Netiv Hagdud •Excavated by Ofer Bar-Yosef and Avi Gopher in 1983, 1984, 1986 • PPNA site in Lower Jordan Valley •170 m below sea level •3 construction phases •9700-8800 cal BC (~ Gobekli, Nemrik) •Sultanian culture, later than Salabiya • Construction and Burials •Oval hut foundations+ with mud plaster floors •Mud brick above stone •28 burials, but condition of bone was poor •Burials under huts and outside •Generally contracted •2 skulls removed Avi Gopher-1 Plant Remains •17,000 charred fruit and seed remnants •75 taxa •wild cereals, 7000; wild pulses, 1,600’ fruits, 5000; vegetables 300; oil plants, 100 •Wild barley is principal food – no domestication yet •No “desert” species • Climatic Implications •Today site has ~100-200 mm precipitation •Floral assemblage implies ~300 mm – eco-system entirely different from today •Mediterranean assemblage of fauna •Shift from Irano-Tauranian to Mediterranean after Younger Dryas •Lower Jordan Valley underwent dynamic biogeographic changes • Netiv Hagdud hses Netiv Hagdud house Netiv hut with grd st Netiv hut with hearth Netiv storage bin map Netiv-Salabiya Salabiya IX is Khiamian (a transitional industry) Salabiya IX Points Salabiya IX pts-1 Salabiya pts-2 Salabiya IX points Salabiya artifacts Salabiya drills Salabiya IX lithic and other artifacts Salabiya-Netiv Sequence •Salabiya IX is Khiamian (post-Natufian) •Transition from Natufian marked by appearance of El-Khiam points, fewer lunates, increase in borers, appearance of unretouched sickles •Netiv Hagdud Sultanian has polished celts, bifaces, Hagdud truncations •Khiamian: microblades, El-Khiam points, absence of bifaces and polished celts, more borers, Couze retouch, no Hagdud truncations or Beit Ta’amir knives, unretouched sickles • Netiv pt types Avi Gopher’s classification of PPNA point types Netiv el-Khiam pts Netiv Salabiya pts Netiv Hagdud El-Khiam and Salabiya points Netiv Beit Ta'amir sickle Netiv celts Netiv Hagdud Beit Ta’amir sickles and celts Netiv Hagdud truncations Hagdud Truncations