Yarmoukian Research Articles

Investigating Pottery Neolithic socio-economic “regression” in the Southern Levant: Characterising obsidian consumption at Sha'ar Hagolan (N. Israel)

This paper details the characterisation of 34 obsidian artefacts from Sha'ar Hagolan in the Jordan Valley, a major Pottery Neolithic Site of the southern Levantine Yarmukian culture (6400–6000calBCE). Employing an integrated approach that melds sourcing data from EDXRF spectroscopy with the artefacts’ techno-typological characteristics, we contrast Sha'ar Hagolan's lithic traditions with those of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic southern Levantine sites in the context of alleged socio-economic disruptions in the Pottery Neolithic. The results indicate that community's obsidian consumption habits largely followed deep-time regional traditions (with only the slightest decrease in relative quantities), i.e. the use of Cappadocian raw materials (Göllü Dağ and Nenezi Dağ) to make pressure blades, and occasional projectiles, with only a small proportion of eastern Anatolian products (Nemrut Dağ). While the Sha'ar Hagolan material seems to embody continuity of southern Levantine cultural tradition, other broadly contemporary assemblages attest to the initiation of new procurement networks, and novel modes of consumption that reflect the increasing degree of cultural heterogeneity of the period. Finally, the distribution of obsidian across the site does not support the idea that social distinction at Sha'ar Hagolan was part-based on the preferential access to these exotic resources.

Transregional Interactions between Egypt and the Southern Levant in the 6th Millennium calBC

In the mid-6th millennium calBC, ceramics appeared for the first time in the Fayum and Delta of Lower Egypt. A southern Levantine origin for these ceramic types was proposed over fifty years ago by Jacob Kaplan (KAPLAN 1959) and several different cultural entities have since been considered as the possible origin, including the Yarmukian culture (EIWANGER 1984), the Qatifian culture (SMITH 1989), the Lodian (SHIRAI 2010), the Nizzanim and the Wadi Rabah culture (TASSIE 2014). This paper examines these five possible source cultures and reviews the archaeological data based on an absolute radiocarbon chronology. Preliminary results suggest that the Wadi Rabah culture played the most crucial role in the formation of the Neolithic of Lower Egypt, and that there were extensive cultural interactions between the Levant and Egypt. The interactions emerging in this period were embedded in an internationalism that connected most of the Near East. It can be envisaged that favourable climatic conditions in this period might also have enabled and facilitated interactions between the southern Levant and Egypt. The transregional interactions of the 6th millennium calBC can also be seen as a prelude to the better understood contacts of the Early Bronze Age, which also coincided with a climatic amelioration.

Shaʿar Hagolan 3: Symbolic Dimensions of the Yarmukian Culture: Canonization in Neolithic Art, Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society and Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2010. XV + 353 pp., 177 figures, 13 tables, 34 color plates. Cloth. $79.00. [Distributed in North America by Eisenbrauns] Yosef Garfinkel, David Ben-Shlomo, and Naomi Korn.

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsShaʿar Hagolan 3: Symbolic Dimensions of the Yarmukian Culture: Canonization in Neolithic Art, Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society and Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2010. XV + 353 pp., 177 figures, 13 tables, 34 color plates. Cloth. $79.00. [Distributed in North America by Eisenbrauns] Yosef Garfinkel, David Ben-Shlomo, and Naomi Korn.Gary O. RollefsonGary O. Rollefson [email protected] Search for more articles by this author [email protected] PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Bulletin of the American Society of Overseas Research Volume 364November 2011 A journal of the American Schools of Oriental Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5615/bullamerschoorie.364.0087 Views: 5Total views on this site Journal History This article was published in the Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research (1921-2021), which is continued by the Bulletin of the American Schools of Overseas Research (2022-present). Copyright 2011 American Schools of Oriental ResearchPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Early Maceheads in the Southern Levant: A “Chalcolithic” Hallmark in Neolithic Context

Maceheads have long been acknowledged as a characteristic feature of groundstone assemblages of the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age periods of the southern Levant, and as indicators of warfare and ritual activity, and symbols of rule. The data presented here suggest that maceheads made their first appearance within the social and economic context of the later parts of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic and early phases of the Pottery Neolithic (Yarmukian culture, ca. 6400–5800 CAL B.C.) of the southern Levant; from there they found their way into sites of the Pottery Neolithic Jericho IX/Lodian (ca. 5900–5600 CAL B.C.) and Wadi Rabah (ca. 5700–5200 CAL B.C.) cultures, and subsequently into Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age settlements.

The Zoomorphic Figurines from Sha'ar Hagolan: Hunting Magic Practices in the Neolithic Near East

While much attention has been paid to the anthropomorphic figurines of the Yarmukian culture, very little is known about the zoomorphic representations made by the same people. This paper fills the gap by presenting a full corpus of the zoomorphic figurines uncovered at Sha'ar Hagolan, the type site of the Yarmukian culture. There are 38 items, all illustrated by drawings and a few by photographs. In addition, several zoomorphic figurines from Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Munhata have been re-examined and are discussed here.

Facts, Fiction, and Yarmukian Figurines

Facts, Fiction, and Yarmukian Figurines

An Alternative Interpretation for the Material Imagery of the Yarmukian, a Neolithic Culture of the Sixth Millennium BC in the Southern Levant

This study describes material imagery portraying anthropomorphic subjects executed in stone and clay which appear on sites of the Yarmukian culture in the Southern Levant during the sixth millennium BC. Speculations are made and interpretations offered for the incised stone and clay images of persons and genitals as artefacts recording encoded information. It is suggested that some kinds of imagery are associated with age and reproductive status and relate to gender categorization, and yet other kinds could be related to socio-political discussion.

The Origins of the Yarmoukian at 'Ain Ghazal.

- Des migrations tie populations venant du Nord ont longtemps été avec céramique dans le Levant sud. Les fouilles effectuées à 'Ain Ghazal et ont livré d'abondantes preuves permettant de rejeter ce point de vue, du moir, est démontrée en termes de chronologie, stratigraphie, architecture, technolog socio-culturels. Ainsi le Yarmoukien doit être considéré comme une émanat'u. nvoquées pour expliquer l'apparition du Néolithique ur d'autres sites du ôème millénaire dans la région s en ce qui concerne le Yarmoukien. Cette évidence e lithique, économie de subsistance et autres aspects n directe du PPNC local du Levant sud.

The Yarmukian Culture in Israel.

- Les résultats des fouilles récentes et l'analyse du matériel provenant des fouilles anciennes ont permis notre compréhension de la culture yarmoukienne en Israël. Des habitations rondes ou rectangulaires, parfois de grandes sont associées à de nombreuses fosses, caractéristiques de l'habitat varmoukien. La poterie est la plus ancienne produite cette partie du Levant. Son décor, incisé et peint, est particulièrement caractéristique. Des outils en silex et des objets en en basalte ont été trouvés ainsi que de très nombreuses figurines qui sont parfois d'une grande qualité artistique.