Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-4hhp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-09T17:51:07.663Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Intra- and Inter-Site Variability within the Levantine Upper Palaeolithic: Evidence from Jebel Humeima (J412), South-west Jordan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2014

Kristopher W. Kerry
Kristopher W. Kerry
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Emil W. Haury Building, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Expanded excavations at the rockshelter of Jebel Humeima (J412) in south-west Jordan provide the basis for re-evaluation of its Upper Palaeolithic lithic assemblage. Initially identified as Levantine Aurignacian, the sample is more closely aligned with the Early Ahmarian. The framework currently used for the Levantine Upper Palaeolithic, combined with spatial clustering of specific blank and tool types, is directly responsible for initial misidentification. This spatial clustering is thought to represent two distinct activity loci: early-stage core reduction and later-stage blade and tool production. This kind of technological and typological variability may also help account for some of the ambiguity within the current Upper Palaeolithic framework of the southern Levant.

Résumé

Des fouilles étendues à l'abri sous roche de Jebel Humeima (J412) dans le sud-ouest de la Jordanie fournissent la base d'une réévaluation de son assemblage lithique du paléolithique supérieur. Identifié initialement comme Aurignacien levantin, l'échantillon se rapproche plus étroitement de l'Ahmérien primitif. Le tableau couramment utilisé pour le paléolithique supérieur levantin, associé à des groupements spatiaux de types d'ébauches et d'outils spécifiques est directement responsable de l'erreur d'identification initiale. On pense que ce regroupement spatial représente deux lieux d'activité distincts: un premier stade de réduction de nucléus et un deuxième stade de production de lames et outils. Cette sorte de variabilité technologique et typologique peut aussi aider à expliquer certaines ambigüités à l'intérieur du cadre actuel du paléolithique supérieur du Levant méridional.

Zusammenfassung

Umfangreiche Ausgrabungen im Abri von Jebel Humeima (J412) in Südwest Jordanien liefern die Grundlage für eine Neubewertung seines jungpaläolithischen lithischen Inventars. Dieses Inventar, das ursprünglich dem levantinischen Aurignacien zugeordnet wurde, ist enger mit dem frühen Ahmarian verbunden. Der Rahmen, der momentan für das levantinische Jungpaläolithikum benutzt wird, ist zusammen mit der räumlichen Häufung spezifischer Kern- und Gerätetypen unmittelbar für diese anfängliche falsche Zuordnung verantwortlich. Diese räumliche Häufung stellt wahrscheinlich zwei unterschiedliche Aktivitätszonen dar: eine frühe Phase der Kernreduktion, und eine späte Phase der Produktion von Klingen und Geräten. Diese technologische und typologische Variabilität könnte zudem helfen einige der Unklarheiten in der spätpaläolithischen Forschung in der Südwest Levante zu erklären.

