INTRODUCTION TO THE EPI-PALEOLITHIC Prof. Frank Hole Yale University February 2012 TOPICS •Definition – What is the Epi-Paleolithic? •What are its origins? •Geography – What regions will we discuss? •Chronology •Climate and environments •Key sites by region •Important Issues • ISSUES TO DISCUSS •Relation to UP and other regions •Kinds of settlements and site locations •Environmental variability and change •Technology – chipped and ground stone, bone, fiber •Economy – subsistence, trade •Social organization •Ritual and art •Transition to the Neolithic Ø Ø Ø Ofer's chrono-Levy 1988 Epi-Neol chrono Epi cultural types Epi, Neol culture complexes M-2-01 Near Eastern Environments Med veg The Semi-Arid Region •COASTAL ZONE •Mediterranean-type climate •>1000–350 mm precipitation •Winters cool and wet •Pine,oak,pistachio,etc •Rain-fed agriculture •Summers hot and dry •Drought years uncommon • •SEMI-ARID STEPPE •150-250 mm annual precipitation •High interannual variability >100% •Grass and shrubs •Rain-fed agriculture is risky <250 mm •Drought years common •Traditional pasture for Bedouin herds • Precipitation Interannual variability of precipitation 4-10 Changing receipt of solar radiation and other climatic controls in the northern hemisphere since the last glacial maximum (modified after Kutzbach and Street-Perrott, 1985). Climate related to solar insolation from end of the late glacial maximum (modified after Kutzbach and Street-Perrot 1985). Monsoon Summer, monsoon-driven rainfall 18ky and 8.5ky Data Sources: Climate Proxies, Archaeology and History •Climate proxies inform on the region: they are derived from ocean cores, lake cores, cycles of erosion and deposition, pollen, speleothems, climate models •Archaeological proxies are locale-specific: they include settlement distribution and size, agriculture and stock raising, cyclical presence and absence of settlements •Discordance in spatial and temporal dimensions between the two data sets Soreq Cave, Israel Bar-Matthews, Earth and Planetary Science Letters 166 (1999) •18O and 13C isotopes of speleothems relate to rain, cave temperature and precipitation •13.2-11.4 ky – Younger Dryas cold, dry •8.5-7 ky – Very high precipitation (Holocene Climatic Optimum) •8.2-8.0 ky – Sudden cooling and decrease in rainfall intensity •4.2-4.0 ky – Aridity associated with Akkadian and other collapses •4.0 ky till today – Relatively smaller fluctuations • Sanlaville curve Climatic phases and human societies in the Levant 16ky-5ky (Sanlaville 1997) 8ky YD M-6-15 M-6-14 Younger Dryas vegetation Middle Holocene vegetation Principal Regions •The Northern and Southern Levant •The Euphrates Valley •The desert interior •The Zagros-Taurus Near Eastern Environments Med veg Zagros THE LEVANT •Geographic characteristics –Rift valley - below sea level –Coastal mountains and plains –Inland plateau and steppe –Euphrates –Sinai, Negev and Egypt Rift Valley •Below sea level •Generally arid, but with much local variability •Lake Lisan, Jordan River and tributaries •African, Irano-Tauranian-Mediterranean vegetation and fauna •Some permanent sites Mount Carmel Region •Mediterranean vegetation zone •Dependable precipitation •Oak, pistachio, almond •Wild cereals •Semi-permanent sites with long periods of use. Sinai and Negev •Mostly very arid, with sand dunes •Higher elevations have trees and grass •Sites are seasonally situated near springs 300px-Sinai-peninsula-map Negev-Sinai map 298_NegHighMap040912 The Desert Interior •Sites confined to playa lakes and springs •Low precipitation and sparse resources •Sites consist of hunting and gathering camps •Desert kite hunting traps probably begin The Zagros •Separate tradition from the Levant •Few sites excavated •Cave, shelters and open sites appear to be temporary camps for hunter-gatherers •Transition from Upper Paleolithic Baradostian •No clear transition to Neolithic yet Abu Hureyra 1 •Late Epipaleolithic “Natufian” settlement •Excavated by Andrew Moore, with Gordon Hillman and Tony Legge in 1972-73 •40 m2 of Epipaleolithic deposit excavated •11,113-10,790 cal BC (Phase 1) •Hunter-gatherers, but Hillman sees domestic rye •Gazelle hunters Abu Hureyra cover AQbu H veg 13,11 kya