Fig 7 - uploaded by Israel Hershkovitz
Content may be subject to copyright.
Grave goods: Two ground stones found in association with the burial of H-91. (A) was found under the skull and (B) in the nearby vicinity (scale 2 cm).
Source publication
This paper presents burial customs at Atlit-Yam, a Pre-Pottery Neolithic C (8170–7460 b.p.; 7253–6212 cal b.c.) settlement submerged off the Carmel coast of Israel. This is the first Pre-Pottery Neolithic C (PPNC) site on the Mediterranean coast to yield a significant number of human burials. Human bones were revealed in 91 different locations at t...
Similar publications
Abstract: In this paper we identify what are the methodological problems linked to lithic studies in Extremadura. This region is located in west-central Iberia, within a well-known background of megalithic burials that has been the focus for the most part of research. We consider several issues of blade production (raw materials, workshops and cons...
Citations
... at Atlit Yam (Burial H50; Galili et al. 2005). Moreover, at ...
... S4;Goring-Morris et al. 2016: 187). 17 Остатки роговых ядер быка найдены в погребениях (женском и детском) (Galili et al. 2005: 9, Tab.3). ...
The analysis of bucranium found in the settlements of the Pre-Ceramic Neolithic of the Western Asia showed the following: the finds today can be fairly accurately identified by species and sex and dated within the span from the last centuries of the 11th millennium BC to 7600—6000 BC. The study of the context of the use of Bos Primigenius skulls/bones in rooms and with a certain set of accompanying osteological material confirmed the assumptions made by domestic and foreign researchers that bucranium and their individual parts can be considered as a way of presenting not only important symbols, but also individual ceremonies. Reconstructions of the symbolic content of the bucranium presented in literature do not address the question of how it was translated in practice in the process of ritual actions. It is, therefore, relevant to assume that bucraniums could have another possible (practical) function: they could be used as masks. Some important evidence of the working hypothesis is offered by the finds from Cyprus — headforms made from the skulls of bulls and plastic arts used in cult with the image of anthropomorphic figures wearing a similar type of mask. The treatment of bucranium as masks suggests how the object’s meaning is translated through its direct practical application in ritual actions, with symbolic and practical functions complementing each other.
... Yet, the NA burial is unusual in that it is not located within the actual settlement, nor inside a formal burial ground or burial cave, the latter being one of the hallmarks for the LC period (van den Brink 2005). In earlier cultures, such as the Pre-Pottery Neolithic and Pottery Neolithic, single burials inside the habitation area do occur (Eshed et al. 2008;Galili et al. 2005Galili et al. , 2010. As reported above, the NA site did not include remains of dwelling structures and the function of the shafts was most probably that of water wells (see above). ...
Salvage excavations were conducted in the summer of 2017 on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, opposite
Nissim Aloni Street no. 2, less than 35 m southeast of the Late Chalcolithic site at Namir Road, Tel Aviv. The latter
site was extensively excavated in 2005 and 2010. The present excavation clearly shows that the Nissim Aloni site is
part of that same site. While structural settlement remains are absent at Nissim Aloni Street, 45 vertical, narrow and
deep, cylindrical shafts and 19 circular pits were identified and excavated. As such, the present site constitutes the
southeast continuation of Namir Road, Area 2, the latter also characterized by the almost mere presence of shafts and
pits. Excluding few Epipaleolithic or Upper Paleolithic flints artifacts, all the anthropogenic materials deriving from
their fills at both localities date to the Late Chalcolithic period. The construction method and likely function of the shafts
has recently been discussed elsewhere, the final conclusion being that at least some of these were artesian water wells. In
addition to the shafts and circular pits, three bell-shaped cavities and a subterranean storage chamber were uncovered,
the latter reminiscent of similar subterranean spaces present at some of the Late Chalcolithic Beersheva sites. Below we
present the final report of this rescue excavation, concluding that Nissim Aloni and Namir Road are part of one and the
same Late Chalcolithic settlement site and its adjacent, exploited groundwater zone
... Yet, the NA burial is unusual in that it is not located within the actual settlement, nor inside a formal burial ground or burial cave, the latter being one of the hallmarks for the LC period (van den Brink 2005). In earlier cultures, such as the Pre-Pottery Neolithic and Pottery Neolithic, single burials inside the habitation area do occur (Eshed et al. 2008;Galili et al. 2005Galili et al. , 2010. As reported above, the NA site did not include remains of dwelling structures and the function of the shafts was most probably that of water wells (see above). ...
