Book contents
- The Cambridge World HistoryVolume II
- The Cambridge World History
- A World with Agriculture, 12,000 bce–500 ce
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Archaeogenetics
- 3 Agricultural origins
- 4 What did agriculture do for us?
- 5 Communities
- 6 Pastoralism
- 7 Agriculture and urbanism
- 8 Early agriculture in Southwest Asia
- 9 ’Ain Ghazal, Jordan
- 10 Early agriculture in South Asia
- 11 Mehrgarh, Pakistan
- 12 Early agriculture in China
- 13 Xinglonggou, China
- 14 Early agriculture in Japan
- 15 The Nara basin paddies, Japan
- 16 Early agriculture in Southeast Asia and the Pacific
- 17 Swamp cultivators at Kuk, New Guinea
- 18 Early agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa to c. 500 ce
- 19 The Tichitt tradition in the West African Sahel
- 20 Early agriculture in the Americas
- 21 Nanchoc valley, Peru
- 22 Early agricultural society in Europe
- 23 Pioneer farmers at Brześć Kujawski, Poland
- Index
- References
9 - ’Ain Ghazal, Jordan
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2015
Book contents
- The Cambridge World HistoryVolume II
- The Cambridge World History
- A World with Agriculture, 12,000 bce–500 ce
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Archaeogenetics
- 3 Agricultural origins
- 4 What did agriculture do for us?
- 5 Communities
- 6 Pastoralism
- 7 Agriculture and urbanism
- 8 Early agriculture in Southwest Asia
- 9 ’Ain Ghazal, Jordan
- 10 Early agriculture in South Asia
- 11 Mehrgarh, Pakistan
- 12 Early agriculture in China
- 13 Xinglonggou, China
- 14 Early agriculture in Japan
- 15 The Nara basin paddies, Japan
- 16 Early agriculture in Southeast Asia and the Pacific
- 17 Swamp cultivators at Kuk, New Guinea
- 18 Early agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa to c. 500 ce
- 19 The Tichitt tradition in the West African Sahel
- 20 Early agriculture in the Americas
- 21 Nanchoc valley, Peru
- 22 Early agricultural society in Europe
- 23 Pioneer farmers at Brześć Kujawski, Poland
- Index
- References
Summary
The oldest layers occur atop sterile red clay, and it appears that 'Ain Ghazal began as a small village about 2 ha in area. The end of the MPPNB in the southern Levant was a tumultuous one, and there were severe disturbances in the settlement pattern of the region. Wholesale abandonment of farming villages in Israel and the Jordan valley began around this time, and many of the dislocated populations sought refuge elsewhere, probably often in highland Jordan. If the plastering of skulls of some family members might have had some relationship with ancestral veneration in the MPPNB, it is highly likely that the stunning plaster statuary from 'Ain Ghazal is an extension of the ancestral cult that characterized the central Levant. In view of larger cultic buildings, people prefer to call the smaller apsidal and circular buildings shrines to indicate a lower rank in a hierarchy of ritual buildings.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge World History , pp. 243 - 260Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2015
References
Further reading
Betts, A.V.G. The Later Prehistory of the Badia. Excavations and Surveys in Eastern Jordan, vol. ii. Oxford: Oxbow, 2013.Google Scholar
Byrd, B. Early Village Life at Beidha, Jordan: Neolithic Spatial Organization and Vernacular Architecture. Oxford University Press, 2005.Google Scholar
Garfinkel, Y., Ben-Shlomo, D., and Korn, N.. Symbolic Dimensions of the Yarmukian Culture: Canonization in Neolithic Art. Sha’ar Hagolan 3. Jerusalem: Hebrew University Institute of Archaeology, 2010.Google Scholar
Garfinkel, Y., Dag, D., Khalialy, H., et al. The Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Village of Yiftahel: The 1980s and 1990s Excavations. Berlin: Ex oriente, 2012.Google Scholar
Gebel, H.G.K., Nissen, H.J., and Zaid, Z. (eds.). Basta. II: The Architecture and Stratigraphy. Berlin: Ex oriente, 2006.Google Scholar
Rollefson, G. ‘The greening of the badlands: pastoral nomads and the “conclusion” of Neolithization in the southern Levant.’ Paléorient, 37/1 (2011), 101–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simmons, A., Rollefson, G., Kafafi, Z., et al. ‘Wadi Shu’eib, a large Neolithic community in central Jordan: final report of test excavations.’ Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 321 (2001), 1–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stordeur, D. and Khawam, R.. ‘Les crânes surmodelés de Tell Aswad (PPNB, Syrie): premier regard sur l’ensemble, premières réflexions.’ Syria, 84 (2007), 5–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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