Resúmen

La ampliación de las excavaciones en el abrigo de Jebel Humeima (J412) en el sudoeste del Jordán proporciona la base para una re-evaluación de su material lítico del Paleolítico Superior. Aunque en un principio éste fué identificado como perteneciente al Auriñaciense levantino, el grupo está más próximo al Ahmarian temprano. El marco actualmente en uso para el Paleolítico Superior levantino, junto con la agrupación espacial de determinados tipos de instrunmentos lisos y de utensilios, es la causa directa del error en la identificación. Este agrupamiento espacial se interpreta como representativo de dos estadios diferentes de actividad: un momento inicial de reducción del núcleo, y un segundo momento de producción de hojas y utensilios. Este tipo de variabilidad tecnológica y tipológica quizá puede ayudar a explicar también algunas de las ambigüedades que se dan dentro del actual marco interpretativo del Paleolítico Superior en el Levante meridional.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 66 , 2000 , pp. 29 - 46
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bar-Yosef, O. 1989. Upper Pleistocene cultural stratigraphy in southwest Asia. In Trinkaus, E. (ed.), The Emergence of Modern Humans, 154–80 Cambridge: University PressGoogle Scholar
Bar-Yosef, O. & Belfer, A. 1977. The Lagaman industry. In Bar-Yosef, O. & Phillips, J. L. (eds), Prehistoric Investigations in Gebel Maghara, Northern Sinai, 42–84. Jerusalem: Qedem 7Google Scholar
Bar-Yosef, O. & Belfer-Cohen, A. 1996. Another look at the Levantine Aurignacian. In di Cesnola, A. & Montet-White, A. (eds), Coloquium XI – the Late Aurignacian, 139–50. Forli: XIII International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences, ABACO EizioniGoogle Scholar
Baurch, U. & Bar-Yosef, O. 1986. Upper Palaeolithic assemblages from Wadi Sudr, western Sinai. Paléorient 12, 69–84CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belfer-Cohen, A. 1995. Problems in defining a prehistoric culture: an example from the southern Levant. In Otte, M. (ed.), Nature et Culture: Colloque de Liège (13–17 décembre 1993), 245–57. Liège: ERAULGoogle Scholar
Belfer-Cohen, A. & Bar-Yosef, O. 1981. The Aurignacian at Hayonim Cave. Paléorient 7, 19–42CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belfer-Cohen, A. & Goring-Morris, A.N. 1986. Har Horesha I: an Upper Paleolithic occupation in the western Negev highlands. Mitekufat Haeven 19, 43–57Google Scholar
Bergman, C. 1988. Synthèse: the Upper Palaeolithic of the Levant. Paléorient 14, 223–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bergman, C. & Goring-Morris, A.N. 1987. Conference: the Levantine Aurignacian with special reference to Ksar Akil, Lebanon, March 27–28, 1987, London. Paléorient 13, 125–8Google Scholar
Bischoff, J.L., Soler, N., Maroto, J. & Julia, R. 1989. Abrupt Mousterian/Aurignacian boundary at c. 40 ka bp: accelerator 14C dates from L'Abreda Cave (Catalunya, Spain). Journal of Archaeological Science 16, 563–76CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coinman, N.R. 1990. Prefiguring the Levantine Upper Palaeolithic: a comparative examination of lithic assemblages from the southern Levant. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Arizona State University, Tempe. Ann Arbor: University MicrofilmsGoogle Scholar
Coinman, N.R. 1993. WHS 618 – Ain El-Buhira: an Upper Paleolithic site in the Wadi Hasa, west-central Jordan. Paléorient 19, 17–37CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coinman, N.R. 1997a. The Upper Paleolithic of Jordan: evidence from the Wadi al-Hasa and south Jordan. In Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan VI, 209–17. Amman: the Hashemite Kingdom of JordanGoogle Scholar
Coinman, N.R. 1997b. Upper Paleolithic technologies: core reduction strategies. In Gebel, H.G.Kafafi, Z., & Rollefson, G.O. (eds), The Prehistory of Jordan II: perspectives from 1997, 111–24. Berlin: Studies in Early Near Eastern Production, Subsistence, and Environment 4, Ex OrientGoogle Scholar
