Destruction of valuables is a common behavior in human history. Ethnographic data show the polysemic, but fundamentally symbolic, nature of this act. Yet, research aimed at exploring symbolic destruction in prehistoric societies has underlined the difficulties in establishing unambiguous evidence for such behaviour. We present here the analysis of a basalt tool fragment which provides evidence for intentional breakage associated with ritual activity 12,000 years ago. The tool fragment was part of a unique assemblage of grave goods deposited in a burial pit of a woman suggested to have been a shaman (Hilazon Tachtit cave, Southern Levant). The reconstruction of the artefact’s life history through morphological, 3D, use wear, residue and contextual analyses suggest that: 1) the fragment was initially part of a shallow bowl used for mixing ash or lime with water; 2) the bowl was subsequently intentionally broken through flaking along multiple axes; 3) The bowl was not used after its breakage but placed in a cache before the interment of the deceased, accompanied with other special items. The broken bowl fragment underlines the ritualistic nature of the act of breakage in the Natufian society. The research presented in this paper provides an important window into Natufian ritual behaviour during the critical period of transformation to agricultural communities. In addition, our results offer new insight into practices related to intentional destruction of valuables associated with death-related ceremonies at the end of the Palaeolithic.

The production of lime plaster is especially important as a technological development in human prehistory as it requires advanced knowledge and skills to transform rocks to a plastic yet durable material. The large-scale production of lime plaster is considered a development of farming societies during the Neolithic period around 10,000 years ago. To date, the archaeological evidence from the Middle and Late Epipalaeolithic in the southern Levant (c. 17,000–11,500 cal BP) indicates that only initial production of partially carbonated lime plaster was performed by Palaeolithic foragers. Our study analysed lime plaster covering burials at a Natufian cemetery in Nahal Ein Gev II, dating to 12,000 years ago. Using infrared spectroscopy and soil micromorphology we show how this lime plaster is of an unprecedented high quality and we reconstruct its production. The results exhibit a technological leap forward at the end of the Palaeolithic. We provide a new model for understanding the evolutionary paths of lime plaster technology during the Palaeolithic–Neolithic transition.

Ceramic-sherds analysis has been concerned with categorizing to types according to vessel shape and size for the description of a given material culture. Yet, the characterization of ceramic variations and their meaning receives little attention in the archaeological study. In the present research, we wished to monitor small-scale variations, searching for the unique signature of the individual potter during production. We thus examined new parameters for distinguishing between trainee potters and monitoring their distinct styles as part of an integrated experimental archaeological study.

For the purposes of this research, ceramic students were instructed to produce the same part of a storage jar repeatedly for several days following a strict protocol—with a single prototype and using the same technique in the same workspace. All the produced items were 3-D scanned to extract accurate geometric parameters for classification. Cluster analysis was used to analyze the digital data, in addition to a novel data visualization technique that was developed for detecting ceramic variations. These methods enabled us to distinguish the potters by their individual styles, probably already established in the early stages of learning. Our results show that the novel visualization approach, together with the quantitative method, allows us to efficiently identify the location, on the vessels, of the potters' stylistic fingerprint.

Hilazon Tachtit Cave served as a cemetery for at least 28 individuals and an arena for interment rituals and other activities. The nature of the activities in the cave, their frequency and their recurrence over time, demonstrate that this site was an important sacred place on the Late Natufian (ca. 12,000 cal. BP) landscape of the western Galilee of Israel. Using a GIS-based approach, we examine the distribution and density of small flint chips and other microartifacts within the site to ascertain the location, timing and intensity of activities. From this, we reconstruct the depositional history and the order of burial and ritual events in the cave. We then explore the role of collective memory in the formation and continued use of the cave as a unique cemetery. Our results show that the memory of the initial burial event shaped the future use of the cave, its importance as a site for human burial and ritual performance, and its place as a sacred locale for the Late Natufian community.

