Andrew Garrard

Prehistoric Environment and Settlement in the Azraq Basin: an Interim Report on the 1987 and 1988 Excavation Seasons

AbstractThe Azraq Project was begun in 1975 in order to learn more of the history of environment, settlement and subsistence in the presently arid zone of South-West Asia during the late Glacial and early Holocene—the period crucial to the beginnings of food production. In 1975 a survey was made of fifteen localitites around the Azraq Basin and the area was found to be rich in sites of late Acheulian to Neolithic date. Evidence was also found for a large Pleistocene lake at the centre of the depression (Garrard et al. 1975, 1977). In 1982 a more detailed archaeological and geomorphological survey was made of the area of the former lake and of two of its western tributary wadis–Wadis el-Jilat and Kharaneh (Garrard et al. 1985a,b). A range of Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic sites were found associated with the expansion and retreat of the last major lake. Similarly dated, as well as earlier. Upper Palaeolithic, sites were also found in the western tributary wadis, at the present steppe–desert boundary. The Up...

Interaction before Agriculture: Exchanging Material and Sharing Knowledge in the Final Pleistocene Levant

This article discusses social interaction in the Epipalaeolithic of southwest Asia. Discussions of contact, social relationships and social organization have primarily focused on the Pre-Pottery Neolithic and are often considered to represent typical hallmarks of emergent farming societies. The hunter-gatherers of the final Pleistocene, in particular those of the Early and Middle Epipalaeolithic, have more rarely been the focus of such discussions. In this article we consider evidence for interaction from the Azraq Basin of eastern Jordan, to question the uniqueness of the Neolithic evidence for interaction. We argue that interaction between differently-constituted groups can be traced within the Early Epipalaeolithic of the southern Levant, suggesting that it is of far greater antiquity than previously considered.

Social identities and the expansion of stone bead-making in Neolithic Western Asia: new evidence from Jordan

From their research in Jordan, the authors show that the appearance of early farming and herding communities in western Asia coincided with a large expansion in stone bead production. This reflects a new social role for personal ornament.

Hunting Practices at an Eastern Jordanian Epipalaeolithic Aggregation Site: The Case of Kharaneh IV

Abstract Two Epipalaeolithic sites, Kharaneh IV and Wadi Jilat 6 in the Azraq basin of eastern Jordan, are much larger than any others of the same period. They are locations to which hunters/gatherers/foragers returned across thousands of years. This paper explores human settlement and mobility patterns at these unusual sites through the perspective of animal resources. The predominant prey were gazelle but with no evidence for specialized targeting, rather the faunal spectra seem directly to reflect high-level game availability in the immediate locale. The proximity of prey is evidenced by non-selective carcass transport, even for the largest ungulates. Regional comparisons across the Levant revealed variation in animal procurement that can be explained largely by influences of geographical, environmental and vegetational factors on animal availability. The range of fauna at these sites suggests greater water accessibility than seen today, in line with published environmental studies indicating cooler/wetter conditions in the Early Epipalaeolithic. Mortality profiles and presence of migrating bird species suggest occupation and hunting mostly in the winter and early spring, when large herds of gazelle, other fauna and humans would have been drawn to the water and plant rich environs of the Azraq basin wadis.

Prehistoric Environment and settlement in the Azraq Basin. A report on the 1982 survey season.

During the past decade there has been a great increase in prehistoric survey and excavation in the arid lands of south-west Asia. There have been three, main reasons for this. Firstly, the need to correct the geographical imbalance of earlier work which concentrated on the Fertile Cresent. Secondly, the growing interest in reconstructing regional settlement patterns. The present day desert areas offer much better site survival than the more fertile regions with their recent agricultural and urban disturbance. Thirdly, prehistorians have become increasingly interested in the interrelationship between man and his environment. This relationship is particularly finely balanced along the borders of the arid zone. The major projects which have focused on the prehistory. of the desert regions of the Levant have been those of Bar Yosef and Phillips (1977) in Sinai, Marks (1976, 1977, 1983) in the Negev, Henry (1983, forthcoming) in southern jordan, Suzuki and Hanihara in the Palmyra region of Syria (Suzuki and Kobori 1970, Suzuki and Takai 1973, 1974; Hanihara and Sakaguchi 1978; Hanihara and Akazawa 1979, 1983) and Besancon et al. (1982) and Cauvin (1982) in neighbouring EI Kowm. During 1975 the author also began such a project in the Azraq Basin of eastern jordan (Garrard et al. 1975, 1977). The project was undertaken partly for the reasons described above, but also to obtain information on the role of the marginal areas fringing the Fertile Crescent in the beginnings of animal and plant husbandry. The Azraq Basin itself was chosen because rich prehistoric sites containing organic material had been found in the region by earlier workers (Waechter