Coinman, N.R. 1998. The Upper Palaeolithic of Jordan. In Henry, D. O. (ed.), The Prehistoric Archaeology of Jordan, 39–63. Oxford: British Archaeological Report 705Google Scholar
Coinman, N.R. & Henry, D.O. 1995. The Upper Paleolithic sites. In Henry, D.O. (ed.), Prehistoric Cultural Ecology and Evolution: insights from southern Jordan, 133–214. New York: Plenum PressCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Copeland, L. 1970. The Early Upper Paleolithic flints material from Levels VII–V, Antelias Cave, Lebanon. Berytus 19, 99–143Google Scholar
Copeland, L. & Hours, F. 1971. The Later Upper Palaeolithic material from Antelias Cave, Lebanon, Levels IV–I. Berytus 20, 57–138Google Scholar
Emery-Barbier, A. 1995. Pollen analysis: environmental and climatic implications, In Henry, D.O. (ed.), Prehistoric Cultural Ecology and Evolution: insights from southern Jordan, 375–84. New York: Plenum PressCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ewing, J.F. 1947. Preliminary note on the excavations at the Palaeolithic site of Ksar ‘Akil, Republic of Lebanon. Antiquity 21, 186–96CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferring, C.R. 1976. Sde Divshon: an Upper Paleolithic site on the Divshon Plain. In Marks, A.E. (ed.), Prehistory and Paleoenvironments in the Central Negev, Israel vol. I, 199–226. Dallas: SMU PressGoogle Scholar
Ferring, C.R. 1977. The Late Upper Paleolithic site of Ein Aqev East. In Marks, A.E. (ed.), Prehistory and Paleoenvironments in the Central Negev, Israel vol. II, 81–118. Dallas: SMU PressGoogle Scholar
Ferring, C.R. 1988. Technological change in the Upper Palaeolithic of the Negev. In Dibble, H. & Montet-White, A. (eds), Upper Pleistocene Prehistory of Western Eurasia, 333–48. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania PressGoogle Scholar
Garrod, D.A.E. 1929. Excavations in the Mugharet el-Wad, near Athlit. Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement October, 220–2Google Scholar
Garrod, D.A.E. 1937. The Near East as a gateway of prehistoric migration. In Mac Curdy, G. (ed.), Early Man, 33–40. Philadelphia: LippincottGoogle Scholar
Garrod, D.A.E. 1951. A transitional industry from the base of the Upper Paleolithic in Palestine and Syria. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 81, 121–9Google Scholar
Garrod, D.A.E. 1954. Excavations at the Mugharet Kebara, Mount Carmel, 1932: the Aurignacian industries. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 20, 155–92CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garrod, D.A.E. 1962. An outline of Palestine prehistory in Palestine–Lebanon–Syria. Quarternaria 6, 541–6Google Scholar
Garrod, D.A.E. & Bate, D.M.A. 1937. The Stone Age of Mount Carmel. Oxford: Clarendon PressGoogle Scholar
Gilead, I. 1981. Upper Paleolithic tool assemblages from the Negev and Sinai. In Cauvin, J. & Sanlaville, P. (eds), Préhistorie du Levant, 331–42. Paris: CNRSGoogle Scholar
Gilead, I. 1983. Upper Paleolithic occurrences in Sinai and the transition to the Epi-paleolithic in the southern Levant. Paléorient 9, 39–52CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilead, I. 1991. The Upper Paleolithic period in the Levant. Journal of World Prehistory 5, 105–54CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilead, I. & Bar-Yosef, O. 1993. Early Upper Palaeolithic sites in the Qadesh Barnea area, NE Sinai. Journal of Field Archaeology 20, 265–80Google Scholar
Gladfelter, B.G. 1997. The Ahmarian tradition of the Levantine Upper Paleolithic: the environment of the archaeology. Geoarchaeology 12, 363–933.0.CO;2-Z>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodfriend, G.A. & Magaritz, M. 1988. Palaeosols and late Pleistocene rainfall fluctuations in the Negev Desert. Nature 332, 144–6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goren-Inbar, N. 1988. Too small to be true? Re-evaluation of cores on flakes in Levantine Mousterian assemblages. Lithic Technology 17, 37–44CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goring-Morris, A.N. 1995. Upper Paleolithic occupation of the ‘Ein Qadis region on the Sinai/Negev border. ‘Atiqot 27, 1–14Google Scholar