The present study investigates the degree of technological variability in sickle blade production at the end of the Epi-Palaeolithic during the important transition in subsistence strategy in the Southern Levant. Sickle blades are significant during this subsistence change, since they point to an economic reliance on large-grain grasses (cereals). They become one of the main tool classes in the new toolkit during the subsequent Neolithic period. Our goal is to provide additional information on the Late Natufian toolkit and to explore lithic variability (beyond the traditional research on microliths). Detailed analysis was conducted on the sickle blade assemblages retrieved from four Late Natufian sites (ranging from 11,700 to 10,000 cal. BC): Hilazon Tachtit Cave, Nahal Ein Gev II, Fazael IV, Salibiya I. Our results show that the Nahal Ein Gev II assemblage displays a distinctive component of robust and heavily retouched sickle blades in comparison to the other assemblages we examined. It seems that in the Jordan Valley at ca 10,500–10,000 cal. BC, the sickle blade blanks of this chronological phase can be distinguished from those that came before or shortly after. In general, the technological observations on sickle blades are in agreement with previous claims that the ‘Natufian’ is an aggregation of several groups, each having a slightly different material culture.

We present here a newly developed software package named Artifact GeoMorph Toolbox 3-D (AGMT3-D). It is intended to provide archaeologists with a simple and easy-to-use tool for performing 3-D landmarks-based geometric morphometric shape analysis on 3-D digital models of archaeological artifacts. It requires no prior knowledge of programming or proficiency in statistics. AGMT3-D consists of a data-acquisition procedure for automatically positioning 3-D models in space and fitting them with grids of 3-D semi-landmarks. It also provides a number of analytical tools and procedures that allow the processing and statistical analysis of the data, including generalized Procrustes analysis, principal component analysis, a warp tool, automatic calculation of shape variabilities and statistical tests. It provides an output of quantitative, objective and reproducible results in numerical, textual and graphic formats. These can be used to answer archaeologically significant questions relating to morphologies and morphological variabilities in artifact assemblages. Following the presentation of the software and its functions, we apply it to a case study addressing the effects of different types of raw material on the morphologies and morphological variabilities present in an experimentally produced Acheulian handaxe assemblage. The results show that there are statistically significant differences between the mean shapes and shape variabilities of handaxes produced on flint and those produced on basalt. With AGMT3-D, users can analyze artifact assemblages and address questions that are deducible from the morphologies and morphological variabilities of material culture assemblages. These questions can relate to issues of, among others, relative chronology, cultural affinities, tool function and production technology. AGMT3-D is aimed at making 3-D landmarks-based geometric morphometric shape analysis more accessible to archaeologists, in the hope that this method will become a tool commonly used by archaeologists.

small bone-tool assemblage was found at the Natufian burial site of Hilazon Tachtit, Israel. This site served as a locus for funerary rituals, enabling us to consider the role of bone tools within a unique ritual context. The bone tool assemblage comprises 65 pieces; mostly modified fragments and tools, but also a few blanks and manufacture waste. The assemblage is typical of the Natufian, in that pointed implements are dominant and gazelle long bones are the most common raw material. The preferred method of manufacture is shaving. Given the nature of Hilazon Tachtit, it is likely that the bone tools were used in burial related activities. Importantly, the tools were mostly manufactured off-site, and were brought on-site intentionally. A few may have belonged to or have been given to the buried individuals at death. It is possible that the site of Hilazon Tachtit or the burial activities practiced therein held such special meaning that after their use, the tools were no longer considered fit for mundane, everyday tasks and were thus ritually abandoned among the trash from the funeral feast. The disposal of ritual detritus in this way may be a harbinger to the appearance of hoards or burials of ritually significant objects in the southern Levant during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic.

