Changes in burial customs from the Pre-Pottery to the Pottery Neolithic periods in the Levant: The case-study of Tel Roim West, Northern Israel

Abstract

This paper presents burial practices at Tel Roim West (TRW), a small Neolithic mound located on the northern fringes of the Hula Basin, Northern Israel. There are rich Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB), PPNC and Pottery Neolithic (PN) layers at the site. Eight burials were excavated in the site, each defined as a grave of one individual. Three belong to the PPNB period and five to the PN period. Two PPNB adults were buried under plastered floors, in a flexed position and without the skull. A PPNB baby was buried above a plastered floor and beneath a stone ‘ platform’. Four of the five PN burials were in simple pits, while one grave was built of stones ; among them, three were marked by a large stone set on edge. The individuals were all in primary positions, in articulation and with the skull, and most probably were all buried in a flexed position. One burial was found with a seal, the others had no grave goods. TRW is one of the few mounds in the Southern Levant where PPNB and PN burials can be compared in the same site. These show continuity in some burial customs and innovations in terms of stone utilization.