The Seasonal Mobility of Prehistoric Gazelle Herds in the Azraq Basin, Jordan: Modelling Alternative Strategies Using Stable Isotopes

ABSTRACT The hunting of Gazella subgutturosa was a dominant practice for Epipalaeolithic and early Neolithic hunter–gatherers in the east Jordan steppe. The seasonal mobility of this taxon in the Levant is poorly understood, especially for early prehistory when herd movements would have influenced hunter-gatherer use of the steppes. This paper proposes four patterns of seasonal herd mobility for G. subgutturosa centred on Jordan’s Azraq Basin. The four patterns are modelled using oxygen, carbon and strontium stable isotopes. Seasonal environmental signatures of each are understood through carbon and strontium isotopic variation in sixty modern plant specimens collected from twelve selected locations in north Jordan, published data on oxygen isotopes in local precipitation, and the adaptive behaviour of G. subgutturosa. The integrated isotopic datasets provide clear discriminatory markers for each proposed mobility pattern. Results will be applied in future to isotopic data from archaeological gazelle teeth from the Azraq Basin.

The Early Prehistory of the Sakçagözü Region, North Levantine Rift Valley: Report on 1995 Survey Season

As a result of its geographical location between the Old World continents, its distinctive natural resources and its innovative cultural record, the Near East is of particular interest to scholars concerned with human developments through the Pleistocene and Early Holocene. Research has focused on the nature and timing of hominid dispersals from Africa into Eurasia, the adaptations of premodern humans to Near Eastern environments, the nature of neanderthal and early modern human societies, hunter-gatherer adaptations in the later Pleistocene and the emergence of village-based farming. However, in spite of considerable concern with these phenomena, our knowledge of the early prehistory of the Near East remains geographically restricted. The best known region for the Palaeolithic is the central and southern Levant. Limited work was undertaken in the Iraqi and Iranian Zagros in the 1950s–60s, but the northern Levant and Turkey remain poorly studied. Aceramic Neolithic research has been more evenly spread, having benefited from the dam salvage projects in the Tigris-Euphrates basins and work in the central Anatolian plateau. However there are still substantial gaps in our knowledge.

Hunting and trapping strategies in the coastal mountains of northern Lebanon during the Epipalaeolithic

Relative to other regions of the Levant, our knowledge of the adaptations of Epipalaeolithic hunter-gatherers to the late Pleistocene environments of the coastal mountains of the central and northern Levant are extremely limited. However, recently excavations at two adjacent caves at Moghr el-Ahwal in the Qadisha Valley of northern Lebanon have provided a rich record, particularly of hunting and trapping strategies from the period following the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) until the Bølling/Allerød interstadial. The dominant prey species, which varied in proportions through time, included: wild goat; roe, red and fallow deer; as well as fox, hare, squirrel and partridge. These document the exploitation of a wide spectrum of habitats, and demonstrate the expansion of forest cover through this period. Comparisons are made with food procurement strategies through the Epipalaeolithic in the wider region.

Epipalaeolithic and Pre-Pottery Neolithic burials from the north Lebanese highlands in their regional context

Archaeological human remains and their funerary contexts provide valuable insights into social and ideological lives as well as the origins, health and activities of past communities. In the southern Levant extensive cemeteries from the Late Epipalaeolithic (Natufian) and Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) have been recognized, although burials from earlier periods are sparse. Elsewhere in the Levant the record from the whole Epipalaeolithic is poor. Excavations at two adjacent caves at Moghr el-Ahwal in the Qadisha Valley of northern Lebanon have provided a window into human lives and mortuary practices from an otherwise poorly known region. This includes material from contexts with radiocarbon dates ranging from the late Kebaran, Geometric Kebaran and Natufian (c. 19–13.8 ka cal BP), as well as directly dated skeletal material from the mid to late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (c. 9.9–9.5 ka cal BP). Although this forested mountain area may have been isolated from other regions in the Levant, the burial practices show links to the wider area.