There is a paucity of Palaeolithic art in the southern Levant prior to 15 000 years ago. The Natufian culture (15 000–11 500 BP; Grosman 2013) marks a threshold in the magnitude and diversity of artistic manifestations (Bar-Yosef 1997). Nevertheless, depictions of the human form remain rare—only a few representations of the human face have been reported to date. This article presents a 12 000-year-old example unearthed at the Late Natufian site of Nahal Ein Gev II (NEGII), just east of the Sea of Galilee, Israel (Figure 1). The object provides a glimpse into Natufian conventions of human representation, and opens a rare opportunity for deeper understanding of the Natufian symbolic system.

The Intermediate Bronze Age (IB) in the Southern Levant (ca. 2350–2000 BCE) is known as the “Dark Ages,” following the collapse of Early Bronze urban society and predating the establishment of the Middle Bronze cities. The absence of significant settlements and monumental building has led to the reconstruction of IB social organization as that of nomadic, tribal society inhabiting rural villages with no central governmental system. Excavation in the Shamir Dolmen Field (comprising over 400 dolmens) on the western foothills of the Golan Heights was carried out following the discovery of rock art engravings on the ceiling of the central chamber inside one of the largest dolmens ever recorded in the Levant. Excavation of this multi-chambered dolmen, covered by a basalt capstone weighing some 50 tons, revealed a secondary multi-burial (of both adults and children) rarely described in a dolmen context in the Golan. Engraved into the rock ceiling above the multi-burial is a panel of 14 forms composed of a vertical line and downturned arc motif. 3D-scanning by structured-light technology was used to sharpen the forms and revealed the technique employed to create them. Building of the Shamir dolmens required a tremendous amount of labor, architectural mastery, and complex socio-economic organization well beyond the capacity of small, rural nomadic groups. The monumental megalithic burial of the Shamir dolmens indicates a hierarchical, complex, non-urban governmental system. This new evidence supports a growing body of recent criticism stemming from new discoveries and approaches that calls for rethinking our views of the Levantine IB “Dark Ages.”

The following study presents a novel method for computerized 3D geometric morphometric shape analysis of archaeological artifacts. It consists of a newly developed tool for automated positioning of 3D digital models and the following placement of 3D homologous landmarks for geometric morphometric analysis. It provides a quick and easy method for acquiring high-resolution 3D landmark coordinate data. This tool is applicable to a wide range of objects which have two opposed faces of relatively similar size and can be consistently positioned along their maximal length in planform view. The acquired data can be subjected to common multivariate statistical procedures for the quantitative description and analysis of shape variability in an assemblage. The method is applied here to a case study of experimentally produced assemblages of Acheulian handaxe replicas made by six knappers of differing skill levels. An analysis is performed to test whether the shapes of the handaxes can be used to classify them according to their knapper's skill level. Generalized Procrustes analysis (GPA), principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant analysis (DA) are applied to the landmarks' coordinates. The results indicate that applying DA to PC scores allows a reliable classification of artifacts according to the skill level of their knappers, with a minimal misclassification rate. Thus, this method demonstrates that application of high-resolution 3D geometric morphometric methods can be used for the quantitative differentiation of skill levels based on tool morphology.

The climatic downturn known globally as the Younger Dryas (YD; ∼12,900–11,500 BP) has frequently been cited as a prime mover of agricultural origins and has thus inspired enthusiastic debate over its local impact. This study presents seasonal climatic data from the southern Levant obtained from the sequential sampling of gazelle tooth carbonates from the Early and Late Natufian archaeological sites of Hayonim and Hilazon Tachtit Caves (western Galilee, Israel). Our results challenge the entrenched model that assumes that warm temperatures and high precipitation are synonymous with climatic amelioration and cold and wet conditions are combined in climatic downturns. Enamel carbon isotope values from teeth of human-hunted gazelle dating before and during the YD provide a proxy measure for water availability during plant growth. They reveal that although the YD was cooler, it was not drier than the preceding Bølling–Allerød. In addition, the magnitude of the seasonal curve constructed from oxygen isotopes is significantly dampened during the YD, indicating that cooling was most pronounced in the growing season. Cool temperatures likely affected the productivity of staple wild cereal resources. We hypothesize that human groups responded by shifting settlement strategies—increasing population mobility and perhaps moving to the warmer Jordan Valley where wild cereals were more productive and stable.