... Yet, the NA burial is unusual in that it is not located within the actual settlement, nor inside a formal burial ground or burial cave, the latter being one of the hallmarks for the LC period (van den Brink 2005). In earlier cultures, such as the Pre-Pottery Neolithic and Pottery Neolithic, single burials inside the habitation area do occur (Eshed et al. 2008;Galili et al. 2005Galili et al. , 2010. As reported above, the NA site did not include remains of dwelling structures and the function of the shafts was most probably that of water wells (see above). ...
Salvage excavations were conducted in the summer of 2017 on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, opposite Nissim Aloni Street no. 2, less than 35 m southeast of the Late Chalcolithic site at Namir Road, Tel Aviv. The latter site was extensively excavated in 2005 and 2010. The present excavation clearly shows that the Nissim Aloni site is part of that same site. While structural settlement remains are absent at Nissim Aloni Street, 45 vertical, narrow and deep, cylindrical shafts and 19 circular pits were identified and excavated. As such, the present site constitutes the southeast continuation of Namir Road, Area 2, the latter also characterized by the almost mere presence of shafts and pits. Excluding few Epipaleolithic or Upper Paleolithic flints artifacts, all the anthropogenic materials deriving from their fills at both localities date to the Late Chalcolithic period. The construction method and likely function of the shafts has recently been discussed elsewhere, the final conclusion being that at least some of these were artesian water wells. In addition to the shafts and circular pits, three bell-shaped cavities and a subterranean storage chamber were uncovered, the latter reminiscent of similar subterranean spaces present at some of the Late Chalcolithic Beersheva sites. Below we present the final report of this rescue excavation, concluding that Nissim Aloni and Namir Road are part of one and the same Late Chalcolithic settlement site and its adjacent, exploited groundwater zone.
... Yet, the NA burial is unusual in that it is not located within the actual settlement, nor inside a formal burial ground or burial cave, the latter being one of the hallmarks for the LC period (van den Brink 2005). In earlier cultures, such as the Pre-Pottery Neolithic and Pottery Neolithic, single burials inside the habitation area do occur (Eshed et al. 2008;Galili et al. 2005Galili et al. , 2010. As reported above, the NA site did not include remains of dwelling structures and the function of the shafts was most probably that of water wells (see above). ...
... Underwater excavations along the Carmel coast have identified 19 in-situ Stone Age settlements ranging from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic C (9-8.4 ka) to Pottery Neolithic (7.7-6.8 ka) periods ( Fig. 1b; Galili et al., 2020). Investigations of the ancient constructions and remains found in these preserved underwater sites have revealed some of the earliest evidence of water-well construction (Galili and Nir, 1993), olive oil production Sharvit, 1994-1995;Galili et al., 1997;, table olive preparation (Galili et al., 2021), early fishing (Zohar et al., 2001), early developments in plant and animal domestication (Galili et al., 2002), as well as burial practices (Galili et al., 2005). However, the precise timing of paleoenvironmental change over the Holocene is still missing. ...
The protected Tel-Dor coastal embayment in the eastern Mediterranean preserves an unusually complete stratigraphic record that reveals human-environmental interactions throughout the Holocene. Interpretation of new seismic profiles collected from shallow marine geo-physical transects across the bay show five seismic units were correlated with stratigraphy and age dates obtained from coastal and shallow marine sediment cores. This stratigraphic framework permits a detailed reconstruction of the coastal system over the last ca. 77 ka as well as an assessment of environmental factors that influenced some dimensions of past coastal societies. The base of the boreholes records lowstand aeolian deposits overlain by wetland sediments that were subsequently flooded by the mid-Holocene transgression. The earliest human settlements are submerged Pottery Neolithic (8.25-7 ka) structures and tools, found immediately above the wetland deposits landward of a submerged aeolianite ridge at the mouth of the bay. The wetland deposits and Pottery Neolithic settlement remains are buried by coastal sand that records a middle Holocene sea-level rise ca. 7.6-6.5 ka. Stratigraphic and geographic relationships suggest that these coastal communities were displaced by sea-level transgression. These findings demonstrate how robust integration of different data sets can be used to reconstruct the geomorphic evolution of coastal settings as well as provide an important addition to the nature of human-landscape interaction and cultural development.
... Geomorphic (tidal notches and beach rocks) and biologic (coralline algae, boring mollusks) markers indicate that sea level in the Eastern Mediterranean reached its present level by the Middle Bronze Age (~4000 year BP) to form the current coastline. Since then, the relative sea level has been relatively stable, possibly fluctuating ⩽0.5 m (Anzidei et al., 2014;Benjamin et al., 2017;Galili et al., 2005). The Seyhan, Ceyhan, and Berdan rivers probably began to form the ÇDC after sea level reached its present level (Erinç 1953), and the rivers changed their courses several times during the Late-Holocene (Erol, 2003). ...
