Nahal Ein Gev II, a Late Natufian Community at the Sea of Galilee.

Leore Grosman,Dana Shaham,Natalie D Munro,Itay Abadi,Elisabetta Boaretto,Ofer Bar-Yosef,Anna Belfer-Cohen,Karen Hardy

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146647

Leore Grosman, Dana Shaham + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0146647

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Abstract

The Natufian culture is of great importance as a starting point to investigate the dynamics of the transition to agriculture. Given its chronological position at the threshold of the Neolithic (ca. 12,000 years ago) and its geographic setting in the productive Jordan Valley, the site of Nahal Ein Gev II (NEG II) reveals aspects of the Late Natufian adaptations and its implications for the transition to agriculture. The size of the site, the thick archaeological deposits, invested architecture and multiple occupation sub-phases reveal a large, sedentary community at least on par with Early Natufian camps in the Mediterranean zone. Although the NEG II lithic tool kit completely lacks attributes typical of succeeding Pre Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) assemblages, the artistic style is more closely related to the early PPNA world, despite clear roots in Early Natufian tradition. The site does not conform to current perceptions of the Late Natufians as a largely mobile population coping with reduced resource productivity caused by the Younger Dryas. Instead, the faunal and architectural data suggest that the sedentary populations of the Early Natufian did not revert back to a nomadic way of life in the Late Natufian in the Jordan Valley. NEG II encapsulates cultural characteristics typical of both Natufian and PPNA traditions and thus bridges the crossroads between Late Paleolithic foragers and Neolithic farmers.

Highlights

As the last cultural entity prior to the emergence of Neolithic communities in the southern Levant, the Late Natufian phase is an important starting point for investigations of the internal dynamics of the Natufian culture and how they led to the transition to agriculture
The absolute dates verify the chronological assignment of Nahal Ein Gev II (NEG II) to the Late Natufian
Comparative analysis indicates a number of stylistic trajectories from the Early Natufian to the NEG II Late Natufian and the Pre Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA)

Summary

Introduction

As the last cultural entity prior to the emergence of Neolithic communities in the southern Levant, the Late Natufian phase is an important starting point for investigations of the internal dynamics of the Natufian culture and how they led to the transition to agriculture. It is worth noting that the microliths comprise quite a big part of the assemblage, they are less common than in other Late Epipaleolithic sites in the region [28], the size and shape of the lunates are similar [30,31,32].

Results

Conclusion