Mission Beisamoun : le VIIe millénaire du Levant Sud en question

Débutée en 2007, la mission franco-israélienne de Beisamoun explore l’un des plus importants villages néolithiques du Levant Sud occupé aux VIIIe et VIIe millénaires avant notre ère. Beisamoun est situé dans la haute vallée du Jourdain (Israël) ; le village était installé à proximité de la frange marécageuse du lac Houleh, aujourd’hui asséchée. Cette mission succède à une première exploration menée dans les années 1970 par Monique Lechevallier (CNRS). Malgré l’importance du site reconnue à l’..

Mission Beisamoun : le VIIe millénaire du Levant Sud en question

Débutée en 2007, la mission franco-israélienne de Beisamoun explore l’un des plus importants villages néolithiques du Levant Sud occupé aux VIIIe et VIIe millénaires avant notre ère. Beisamoun est situé dans la haute vallée du Jourdain (Israël) ; le village était installé à proximité de la frange marécageuse du lac Houleh, aujourd’hui asséchée. Cette mission succède à une première exploration menée dans les années 1970 par Monique Lechevallier (CNRS). Malgré l’importance du site reconnue à l’..

The onset of faba bean farming in the Southern Levant

Even though the faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is among the most ubiquitously cultivated crops, very little is known about its origins. Here, we report discoveries of charred faba beans from three adjacent Neolithic sites in the lower Galilee region, in the southern Levant, that offer new insights into the early history of this species. Biometric measurements, radiocarbon dating and stable carbon isotope analyses of the archaeological remains, supported by experiments on modern material, date the earliest farming of this crop to ~10,200 cal BP. The large quantity of faba beans found in these adjacent sites indicates intensive production of faba beans in the region that can only have been achieved by planting non-dormant seeds. Selection of mutant-non-dormant stock suggests that the domestication of the crop occurred as early as the 11(th) millennium cal BP. Plant domestication| Vicia faba L.| Pre-Pottery Neolithic B| radiocarbon dating| Δ(13)C analysis

Form and function of early neolithic bifacial stone tools reflects changes in land use practices during the neolithization process in the levant.

For many, climate change is no longer recognized as the primary cause of cultural changes in the Near East. Instead, human landscape degradation, population growth, socioeconomic adjustments, and conflict have been proposed as the mechanisms that shaped the Neolithic Revolution. However, as Bar-Yosef noted, even if there is chronological correlation between climate changes and cultural developments, what is important is to understand how Neolithic societies dealt with these improving or deteriorating environments. Changes in bifacial stone tools provide a framework for examining some of these interactions by focusing on changing land use practices during the Neolithization process. The results of microwear analysis of 40 bifacial artifacts from early Pre-Pottery Neolithic (EPPNB) levels at Motza in the Judean hills document changes during the PPNA-PPNB transition at the onset of the Levantine Moist Period (ca. 8000 cal B.C.) when conditions for agriculture improved. EPPNB villagers added heavy-duty axes to a toolkit they had used for carpentry and began to clear forests for fields and grazing lands. Sustainable forest management continued for the duration of the PPN until the cumulative effects of tree-felling and overgrazing seem to have led to landscape degradation at end of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic C (PPNC), when a cold, dry climatic anomaly (6600-6000 cal B.C.) may have accelerated the reduction of woodlands. Early PPNB components at sites like Motza, with data from nearly five millennia of Neolithic occupations, show how complex hunter-gatherers and early food producers were able to establish sustainable resource management systems even as climate changed, population increased, and social relations were redefined

Some utilized Bifaces and a <i>tranchet</i> spall from EPPNB layer VI at Motza.