Goring-Morris, A.N. & Belfer-Cohen, A. 1998. The articulation of cultural processes and Late Quaternary environmental changes in Cisjordan. Paléorient 23, 71–93CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haller, J. 1942. Notes de Préhistoire Phénicienne: l'Abri de Abou-Halka (Tripoli). Bulletin du Musée de Beyrouth 6, 1–20Google Scholar
Henry, D.O. 1982. The prehistory of southern Jordan and relationships with the Levant. Journal of Field Archaeology 9, 417–43Google Scholar
Henry, D.O. 1986. The prehistory and paleoenvironments of Jordan: an overview. Paléorient 12, 5–26CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henry, D.O. 1988. Summary of prehistoric and paleoenvironmental research in the northern Hisma. In Garrard, A.N. & Gebel, H.G. (eds), The Prehistory of Jordan: the state of research in 1986, 231–48. Oxford: British Archaeological Report 396Google Scholar
Henry, D.O. 1989. Correlations between reduction strategies and settlement patterns. In Henry, D.O. & Odell, G. H. (eds), Alternative Approaches to Lithic Analysis, 139–212. Washington D.C.: Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association 1Google Scholar
Henry, D.O. 1995. The Middle Palaeolithic sites. In Henry, D.O. (ed.), Prehistoric Cultural Ecology and Evolution: insights from southern Jordan, 49–84. New York: Plenum PressCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henry, D.O. 1997. Cultural and geologic successions of Middle and Upper Paleolithic deposits in the Jebel Qalkha area of southern Jordan. In Gebel, H.G.Kafafi, Z., & Rollefson, G.O. (eds), The Prehistory of Jordan II: perspectives from 1997, 69–76. Berlin: Studies in Early Near Eastern Production, Subsistence and Environment 4, Ex OrientGoogle Scholar
Henry, D.O. & Garrard, A.N. 1988. Tor Hamar: an Epipaleolithic rockshelter in southern Jordan. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 120, 1–25CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henry, D.O., Hall, S.A., Hietala, H.J., Demidenko, Y.E., Usik, V.I., Rosen, A.M., & Thomas, P.A. 1996. Middle Paleolithic behavioral organization: 1993 excavation of Tor Faraj, southern Jordan. Journal of Field Archaeology 23, 31–53Google Scholar
Horowitz, A. 1971. Climatic and vegetational developments in northeastern Israel during Upper Pleistocene–Holocene times. Pollen et Spores 13, 255–78Google Scholar
Horowitz, A. 1989. Prehistoric cultures of Israel: correlation with the Oxygen Isotope Scale. In Bar-Yosef, O. & Vandermeersch, B. (eds), Investigations in South Levantine Prehistory, 5–17. Oxford: British Archaeological Report 497Google Scholar
Hours, F. 1974. Remarques sur l'utilisation de listes-types pour l'etude du Paleolithique Superieur et de l'Epipaleolithique du Levant. Paleorient 2, 3–18CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, M, Marks, A.E., & Kaufman, D. 1983. Boker: the artifacts. In Marks, A.E. (ed.), Prehistory and Paleoenvironments in the Central Negev, Israel, vol. III, 283–332. Dallas: SMU PressGoogle Scholar
Kaufman, D. 1988. Lithic assemblages and settlement patterns of the Late Upper Paleolithic of Israel. Mitekufat Haeven 21, 7–19Google Scholar
Kaufman, D. 1998. Measuring archaeological diversity: an application of the Jacknife Technique. American Antiquity 63, 73–85CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kerry, K.W. 1997a Jebel Humeima: a preliminary lithic analysis of an Ahmarian and Levantine Mousterian site in southwest Jordan. In Gebel, H.G.Kafafi, Z., & Rollefson, G.O. (eds), The Prehistory of Jordan II: perspectives from 1997, 125–36. Berlin: Studies in Early Near Eastern Production, Subsistence, and Environment 4, Ex OrientGoogle Scholar
