Epipalaeolithic Near East

The Epipalaeolithic Near East designates the Epipalaeolithic ("Final Old Stone Age", also known as Mesolithic) in the prehistory of the Near East. It is the period after the Upper Palaeolithic and before the Neolithic, between approximately 20,000 and 10,000 years Before Present (BP).[1][2] The people of the Epipalaeolithic were nomadic hunter-gatherers that generally lived in small, seasonal camps rather than permanent villages. They made sophisticated stone tools using microliths—small, finely-produced blades that were hafted in wooden implements—which are the primary means by which archaeologists recognise and classify Epipalaeolithic sites.[3]

The start of the Epipalaeolithic is defined by the appearance of microliths.[2][4][5] Although this is an arbitrary boundary, the Epipalaeolithic does differ significantly from the preceding Upper Palaeolithic. Epipalaeolithic sites are more numerous, better preserved and can be accurately radiocarbon dated. The period also coincides with the gradual retreat of glacial climatic conditions between the Last Glacial Maximum and the start of the Holocene and is characterised by population growth and economic intensification.[2] The Epipalaeolithic ended with the "Neolithic Revolution" and the onset of domestication, food production, and sedentism – although archaeologists now recognise that these trends began in the Epipalaeolithic.[5][6]

The period may be subdivided into Early, Middle and Late Epipaleolithic: The Early Epipaleolithic corresponds to the Kebaran culture, c. 20,000 to 14,500 years ago, the Middle Epipaleolithic is the Geometric Kebaran or late phase of the Kebaran, and the Late Epipaleolithic to the Natufian, 14,500–11,500 BP.[7] The Natufian overlaps with the incipient Neolithic Revolution, the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A.

## Contents

* 1 Levant
* 1.1 Early Epipaleolithic
* 1.1.1 Harvesting of cereals
* 1.1.2 Artistic expression in the Kebaran culture
* 1.2 Late Epipaleolithic
* 2 Other regions
* 3 Examples
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 External links
* 6.1 Arabia
* 7 Food sources
* 8 See also
* 9 References

## Levant

### Early Epipaleolithic

The Epipaleolithic corresponds to the first period of progressive warming after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), before the start of the Holocene and the onset of the Neolithic Revolution. Evolution of temperatures in the Post-Glacial period according to Greenland ice cores.[8] Archaeological evidence of human activities in the Near East, at the end of the Upper Paleolithic and during the Epipaleolithic. Human occupation signs 29–15.2 ka (diamonds), wood charcoal, nuts 15.9–11.2 ka (squares).

The Early Epipaleolithic, also known as Kebaran, lasts from 20,000 to 12,150 BP.[7] It followed the Upper Paleolithic Levantine Aurignacian (formerly called Antelian) period throughout the Levant. By the end of the Levantine Aurignacian, gradual changes took place in stone industries. Small stone tools called microliths and retouched bladelets can be found for the first time. The microliths of this culture period differ greatly from the Aurignacian artifacts.

Stone Age stone mortar and pestle, Kebaran culture, 22000-18000 BP Composite sickles for cereal harvesting at 23,000-Years-Old Ohalo II, Israel.[9]

By 18,000 BP the climate and environment had changed, starting a period of transition. The Levant became more arid and the forest vegetation retreated, to be replaced by steppe. The cool and dry period ended at the beginning of Mesolithic 1. The hunter-gatherers of the Aurignacian would have had to modify their way of living and their pattern of settlement to adapt to the changing conditions. The crystallization of these new patterns resulted in Mesolithic 1. New types of settlements and new stone industries developed.

The inhabitants of a small Mesolithic 1 site in the Levant left little more than their chipped stone tools behind. The industry was of small tools made of bladelets struck off single-platform cores. Besides bladelets, burins and end-scrapers were found. A few bone tools and some ground stone have also been found. These so-called Mesolithic sites of Asia are far less numerous than those of the Neolithic and the archeological remains are very poor.

The type site is Kebara Cave south of Haifa. The Kebaran was characterized by small, geometric microliths, and were thought to lack the specialized grinders and pounders found in later Near Eastern cultures.

The Kebaran is preceded by the Athlitian phase of the Levantine Aurignacian (formerly called Antelian) and followed by the proto-agrarian Natufian culture of the Epipalaeolithic. The appearance of the Kebarian culture, of microlithic type implies a significant rupture in the cultural continuity of Levantine Upper Paleolithic. The Kebaran culture, with its use of microliths, is associated with the use of the bow and arrow and the domestication of the dog.[10] The Kebaran is also characterised by the earliest collecting of wild cereals, known due to the uncovering of grain grinding tools. It was the first step towards the Neolithic Revolution. The Kebaran people are believed to have practiced dispersal to upland environments in the summer, and aggregation in caves and rockshelters near lowland lakes in the winter. This diversity of environments may be the reason for the variety of tools found in their toolkits.

