistocene, around 13,000 BP, the Natufian culture developed in the southern and central Levant.

As the map shows, the earliest Natufian sites were clustered along the central Levantine coast and into the shrub lands of the interior mountain ranges. This area was characterized by oak and pistachio trees with open areas that supported large stands of seed plants like wild wheat and wild barley. Most Natufian sites ranged from 15 to 500 m2 in size, which would have made them considerably smaller than the farming villages of later eras. Natufian peoples lived in semisubterranean structures often known as "pithouses". These dwellings were built by digging a shallow, oval-shaped pit in the ground. Low walls of stone were built to support wooden roof beams. Additional wooden support beams rose from the floor. Multiple hearths have been found inside these dwellings.

These dwellings were usually between 3 and 6 m in diameter, making them fairly large oneroom structures. The permanence of the Natufian dwellings contrasts with that of the earlier Pleistocene shelters, which lacked the stone foundation walls and the formal post-andbeam roofing.

Interestingly, there is very little evidence for permanent storage facilities in Natufian buildings. Archaeologists posit that Natufian peoples used above-ground baskets to store food. Nonetheless, the archaeological remains at Natufian sites is very dense. Many of the pithouses are filled with organic debris, suggesting relatively long occupations at these sites since so much garbage accumulated in them.

Module 8: Complex Hunter-Gatherers of the Ancient Near East

Natufian Burials
The large number of Natufian burials attests to both increased population and greater sedentism at this time. All of the known base camps with pithouses have burials in them. Graves were dug into abandoned dwellings and outside of occupied houses. Natufian burial practices varied considerably, with some individuals being buried alone and others buried together. In some later sites, skulls had been removed from the burials. As we will discuss in an upcoming class, skull removal was a common phenomenon among early farmers in the Levant.

Burials at sites like Mallaha, Israel, reveal a great deal about Natufian social organization and lifeways. Nearly 1/3 of all burials are children, especially those aged 5 to 7. High infant and child mortality is probably a result of increased disease due to living in closer quarters and malnutrition due to changes in the diet. The Mallaha burials were sometimes located just outside of occupied houses, as in the drawing below.

Natufian peoples were often buried with grave goods. These included jewelry made of animal teeth and horns, figurines, and in two cases, dogs. The burial shown below from Mallaha is that of an adult buried with a puppy, demonstrating the presence of domesticated dogs in the Near East by this time.

Despite the presence of grave goods in some burials, there is no patterning that would indicate social inequality.

Module 8: Complex Hunter-Gatherers of the Ancient Near East

Natufian Technology and Subsistence
Natufian reliance on wild grasses is indicated by a new technological development: the sickle. Stone sickle blades were actually microliths that were mounted together into bone or wooden handles. Sickle blades have a characteristic sheen on them that is created by the harvesting of grasses. The photo below shows a Natufian "toolkit" that includes a sickle.

The sickle looked like this when reconstructed:

Note the two rows of microblades set into the bone haft on the left-hand side. In addition to sickles with sheen, other tools for processing wild grasses are common at Natufian sites. These include mortars, pestles, and other grinding tools.

Natufian peoples ate a wide range of foods, although they clearly emphasized wild grasses in their subsistence. They also ate wild pistachios, wild legumes like the ancestor of the chick pea, gazelles, and other animals.

Sedentism
There is considerable evidence that Natufian hunter-gatherers were sedentary. For instance, Natufian sites have a much higher proportion of commensal? species like mice and rats than do the sites of more mobile hunter-gatherers. Also, the teeth of gazelles killed by Natufian hunter-gatherers show the season during which the animals were killed. This evidence indicates both summer and winter consumption of gazelles at the same sites. Further, the effort put into building dwellings at larger sites indicates that people were using these dwellings for longer periods of time. This is not to say that Natufian peoples were completely sedentary. Cave sites and other small sites indicate the location of shorter-term occupations used during the collection of specific resources.

Module 8: Complex Hunter-Gatherers of the Ancient Near East

Conclusion
Descendants of the Natufian hunter-gatherers of the Levant ultimately developed agriculture for the first time in human history. Global warming at the very end of the Pleistocene created an environment in the Levant that encouraged the growth of abundant stands of wild seed plants like wheat and barley. Natufian hunter-gatherers took advantage of this reliable and nutritious food source in the waning years of the Pleistocene. The result was a lifeway that included relatively sedentary communities located near stands of wild grass that were monitored and tended each year. As we discuss in an upcoming module, it was the confluence of sedentism, population growth, and the reliance on domesticable plants that laid the groundwork for farming in the Near East.