The Çukurova Delta Complex, formed by the Seyhan, Ceyhan, and Berdan rivers, is the second-largest delta system in the Mediterranean. The delta complex is a major depocenter that contains sediments transported from the Taurus Mountain belt since the Miocene. Studies on the Quaternary landscape evolution of the Çukurova Delta Complex are scarce, and in particular, the Holocene evolution of the Seyhan Delta section of the Çukurova Delta Complex has been poorly understood. Sedimentological analysis, high resolution digital elevation models derived using structure from motion, and optically stimulated luminescence dating of the foredune ridges in the Seyhan Delta help define the lesser-known nature of Late-Holocene paleoenvironmental and landscape evolution of the Seyhan section of the Çukurova Delta Complex. The foredune ridges provide evidence that the Akyatan Lagoon, one of Turkey’s largest lagoon, formed at the beginning of the last millennium. The ridges bordering the north and south of Tuzla Lagoon show that the lagoon completed its formation between the 11th and 14th centuries when the ancient delta was to the east. The Seyhan River flowed 10 km east from its current course until at least the 16th Century, and its ancient delta was active until that time. After the 16th Century, the Seyhan River shifted to its current course in the west and began to build the modern delta and the youngest foredune ridges were formed by a combination of aeolian and littoral processes. The contemporary delta continued to prograde until the construction of the Seyhan Dam in AD 1956. Since the construction of the Seyhan Dam, the delta shoreline at the river mouth retreated drastically and foredune formation stopped. In the past few decades, most of the foredune ridges have been eroded away by coastal processes and agricultural activities.
... Surveys in Lebanon and Syria have not recorded any major increase in post-LPPNB settlements in those areas, although dispersal of small groups of refugee families may not have made a major impression on settlement recognition. A few small PPNC sites have been identified in Palestine (e.g., Atlit on the Mediterranean coast south of Haifa [Galili et al. 2005], Tell ' Ali in the Jordan Valley [Garfinkel 1994], and Ashkelon on the southern Mediterranean coast [Garfinkel 2008]), but the settlements hardly account for much of the migration. In view of the climatic deterioration, movement to the south into the Negev, Sinai, and Saudi Arabian Desert regions is an unlikely direction to look for the dislocated people. ...
... At 'Ain Ghazal and Tell Labwe (Fig. 1), there were multiple primary burials, which were rare in previous periods, and also non-normative primary burials where the corpses were not carefully handled, suggesting a certain disaffection toward these individuals (Rollefson et al. 1992;Ibáñez et al. 2018). Furthermore, significant changes occurred in the burial customs from the PPNC to Pottery Neolithic in the southern Levant, including the decrease and later disappearance of cranial retrieval, plastered skulls, burials underneath plastered floors, and secondary multiple burials (Rollefson et al. 1992;Rollefson and Köhler-Rollefson 1993;Galili et al. 2005;Eshed and Nadel 2015). Therefore, changes in the temporality of the mortuary practices suggest fundamental shifts in the relationship of the dead, social memory, and the livings in the late 8th millennium BC onwards. ...
Cremation is an unusual burial practice in the Neolithic of the Near East. At Kharaysin, a Pre-Pottery Neolithic site in Jordan, we found a secondary burial with evidence of burnt human bones. This paper assesses (1) the intentionality of fire-induced alterations on human bones, (2) the pre-burning condition of the human remains, and (3) their significance within the burial customs of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic in the Near East. Burial SU-815 was a secondary multiple burial with burnt and unburnt human remains from at least three adult individuals. Directly dated at 8010 ± 30 BP (7058–6825 cal BC), it corresponds to the Late Pre-Potttery Neolithic B (LPPNB). Macroscopic changes in human remains were analysed to investigate the circumstances of burning. Some bones were selected for mineralogical and compositional analysis through X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Colour changes, fractures, cracking, and chemical changes on bones were identified as resulting from fire-induced alterations. Our results show that the bones were intentionally burnt when they were already skeletonised or almost dry. This intentional manipulation using fire happened after other burial practices took place. After burning, the bones were collected and transported to this burial during a final episode. Fire-induced manipulation or cremation was not a significant development of the habitual burial practice, but evidence from Kharaysin shows an innovation in handling the human remains. Therefore, this case provides new insight into the complexity and variability of burial customs within the Late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B in Southern Levant.