The Kebaran is generally thought to have been ancestral to the later Natufian culture that occupied much of the same range.[11]

#### Harvesting of cereals

Main article: Neolithic revolution

The earliest evidence for the use of composite cereal harvesting tools are glossed flint blades that have been found at the site of Ohalo II, a 23,000-years-old fisher-hunter-gatherers’ camp on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Northern Israel.[12] The Ohalo site is at the junction of the Upper Paleolithic and the Early Epipaleolithic, and has been attributed to both periods.[13] The wear traces indicate that tools were used for harvesting near-ripe semi-green wild cereals, shortly before grains are ripe and disperse naturally.[12] The study shows that the tools were not used intensively, and they reflect two harvesting modes: flint knives held by hand and inserts hafted in a handle.[12] The finds reveal the existence of cereal harvesting techniques and tools some 8,000 years before the Natufian, and 12,000 years before the establishment of sedentary farming communities in the Near East during the Neolithic Revolution.[12] Furthermore, the new finds accord well with evidence for the earliest ever cereal cultivation at the site and the use of stone-made grinding implements.[12]

#### Artistic expression in the Kebaran culture

Engraved plaquette with bird image from Ein Qashish South, Jezreel Valley, Israel, Kebaran and Geometric Kebaran ca. 23,000-16,500 BP.[14]

Evidence for symbolic behavior of Late Pleistocene foragers in the Levant has been found in engraved limestone plaquettes from the Epipaleolithic open-air site Ein Qashish South in the Jezreel Valley, Israel.[14] The engravings were uncovered in Kebaran and Geometric Kebaran deposits (ca. 23,000 and ca. 16,500 BP), and include the image of a bird, the first figurative representation known so far from a pre-Natufian Epipaleolithic site, together with geometric motifs such as chevrons, cross-hatchings and ladders.[14] Some of the engravings closely resemble roughly contemporary European finds, and may be interpreted as "systems of notations" or "artificial memory systems" related to the timing of seasonal resources and related important events for nomadic groups.[14]

Similarly looking signs and patterns are well known from the context of the local Natufian, a final Epipaleolithic period when sedentary or semi-sedentary foragers started practicing agriculture.[14]

### Late Epipaleolithic

Main article: Natufian culture

The Late Epipaleolithic is also called the Natufian culture. This period is characterized by the early rise of agriculture that would later emerge into the Neolithic period. Radiocarbon dating places the Natufian culture between 12,500 and 9500 BCE, just before the end of the Pleistocene.[15] This period is characterised by the beginning of agriculture.[16] The earliest known battle occurred during the Mesolithic period at a site in Sudan known as Cemetery 117.

The Natufian culture is commonly split into two subperiods: Early Natufian (12,500–10,800 BCE) (Christopher Delage gives c. 13,000–11,500 BP uncalibrated, equivalent to c. 13,700–11,500 BCE)[17] and Late Natufian (10,800–9500 BCE). The Late Natufian most likely occurred in tandem with the Younger Dryas. The following period is often called the Pre-Pottery Neolithic; in the Levant, unlike elsewhere, "Mesolithic pottery" is not talked of.

* Bovine-rib dagger, HaYonim Cave, Natufian Culture, 12500-9500 BC.

* Stone Mortars from Eynan, Natufian period, 12500-9500 BC

* The Ain Sakhri lovers, Ain Sakhri near Bethleem, Israel. British Museum: 1958,1007.1

## Other regions

The Paleolithic

↑ Pliocene (before Homo)

Lower Paleolithic

Short description: Latin loanword meaning "approximately, around"

CA|other uses of "Cca"|CCA (disambiguation)|CCA|other uses of "Circa"|Circa (disambiguation)}}Template:TWCleanup2Circa (from la 'around, about, roughly, approximately') - frequently abbreviated ca. or c. and less frequently circ., cca. or cc. - signifies "approximately" in several European languages and is used as a loanword in English, usually in reference to a date.[18] Circa is widely used in historical writing when the dates of events are not accurately known.

When used in date ranges, circa is applied before each approximate date, while dates without circa immediately preceding them are generally assumed to be known with certainty.

## Examples

* 1732–1799: Both years are known precisely.
* c. 1732 – 1799: The beginning year is approximate; the end year is known precisely.
* 1732 – c. 1799: The beginning year is known precisely; the end year is approximate.
* c. 1732 – c. 1799: Both years are approximate.

