Egalitarian societies and the earliest Neolithic of Southwest Asia

There is evidence that early Neolithic societies in Southwest Asia promoted egalitarian behavior, through mechanisms such as mortuary practices which concealed individual identity, and sharing of food resources, for example in communal granaries. It has often been assumed that this egalitarian behavior continues traditional huntergatherer practices, designed to resist the potential for individual, or household wealth differentiation permitted by innovative food production and storage practices. However, there is little, or no evidence that the preceding Natufian culture was representative of what we identify as a typical hunter-gatherer society. Equality may have been just one of the innovations developed by early Neolithic societies, subsequently replaced in the later Neolithic and the development of a more hierarchical social system. = Имеются данные, что ранненеолитические общества Юго-Западной Азии поощряли эгалитарное поведение, используя для этого, в частности, погребальную обрядность, маскирующую индивидуальные различия, и совместное распределение пищевых ресурсов, которые могли, например, храниться в общественных закромах. Долгое время подразумевалось, что такое эгалитарное поведение продолжает традиционные практики охотников-собирателей, имевшие целью препятствовать появлению имущественного неравенства среди индивидов или домохозяйств, возможности для чего создавали новые способы производства пищи и её хранения. Однако ничто или почти ничто не говорит о том, что предшествовавшая неолиту натуфийская культура представляла собой типичное охотничье-собирательское общество. Равенство могло быть просто одной из инноваций, появившихся в ранненеолитических обществах. В позднем неолите ему на смену пришла более иерархическая социальная система

Beyond the Jordan: Multiformities of the pre-pottery neolithic

Recent excavations in Jordan have demonstrated a long sequence of development from the late Pleistocene Epipalaeolithic through the early Holocene Pre-Pottery Neolithic. Superficially, the growing body of social and subsistence evidence suggests Neolithic communities emerged from traditions rooted in the early Epipalaeolithic. However, while developments such as the construction of shelters, population aggregation, and subsistence intensification may be essential for the emergence of a southwest Asian Neolithic, they are typical of contemporary hunter-gatherer societies and not inherently Neolithic. Notably, the Neolithic in Southwest Asia was not a homogenous entity, but instead supported diverse expressions of subsistence, symbolic behaviors, and cultural trajectories across the region. To understand the emergence and development of the Neolithic, we need to examine this richly diverse history and its many constituent pathways

Onkraj Jordana: Raznolikosti predkeramičnega neolitika

Recent excavations in Jordan have demonstrated a long sequence of development from the late Pleistocene Epipalaeolithic through the early Holocene Pre-Pottery Neolithic. Superficially, the growing body of social and subsistence evidence suggests Neolithic communities emerged from traditions rooted in the early Epipalaeolithic. However, while developments such as the construction of shelters, population aggregation, and subsistence intensification may be essential for the emergence of a Southwest Asian Neolithic, they are typical of contemporary hunter-gatherer societies and not inherently Neolithic. Notably, the Neolithic in Southwest Asia was not a homogenous entity, but instead supported diverse expressions of subsistence, symbolic behaviours, and cultural trajectories across the region. To understand the emergence and development of the Neolithic, we need to examine this richly diverse history and its many constituent pathways.Nedavna izkopavanja v Jordanski dolini so pokazala dolgo sekvenco razvoja od pozno pleistocenskega epipaleolitika do zgodnje holocenskega predkeramičnega neolitika. Na prvi pogled vedno več podatkov o družbi in eksistenci kaže na to, da so se neolitske skupnosti razvile iz tradicij, ki imajo korenine v zgodnjem epipaleolitiku. Medtem ko so pojavi, kot je postavitev zavetij, združevanje ljudi in okrepitev načinov preživetja, ključni za pojav neolitika v jugozahodni Aziji, gre vendarle za tipične vzorce sodobnih združb lovcev in nabiralcev in ti pojavi sami po sebi niso neolitski. Neolitik v jugozahodni Aziji ne predstavlja homogene entitete, ampak vključuje raznolike izraze preživetja, simbolnega vedenja in kulturnih poti na tem območju. Za razumevanje pojava in razvoja neolitika moramo preučiti to bogato raznoliko zgodovino in njene številne sestavne poti

The end of the PPNA in southern Jordan: Insights from a preliminary analysis of chipped stone from WF16