<p>Ventral face to the left, dorsal face to the right, black lines show the extent of the wood-working microwear traces, arrows show the orientation of the polish and striations, lines with dots show location of hafting traces. (<i>A</i>) Polished greenstone axe from SN 2, Locus 2136, Basket 40013, made of green stone, with weakly-developed wood working traces and slight edge damage along distal edge. (<i>B</i>) flint <i>tranchet</i> axe, SN 32, Locus 4050, Basket 41007. Circle shows the location of <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0042442#pone-0042442-g003" target="_blank">Fig. 3</a> Right. (<i>C</i>) flint <i>tranchet</i> chisel N19c, SN 14, Locus 4014, Basket 40211. Circle shows the location of <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0042442#pone-0042442-g004" target="_blank">Fig. 4</a> Right. (<i>D</i>) <i>tranchet</i> spall, SN 26, Basket 40309. Circle shows the location of <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0042442#pone-0042442-g005" target="_blank">Fig. 5</a>. (<i>E</i>) <b>flint </b><b><i>tranchet</i></b><b> axe resharpened by polishing</b>, SN 15, Locus 5016, Basket 50135. Circle shows the location of <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0042442#pone-0042442-g006" target="_blank">Fig. 6</a>. (<i>F</i>) flint <i>tranchet</i> axe, SN 34, Locus 5040, Basket 50437. Circle shows the location of <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0042442#pone-0042442-g007" target="_blank">Fig. 7</a>. (G) flint <i>tranchet</i> axe K17c from Motza, SN 11, Locus 5040, Basket 50479. Circle shows the location of <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0042442#pone-0042442-g008" target="_blank">Fig. 8</a>. (<i>H</i>) base of a recycled flint axe, SN 33, Locus 5067, Basket 50730 with worn lateral edges and worn dorsal and ventral faces. Some of these surfaces have large patches of stone-on-stone polish. It seems to have been re-used as a stone polishing tool.</p

A: Neolithic sites mentioned in the text, B: Locations of Northern and Southern blocks at the Motza site excavated by HK on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority in 2002 and 2003, C: Main stratigraphic section for the 2002–2003 excavations at Motza.

<p>VI is the ca. 2 m thick EPPNB layer exposed directly above bedrock <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0042442#pone.0042442-Khalaily1" target="_blank">[24]</a>.</p

Bright, domed wood-working microwear traces on the distal end of a <i>tranchet</i> flint axe with a polished bit from Motza (SN 15, Locus 5016, Basket 50135).

<p>See <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0042442#pone-0042442-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2E</a> for location. Magnification is 187.5x, and scale is 50 microns for both images.</p

Motza EPPNB, Summary of Microwear and Technological Analysis.

<p><b>G.L.</b>: greatest length in mm; <b>Edge Fractures</b>: type of flake scars along cutting edge; battered: many edge fractures and flake scars along bit; <b>Used</b>: there is microwear or macrowear evidence for utilization; <b>Motion</b>: how the tool was used, heavy chopping, or lighter wood-working (e.g., carpentry); <b>Worked Material</b>: the type of material modified by the tool; <i>cortex</i>: some of the original exterior surface of the rock can still be seen on the artifact; <i>fragment</i>: tool is not complete; <i>haft traces, hafted</i>: wear traces suggest that the tool was attached to a handle; “<i>humped</i>:” failure to thin biface properly has left a thick hump on one or both faces; <i>resharpened</i>: the tool seems to have been retouched to restore a sharp edge. The tranchet axe with the polished bit (SN 15) is shown in <b>boldface</b>.</p><p><b><u>Notes on contexts</u></b>: one of the groundstone axes (SN 3) was found in the same locus (4070) where nine <i>tranchet</i> spalls were recovered. A calibrated radiocarbon date on bone from this Locus (4070) was 8336–8284 cal BC (1σ). A flint <i>tranchet</i> axe (SN 32) and a flint <i>tranchet</i> chisel (SN 6) were found in Locus 4050 where parts of a secondary burial feature that included at least five individuals were exposed, and a broken greenstone figurine that was recycled as a pendant was also recovered. A flint <i>tranchet</i> axe (SN 13) in Locus 4062 was associated with a calibrated radiocarbon date on bone (8304–8278 cal BC, 1σ). Two flint <i>tranchet</i> axes (SN 11 and 34) and two <i>tranchet</i> spalls (SN 27 and 28) were all found in Locus (5040). Three <i>tranchet</i> spalls (SN 29, 30, and 31) came from Locus 5053, and one came from Locus 5027 (SN 20).</p

Small patches of bright, domed wood working microwear traces on the distal bit of a flint axeK17c from Motza (SN 11, Locus 5040, Basket 50479).

<p>See <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0042442#pone-0042442-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2G</a> for location. Magnification is 187.5x, and scale is 50 microns for both images.</p

Left: Bright, domed wood working microwear on experimental biface used to plane and smooth wood.

<p><b>Right</b>: Bright, domed wood-working microwear traces on the bit of a small EPPNB <i>tranchet</i> axe from the Motza site (SN 32, Locus 4050, Basket 41007). See <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0042442#pone-0042442-g002" target="_blank">Figure 2B</a> for location. Bit edge is at the bottom of the photomicrograph. Magnification is 187.5x, and scale is 50 microns for both images.</p