## See also

* Floruit

## References

1. ↑ Simmons, 46
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Shea, John J. (2013). "The Epipalaeolithic" (in en). Stone Tools in the Paleolithic and Neolithic Near East. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 161–212. doi:10.1017/cbo9781139026314.007. ISBN 9781139026314. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/9781139026314#c00698-670/type/book_part.
3. ↑ Simmons, 48-49
4. ↑ Bar-Yosef, Ofer (1994). "Western Asia from the end of the Middle Palaeolithic to the beginnings of food production". in de Laet, Siegfried J.. History of Humanity Volume 1: Prehistory and the Beginnings of Civilization. Paris / London: UNESCO / Routledge. pp. 241–255. ISBN 978-0415093057. OCLC 223951055.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Maher, Lisa A.; Richter, Tobias; Stock, Jay T. (2012). "The Pre-Natufian Epipaleolithic: Long-term Behavioral Trends in the Levant" (in en). Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews 21 (2): 69–81. doi:10.1002/evan.21307. ISSN 1060-1538. PMID 22499441.
6. ↑ Bar‐Yosef, Ofer (1998). "The Natufian culture in the Levant, threshold to the origins of agriculture" (in en). Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews 6 (5): 159–177. doi:10.1002/(sici)1520-6505(1998)6:5<159::aid-evan4>3.0.co;2-7. ISSN 1520-6505.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Simmons, 47-48
8. ↑ Zalloua, Pierre A.; Matisoo-Smith, Elizabeth (6 January 2017). "Mapping Post-Glacial expansions: The Peopling of Southwest Asia" (in en). Scientific Reports 7: 40338. doi:10.1038/srep40338. ISSN 2045-2322. https://www.nature.com/articles/srep40338.
9. ↑ Nadel, Dani; Weiss, Ehud; Groman-Yaroslavski, Iris (23 November 2016). "Composite Sickles and Cereal Harvesting Methods at 23,000-Years-Old Ohalo II, Israel" (in en). PLOS ONE 11 (11): 1-20. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0167151. ISSN 1932-6203. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0167151.
10. ↑ Dayan, Tamar (1994), "Early Domesticated Dogs of the Near East" (Journal of Archaeological Science Volume 21, Issue 5, September 1994, Pages 633–640)
11. ↑ Mellaart, James (1976), Neolithic of the Near East (Macmillan Publishers)
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 Material was adapted from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License Nadel, Dani; Weiss, Ehud; Groman-Yaroslavski, Iris (23 November 2016). "Composite Sickles and Cereal Harvesting Methods at 23,000-Years-Old Ohalo II, Israel" (in en). PLOS ONE 11 (11): 1-20. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0167151. ISSN 1932-6203. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0167151.
13. ↑ Enzel, Yehouda; Bar-Yosef, Ofer (2017) (in en). Quaternary of the Levant. Cambridge University Press. p. 335. ISBN 9781107090460. https://books.google.com/books?id=hhSVDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA335.
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 Material was adapted from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License Roskin, Joel; Porat, Naomi; Greenbaum, Noam; Caracuta, Valentina; Boaretto, Elisabeta; Bar-Yosef, Ofer; Yaroshevich, Alla (24 August 2016). "A Unique Assemblage of Engraved Plaquettes from Ein Qashish South, Jezreel Valley, Israel: Figurative and Non-Figurative Symbols of Late Pleistocene Hunters-Gatherers in the Levant" (in en). PLOS ONE 11 (8): 1-20. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0160687. ISSN 1932-6203. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0160687.
15. ↑ Munro, Natalie D. (2003). "Small game, the Younger Dryas, and the transition to agriculture in the southern Levant". Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Urgeschichte 12: 47-71. http://www.anth.uconn.edu/faculty/munro/assets/Mitteilungen.pdf.
16. ↑ Bar-Yosef, Ofer (1998). "The Natufian Culture in the Levant, Threshold to the Origins of Agriculture". Evolutionary Anthropology 6 (5): 159–177. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1520-6505(1998)6:5<159::AID-EVAN4>3.0.CO;2-7. http://www.columbia.edu/itc/anthropology/v1007/baryo.pdf.
17. ↑ Delage, Christophe, ed (2004). The last hunter-gatherers in the Near East. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports 1320. ISBN 978-1-84171-389-2.
18. ↑ "circa". Dictionary.com. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/circa.

