Danny Rosenberg

Earliest floral grave lining from 13,700–11,700-y-old Natufian burials at Raqefet Cave, Mt. Carmel, Israel

Flowering plants possess mechanisms that stimulate positive emotional and social responses in humans. It is difficult to establish when people started to use flowers in public and ceremonial events because of the scarcity of relevant evidence in the archaeological record. We report on uniquely preserved 13,700–11,700-y-old grave linings made of flowers, suggesting that such use began much earlier than previously thought. The only potentially older instance is the questionable use of flowers in the Shanidar IV Neanderthal grave. The earliest cemeteries (ca. 15,000–11,500 y ago) in the Levant are known from Natufian sites in northern Israel, where dozens of burials reflect a wide range of inhumation practices. The newly discovered flower linings were found in four Natufian graves at the burial site of Raqefet Cave, Mt. Carmel, Israel. Large identified plant impressions in the graves include stems of sage and other Lamiaceae (Labiatae; mint family) or Scrophulariaceae (figwort family) species; accompanied by a plethora of phytoliths, they provide the earliest direct evidence now known for such preparation and decoration of graves. Some of the plant species attest to spring burials with a strong emphasis on colorful and aromatic flowers. Cave floor chiseling to accommodate the desired grave location and depth is also evident at the site. Thus, grave preparation was a sophisticated planned process, embedded with social and spiritual meanings reflecting a complex preagricultural society undergoing profound changes at the end of the Pleistocene.

The Sounds of Pounding

Burial and commemorative rites form significant components of many routines and activities accompanying the disposal and remembrance of the dead in numerous past and present societies. Various artifacts seem to have had an important role in burial and commemorative rituals and may have been used to reflect social unity and strengthen group identity. Burial-related paraphernalia clearly gained special importance in the southern Levant with the onset of the Natufian culture (ca. 15,000–11,500 calBP), a culture exhibiting cardinal changes in subsistence economy, social behavior, and symbolism. One hallmark of this culture is the appearance of large boulder mortars, massive implements frequently associated with burials and burial grounds, long accepted as a manifestation of technological skill and petrological knowledge. We report the results of a new study of Natufian boulder mortars and their contexts and present novel relevant data. Our conclusions suggest that Natufian boulder mortars share specific traits that go beyond size as well as use contexts. We suggest that they reflect common practices pertaining to Natufian burial and commemorative ceremonies and can be held as indicators of a south Levantine tradition overriding a variety of territorial and group-specific social and symbolic traits.

Basalt bifacial tool production in the southern Levant: a glance at the quarry and workshop site of Giv'at Kipod, Israel

The authors describe the discovery of a Late Neolithic/Chalcolithic basalt axe factory in the Manasseh Hills in Israel and suggest it had a primary role in the region for the production of these functional and symbolic tools. The form of discarded roughouts and flakes is used to deduce the principal eventual product and its sequence of manufacture.

The beginning of metallurgy in the southern Levant: a late 6th millennium CalBC copper awl from Tel Tsaf, Israel.

The beginning of metallurgy in the ancient Near East attracts much attention. The southern Levant, with the rich assemblage of copper artifacts from the Nahal Mishmar cave and the unique gold rings of the Nahal Qanah cave, is regarded as a main center of early metallurgy during the second half of the 5th millennium CalBC. However, a recently discovered copper awl from a Middle Chalcolithic burial at Tel Tsaf, Jordan Valley, Israel, suggests that cast metal technology was introduced to the region as early as the late 6th millennium CalBC. This paper examines the chemical composition of this item and reviews its context. The results indicate that it was exported from a distant source, probably in the Caucasus, and that the location where it was found is indicative of the social status of the buried individual. This rare finding indicates that metallurgy was first defused to the southern Levant through exchange networks and only centuries later involved local production. This copper awl, the earliest metal artifact found in the southern Levant, indicates that the elaborate Late Chalcolithic metallurgy developed from a more ancient tradition.

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

Abstract 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.

New Light on Long-Distance Ties in the Late Neolithic/Early Chalcolithic Near East: The Chlorite Vessels from Hagoshrim, Northern Israel

A group of unique vessels found during excavations and surveys at the site of Hagoshrim was tested for mineralogical composition. These were found to be made of chlorite, a mineral occurring in ophiolite rocks. The closest such deposits to northern Israel are in northern Syria, Anatolia, and Cyprus, hundreds of kilometers from Hagoshrim, suggesting that these vessels were brought to the site from one or more of these potential sources. In this paper, we present the results of the mineralogical analyses of the vessels and describe their typology. We then discuss various aspects of these vessels, specifically, the mechanism through which they may have reached Hagoshrim and the nature of the ties between the northern and southern Levant that are reflected by these meticulously made vessels.

3D Characterization of Bedrock Features: A Natufian Case Study

Photogrammetry is becoming a basic component of the archaeologists tool kit. It is quick and cheap in the field, and with the appropriate software provides excellent 3D models of archaeological remains. We hereby report on the first time this method was used for the documentation of deep bedrock mortars. The case study presented is a deep mortar (54 cm) hewn into the floor of a cave used as a cemetery by Natufian people (ca. 14,000–11,700 cal b.p.). The analysis results are the first of their kind ever presented for such objects. They include dimensions, volume, vertical and horizontal cross-sections, and symmetry. By high-resolution characterization of complex bedrock features, aspects such as manufacture and utilization can be better studied and evaluated, while comparisons between features become much more feasible.

Trade me an axe? Interpretive challenges of the distribution and provenance of Neolithic basaltic bifacial tools in Israel

Abstract The discovery of a Neolithic quarry and production site for basanite bifacial tools at Giv‘at Kipod in Israel has provided new insights into these socially significant artefacts. Geochemical analysis of material from the quarry distinguishes it from other basaltic rock sources in Israel, allowing stone tools from a variety of sites and dated contexts to be assigned a provenance. Results suggest that Giv‘at Kipod was an important production centre for over several millennia. It operated primarily on a local, regional level and independently of the parallel manufacture-and-distribution mechanisms of flint bifacials. While flint tools developed in response to the practical requirements of the transition to agriculture in the region, ground-stone bifacials appear to have been a product of economic changes and evolving social structures.

Perforated Stars: Networks of Prestige Item Exchange and the Role of Perforated Flint Objects in the Late Chalcolithic of the Southern Levant

Within the Late Chalcolithic of the Levant, the issues of specialization, regionality, and new dimensions of social complexity are long debated. In this article, we focus on the appearance of perforated flint objects that reflect specific patterns of production and distribution, clustering in northern Israel and southern Syria. We discuss this phenomenon in the contexts of Chalcolithic craft production and intraregional exchange networks. We demonstrate that the production and circulation of these unique objects differ from those associated with any other types of prestige objects that either characterize other parts of the southern Levant or do not have clear distribution boundaries.

Looking at the Overlooked: The Possible Significance of the Ground Stone Assemblage from the Cave of the Treasure, Judaean Desert, Israel

A small ground stone tool assemblage was among the finds unearthed during the 1960–1962 excavations at the Cave of the Treasure in Naḥal Mishmar, ascribed by the caves excavator, Pesach Bar-Adon, to the Chalcolithic period. Although the ground stone components were partially presented in the final publication, a comprehensive account of the finds was never completed. Here, we offer a detailed presentation of the ground stone assemblage, including items not published previously. This assemblage is then discussed in light of the importance of the cave and the phenomenon of using hard-to-access cliff caves in the Judaean Desert.