Neolithic Dispersals from the Levantine Corridor: a Mediterranean Perspective (original) (raw)

The Aceramic Neolithic (PPN) in the Near East corresponds to revolutionary transformations in the human condition, setting the stage for later developments prior to the emergence of urban life. Theoretical constructs to explicate these processes vary from climatic determinism, through human vitalism, to demographic and social triggers, co-evolutionary symbiotic human-plant relationships, linguistic, psychological and multi-factor models. Yet, such models frequently preceded the hard data available. In recent decades the situation has improved markedly with numerous field projects conducted throughout the Near East including the southern Levant, an area characterised by a mosaic of ecological zones often located in close proximity to one another. The nature and intensity of climatic change during the course of the terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene throughout the region and their effects on socio-cultural developments including shifts in settlement patterns remains ambiguous. Locally, the period witnessed significant demographic growth. It is possible that in part this reflects changes in lifeways and population movements, when small settled PPNA village communities were established, subsisting initially on cultivation and foraging, and then on agriculture and herding in large 'megasite' villages during the course of the PPNB; and finally on dispersed agro-pastoralism during the Late Neolithic. Yet, in order to understand the nature of transformations associated with 'Neolithisation' processes, it is crucial to note that many seminal ideological and other developments first commenced earlier during the course of the Epipalaeolithic Natufian. Furthermore, in addition to plant and animal domestication, these Neolithisation processes also involved such technological innovations as the management of fire, water and plastic materials, as well as the intensification of ritual and social interactions. Still, it is important to note that these 'first time' processes were neither linear nor directed. Wide-ranging cultural interaction spheres emerged throughout the Near East, of which the southern Levant formed but one component of broader systems. Subsistence shifted unevenly in time and space to domesticates, with foraging commonly still being important in some areas. Indeed, in recent years debates arose concerning the presence of polycentric developments as opposed to a single centre for plant and animal domestication within the Near East. The 'desert and the sown' dichotomy, already present earlier, continued, whether in the marginal zones of eastern Transjordan or in the Negev and Sinai. The innate social tensions deriving from the emergence of larger sedentary communities were further exacerbated by discrepancies in the accumulation of material, social and ritual wealth within and between communities. Prestige and other items were exchanged, often over considerable distances, and there is some evidence for the emergence of incipient craft specialisation. Certain localities may have served as hubs for redistribution networks. Mechanisms for dissipating resulting 'scalar' stress involved the emergence and intensification of increasing social and ritual complexity. This is reflected in the proliferation of communal cultic installations and paraphernalia, whether in dedicated areas of settlements or as separate localities. This is also expressed in the variability of mortuary practices during the course of the PPN, ranging from single articulated burials to multiple secondary burials, the latter seemingly more common later in the period. While post-mortem skull removal, often interpreted as some form of ancestor veneration, was common it was by no means ubiquitous, having been initiated already during the Natufian. The role and intensity of inter-personal and even inter-community violence remains unclear. Furthermore, the effects of long-term sedentism and the introduction of domestic animals into villages raise issues concerning the emergence of contagious, including zoonotic diseases. The presentation summarises the results of various recent investigations within the southern Levant during the course of the Aceramic Neolithic (PPNA and PPNB), and examine their significance concerning the nature and tempo of Neolithisation processes in the broader context of the Near East.