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(c. 50–10 ka)

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* Emiran (50–40 ka)
* Ahmarian (46–42 ka)
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Europe:

* Bohunician (48–40 ka)
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↓ Mesolithic

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### Arabia

Until recently, it was thought that the Arabian peninsula was too arid and inhospitable for human settlement in the Late Pleistocene. The earliest known sites belonged to the early Neolithic, c. 9000 to 8000 BP, and it was supposed that people were able to recolonise the region then due to the wetter climate of the early Holocene.[1][2][3]

However in 2014, archaeologists working in the southern Nefud desert discovered an Epipalaeolithic site dating to between 12,000 and 10,000 BP. The site is located in the Jubbah basin, a palaeolake which retained water in the otherwise dry conditions of the Terminal Pleistocene. The stone tools found bore a close resemblance to the Geometric Kebaran, a Levantine industry associated with the Middle Epipalaeolithic. The excavators of the site therefore proposed that northern Arabia was colonised by foragers from the Levant around 15,000 years ago. These groups may then have been cut off by the drying climate and retreated to refugia like the Jubbah palaeolake.[4]

## Food sources

Associations of wild cereals and other wild grasses in northern Israel

The Epipaleolithic is best understood when discussing the southern Levant, as the period is well documented due to good preservation at the sites, at least of animal remains. The most prevalent animal food sources in the Levant during this period were: deer, gazelle, and ibex of various species, and smaller animals including birds, lizard, fox, tortoise, and hare. Less common were aurochs, wild equids, wild boar, wild cattle, and hartebeest.[5] At Neve David near Haifa, 15 mammal species were found, and two reptile species. Despite then being very close to the coast, the rather small number of seashells found (7 genera) and the piercing of many, suggests these may have been collected as ornaments rather than food.[6]

However the period seems to be marked by an increase in plant foods and a decrease in meat eating. Over 40 plant species have been found by analysing one site in the Jordan Valley, and some grains were processed and baked. Stones with evidence of grinding have been found.[5] These were most likely the main food sources throughout the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A, which introduced the widespread agricultural growing of crops.

## See also

* List of archaeological periods (Levant)
* Levantine archaeology
* Levantine Aurignacian
* Caucasian Epipalaeolithic
* Mesolithic Europe

## References

1. ↑ Uerpmann, Hans-Peter; Potts, D. T.; Uerpmann, Margarethe (2010) (in en). The Evolution of Human Populations in Arabia. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer, Dordrecht. pp. 205–214. doi:10.1007/978-90-481-2719-1_15. ISBN 9789048127184.
2. ↑ Bretzke, Knut; Armitage, Simon J.; Parker, Adrian G.; Walkington, Helen; Uerpmann, Hans-Peter (2013-06-25). "The environmental context of Paleolithic settlement at Jebel Faya, Emirate Sharjah, UAE" (in en). Quaternary International 300: 83–93. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2013.01.028. ISSN 1040-6182. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040618213000608.
3. ↑ Crassard, Rémy; Petraglia, Michael D.; Parker, Adrian G.; Parton, Ash; Roberts, Richard G.; Jacobs, Zenobia; Alsharekh, Abdullah; Al-Omari, Abdulaziz et al. (2013). "Beyond the Levant: First Evidence of a Pre-Pottery Neolithic Incursion into the Nefud Desert, Saudi Arabia" (in en). PLOS ONE 8 (7): e68061. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0068061. ISSN 1932-6203. PMID 23894294.
4. ↑ Hilbert, Yamandú H.; White, Tom S.; Parton, Ash; Clark-Balzan, Laine; Crassard, Rémy; Groucutt, Huw S.; Jennings, Richard P.; Breeze, Paul et al. (2014-10-01). "Epipalaeolithic occupation and palaeoenvironments of the southern Nefud desert, Saudi Arabia, during the Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene" (in en). Journal of Archaeological Science 50: 460–474. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2014.07.023. ISSN 0305-4403. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440314002775.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Simmons, 48
6. ↑ Bar-Oz, 71-73

* Bar-Oz, Guy; Dayan, Tamar; Kaufman, Daniel, The Epipalaeolithic Faunal Sequence in Israel: A View from Neve David (PDF), Journal of Archaeological Science, 1999, 26, 67–82
* Simmons, Alan H., The Neolithic Revolution in the Near East: Transforming the Human Landscape, 2007, University of Arizona Press, ISBN 978-0816529667, google books
* M. H. Alimen and M. J. Steve, Historia Universal siglo XXI. Prehistoria. Siglo XXI Editores, 1970 (reviewed and corrected in 1994) (original German edition, 1966, titled Vorgeschichte). ISBN 84-323-0034-9

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