This study focuses on Kaizer Hill, a quarry site located in the vicinity of the city of Modiin where remains of a single prehistoric cultural entity assigned to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A were discovered. A systematic survey revealed that large-scale quarrying activities have left damage markings on the bedrock of the Hilltop and its slopes. We aim to present here our findings from the Hilltop, which are concerned with the human impact on rock surfaces and the lithic artifacts retrieved during the survey. It is evident that the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A inhabitants of the area changed their landscape forever, “stripping” the caliche surface and penetrating it in search of flint bedded in the bedrock.

The Natufian culture is of great importance as a starting point to investigate the dynamics of the transition to agriculture. Given its chronological position at the threshold of the Neolithic (ca. 12,000 years ago) and its geographic setting in the productive Jordan Valley, the site of Nahal Ein Gev II (NEG II) reveals aspects of the Late Natufian adaptations and its implications for the transition to agriculture. The size of the site, the thick archaeological deposits, invested architecture and multiple occupation sub-phases reveal a large, sedentary community at least on par with Early Natufian camps in the Mediterranean zone. Although the NEG II lithic tool kit completely lacks attributes typical of succeeding Pre Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) assemblages, the artistic style is more closely related to the early PPNA world, despite clear roots in Early Natufian tradition. The site does not conform to current perceptions of the Late Natufians as a largely mobile population coping with reduced resource productivity caused by the Younger Dryas. Instead, the faunal and architectural data suggest that the sedentary populations of the Early Natufian did not revert back to a nomadic way of life in the Late Natufian in the Jordan Valley. NEG II encapsulates cultural characteristics typical of both Natufian and PPNA traditions and thus bridges the crossroads between Late Paleolithic foragers and Neolithic farmers.

Ritual practice plays crucial social roles in human societies by communicating information about social status, calming tensions, and integrating communities. Although communication occurs through the act of ritual performance itself, the archaeological record rarely has the resolution to identify individual ritual actions. The high quality of preservation and recovery of a well-preserved grave of an unusual woman at the Late Natufian (12,000 cal BP) site of Hilazon Tachtit, Israel, enables the identification of multiple stages of a funerary ritual. These represent a variety of actions that allow glimpses into ritual performance as well as larger generalizations about Natufian ritual practice during this dynamic period at the beginning of the agricultural transition.

Archaeologists generally agree that high-power computer technology constitutes the most efficient venue for addressing many issues in archaeological research. Digital techniques have become indispensable components of archaeological surveys, fieldwork, lab work, and communication between researchers. One of the greatest advantages of the digital approach is its ability to examine large assemblages of items using advanced statistical methods. Digital documentation has reached the point of no return in archaeological research, and reverting to traditional methods is highly improbable. However, digital data may also contain additional information that has yet to be extracted by computer analysis. In this arena, new computer algorithms can be triggered by research questions that cannot be addressed without digital models.

The Late Epipaleolithic Natufian Culture was initially identified in Dorothy Garrod’s excavation at Shuqba Cave (Wadi enNatuf) in the Samarian Hills, but later research focused on the Mt. Carmel, the Galilee and the Negev regions, leaving the Natufian of the Central Highlands of the southern Levant relatively unknown. We report the recent discovery of a Natufian occurrence in a partly collapsed cave chamber in el-Hamam Cave in the Samaria Hills. The lithic assemblage assigns the site to the Late Natufian, with the possibility of occupation also during the Early Natufian. The faunal assemblage is small but diverse, indicating gazelle as the primary hunted animal. In spite of the limited scope of fieldwork, the site exhibits several landmark Natufian characteristics, including a large lithic assemblage with high diversity of tools, a bedrock mortar, typical faunal remains and groundstone implements. These traits indicate cultural complexity during the varied and prolonged use of the site (possibly multi-period occupation), reminiscent of the better-known Natufian camps in other parts of the Levant.