Research on the PPNA of southern Jordan at WF16 suggests that a distinct Late PPNA phase develops at this site. It is visible in changes in lithic assemblages and architecture. Similar changes appear to occur at other sites in southern Jordan dated late in the PPNA. At WF16, the one site that appears to be occupied throughout the PPNA, the chipped stone assemblage appears to evolve during the later stages of the occupation, confirming that the process of transition is locally derived. The main features of the transition visible in the chipped stone at WF16 are a technological change, with an increasing focus on blade manufacture, and some evidence for the development of a bi-directional knapping strategy, and a change in typology. The earlier PPNA material contains both microliths and el-Khiam points. By the Late PPNA both artefact types have completely disappeared from the assemblage. While the difference between early and Late PPNA assemblages are clear, part of the evidence for a local transition is the presence of an assemblage that is intermediary in character, and always stratified between the early and late material. The chipped stone from WF16 has never supported the division of the southern Levantine PPNA into a short Khiamian followed by a long Sultanian phase that is associated with the development of sedentism. At WF16, the early phase appears to encompass the greater part of the PPNA, and to be associated with architecture from its outset, while the Late phase is a relatively short lived. The chipped stone from this Late PPNA phase is sufficiently similar to the preceding PPNA, and dissimilar to the EPPNB elsewhere to continue to describe it as form of PPN. Some of the distinctive traits of this phase, especially in blade production, parallel EPPNB developments elsewhere, and indicate that the southern Jordanian trajectory does not occur in isolation, but is informed by wider processes. We argue that this Late PPNA develops, with influences from elsewhere in the Levant, in particular the incorporation of Naviform technology, into the distinctive MPPNB of southern Jordan and that very early MPPNB dates from Beidha and Shkarat Msaiad support this local trajectory

Neolithic heritage, Jericho and the West Bank

The Neolithic represents a key period in human history, understood as the period when people first domesticated plants and animals, developed the social means to live together in large sedentary communities, and perhaps even laid the foundations of formal religion. The southern Levant is one of the best-known areas where this transition took place, and Jericho undoubtedly the most spectacular site of the period. It should be possible to capture the importance of this heritage in a way that appeals to the general public, and while this has been achieved elsewhere around the world, the presentation of the Neolithic has always seemed to struggle in the region that should lie at its heart. We are currently experimenting with a Neolithic Heritage Trail in southern Jordan, working on presentation, local engagement, and preservation of the sites. Ultimately, any Neolithic trail should lead to Jericho

The flow of ideas: shared symbolism between WF16 in the south and Göbekli Tepe in the north during Neolithic emergence in south-west Asia

The transition from hunter-gatherer to farming lifestyles involved changes in all aspects of human lifeways: how food was acquired, technology, patterns of mobility, settlement size and architecture; demography and social relations; ideas of ownership, property, and ideology. With such all-encompassing change, a gradual emergence of farming is more likely than a short-term Neolithic revolution within each centre of origin. Similarly, the transition is likely to have been a spatially diffuse process: plant cultivation, animal herding, sedentism, and so forth, developing independently in different localities. New ideas, tools, cultivated seed and other items would have flowed through spatially extensive social networks, coalescing in favourable environmental and cultural circumstances to create a diversity of farming lifestyles. We provide further evidence for the social networks that underpinned the emergence of farming in SW Asia by describing previously unrecognised symbolic connections between the northern and southern Levant

Mental health and youth justice

Mental health is a state of wellbeing in which the individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community (The Mental Health of Children and Young People A Framework for Promotion, Prevention and Care (Scottish Executive 2005)

The DEEPSAL Project: Using the past for local community futures in Jordan

The Deep Past as a Social Asset in the Levant (DEEPSAL) project, conducted in 2015–16 by the Council for British Research in the Levant, examined two communities in southern Jordan, Beidha and Basta, who live near significant Neolithic archaeological sites. The project collected information on the communities’ current socioeconomic conditions, their relationship with local cultural heritage and how that cultural heritage currently benefits or hinders them. The information was used to inform nascent strategies to utilize the sites sustainably as development assets and suggest alternative strategies as necessary. The results showed that a tourism-based strategy is suitable for Beidha but there was a need to focus on basic business skills. For Basta a tourism-based strategy is currently unsuitable, and efforts should rather focus on supporting educational activities. The results of the project are presented here within the context of archaeology’s increasing interest to use archaeological resource to benefit local communities, and outlines lessons for that effort