On ‘sedentism’ in the Later Epipalaeolithic (Natufian) Levant

Abstract A poorly defined notion of ‘sedentism’ continues to feature prominently in archaeological discussions of the Epipalaeolithic/Neolithic transition in Levantine prehistory. While acknowledging the valuable contribution of previous studies on the subject, this article argues that interpretations of the archaeological evidence are being hampered by the continued adherence to ‘sedentism’ as a concept for explaining social transformations in settlement and landscape, and that there is little more to be said from this perspective. I suggest that recent perspectives on ‘social landscapes’ will help further our understanding of this period in human history. In the specific case of the Later Epipalaeolithic (the Natufian and other ‘cultural entities’), this engagement would be profitably grounded in discussion of the histories of human communities' perceptions and uses of space, place and landscape, and how these perceptions and uses changed over time. It is argued that the Early Natufian – when, it is claimed, sedentism first appears in the Levantine sequence – needs to be studied in its own right as a particular set of social practices and traditions, and not as some kind of ‘precursor’ to the Neolithic almost three millennia later.

[1]  D. Tangri,et al.  THE ORIGINS OF COMMENSALISM AND HUMAN SEDENTISM , 1991 .

[2]  D. Olszewski.  Subsistence Ecology in the Mediterranean Forest: Implications for the Origins of Cultivation in the Epipaleolithic Southern Levant , 1993 .

[3]  H. Breuil,et al.  The Stone Age of Mount Carmel: , 1938, Nature.

[4]  A. N. Goring-Morris,et al.  The articulation of cultural processes and Late Quaternary environmental changes in Cisjordan. , 1997 .

[5]  P. Edwards.  Problems of Recognizing Earliest Sedentism: The Natufian Example , 1989 .

[6]  Ofer Bar-Yosef,et al.  Early Sedentism in the Near East , 2002 .

[7]  E. Tchernov,et al.  Animal domestication in the southern Levant. , 1999 .

[8]  Phillip C. Edwards.  Wadi Hammeh 27: an early Natufian site at Pella, Jordan , 1991 .

[9]  Ofer Bar-Yosef,et al.  The Natufian culture in the Levant, threshold to the origins of agriculture , 1998 .

[10]  D. Henry.  From foraging to agriculture , 1989 .

[11]  Ofer Bar-Yosef,et al.  The origins of sedentism and farming communities in the Levant , 1989 .

[12]  D. Lieberman,et al.  The Rise and Fall of Seasonal Mobility among Hunter-Gatherers: The Case of the Southern Levant [and Comments and Replies] , 1993, Current Anthropology.

[13]  E. Tchernov,et al.  Body size diminution under domestication: Unconscious selection in primeval domesticates , 1991 .

[14]  Brian Boyd.  Ways of Eating/Ways of Being in the Later Epipalaeolithic (NATUFIAN) Levant , 2002 .

[15]  D. Henry.  Preagricultural Sedentism: The Natufian Example , 1985 .

[16]  E. Werker,et al.  The oldest ever brush hut plant remains from Ohalo II, Jordan Valley, Israel (19,000 BP) , 1999, Antiquity.

[17]  F. Valla.  Aspects du sol de l'abri 131 de Mallaha (Eynan) , 1988 .

[18]  Phillip C. Edwards,et al.  The Garbage Crisis in prehistory: artefact discard patterns at the Early Natufian site of Wadi Hammeh 27 and the origins of household refuse disposal strategies , 2004 .

[19]  A. Belfer‐Cohen,et al.  The Ground Stone Assemblages of the Natufian and Neolithic Societies in the Levant - A Brief Review , 2005 .

[20]  Brian Hayden.  Nimrods, Piscators, Pluckers, and Planters: The Emergence of Food Production , 1990 .

[21]  E. Tchernov.  Biological Evidence For Human Sedentism In Southwest Asia During The Natufian , 1991 .

[22]  A. Stutz.  Polarizing Microscopy Identification of Chemical Diagenesis in Archaeological Cementum , 2002 .

[23]  A. Belfer‐Cohen,et al.  THE NATUFIAN GRAVEYARD IN HAYONIM CAVE , 1988 .

[24]  F. Turville-Petre.  Excavations in the Mugharet El-Kebarah. , 1932 .

[25]  Eitan Tchernov,et al.  Of mice and men. Biological markers for long-term sedentism : a reply , 1991 .

[26]  Ki Wright.  The Origins and development of ground stone assemblages in Late Pleistocene Southwest Asia , 1991 .

[27]  B. Byrd,et al.  Death, Mortuary Ritual, and Natufian Social Structure , 1995 .