Kerry, K.W. 1997b. Lithic Analysis and Technotypologic Variability Concerning the Middle and Upper Paleolithic Assemblage of Jebel Humeima (J412), Southwest Jordan. Unpublished M.A. thesis, University of TulsaGoogle Scholar
Larson, P.A. & Marks, A.E. 1977. Two Upper Palaeolithic sites in the Har Harif. In Marks, A.E. (ed.), Prehistory and Paleoenvironments in the Central Negev, Israel, vol. II, 173–90. Dallas: SMU PressGoogle Scholar
Livnat, A. & Kronfeld, J. 1985. Paleoclimatic implications of U-series dates for lake sediments and travertines in the Arava rift valley, Israel. Quaternary Research 24, 164–72CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Livnat, A. & Kronfeld, J. 1987. Reply to comment on ‘Travertines of the arid regions, Oxygen Isotope Stages, and Late Quaternary climate of Israel’ by A. Horowitz. Quaternary Research 27, 106–107CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marks, A.E. 1976. Ein Aqev: a late Levantine Upper Paleolithic site in the Nahal Aqev. In Marks, A.E. (ed.), Prehistory and Paleoenvironments in the Central Negev, Israel, vol. I, 227–92. Dallas: SMU PressGoogle Scholar
Marks, A.E. 1981a. The Upper Paleolithic in the Levant. In Cauvin, J. & Sanlaville, P. (eds), Préhistoric du Levant, 287–97. Paris: CNRSGoogle Scholar
Marks, A.E. 1981b. The Upper Paleolithic of the Levant: synthesis. In Cauvin, J. & Sanlaville, P. (eds), Préhistorie du Levant, 369–72. Paris: CNRSGoogle Scholar
Marks, A.E. & Ferring, C.R. 1976. Upper Paleolithic Sites near Ein Avdat. In Marks, A.E. (ed.), Prehistory and Paleoenvironments in the Central Negev, Israel, vol. I, 141–98. Dallas: SMU PressGoogle Scholar
Marks, A.E. & Ferring, C.R. 1988. The early Upper Paleolithic in the Levant. In Hoffecker, J. & Wolf, C. (eds), The Early Upper Paleolithic: Evidence from Europe and the Near East, 43–72. Oxford: British Archaeological Report 437Google Scholar
Neuville, R. 1934. Le Préhistorique de Palestine. Revue Biblique 43, 237–59Google Scholar
Neuville, R. 1951. Le Paléolithique et le Mésolithique du Désert de Judée. Paris: Archives de l'Institut de Paléontologie humaine, Mémoire 24Google Scholar
Olszewski, D., Clark, G.A., & Fish, S. 1990. WHS 784x (Yutil al-Hasa): a Late Ahmarian site in the Wadi Hasa, west-central Jordan. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 56, 33–49CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perrot, J. 1955. Le Paléolithicque Superiéur d'El-Qseir et de Masraq an-Na'aj (Palestine). Inventaire de la collection René Neuville I et II. Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française 52, 493–506CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, J.L. 1988. The Upper Paleolithic of the Wadi Feiran, southern Sinai. Paléorient 14, 183–200CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, J.L. 1994. The Upper Paleolithic chronology of the Levant and the Nile Valley. In Bar-Yosef, O. & Kra, R. (eds), Late Quaternary Chronology and Palaeoclimates of the Eastern Mediterranean, 169–76. Tucson: RadiocarbonGoogle Scholar
Schroeder, B. 1969. The Lithic Industries from Jerf Ajla and their Bearing on the Problem of a Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, New YorkGoogle Scholar
Schyle, D. & Gebel, H.G. 1997. Upper Palaeolithic Siq Umm al-Alda 1, near Wadi Musa, southern Jordan. In Gebel, H.G.Kafafi, Z., & Rollefson, G.O. (eds), The Prehistory of Jordan II: perspectives from 1997, 149–70. Berlin: Studies in Early Near Eastern Production, Subsistence, and Environment 4, Ex OrientGoogle Scholar
Solecki, R.L. & Solecki, R.S. 1970. A new secondary flaking technique at the Nahr Ibrahim cave site, Lebanon. Bulletin du Musée de Beyrouth 23, 137–42Google Scholar
Turville-Petre, B.A. 1927. Researches in Prehistoric Galilee. London: Chiswick PressGoogle Scholar
Williams, J. 1997. A Lithic Examination of Tor Aeid: A Middle and Upper Paleolithic Rockshelter in Southern Jordan. Unpublished M.A. thesis, University of Tulsa.Google Scholar