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New 14C Dates for the Early Natufian of El-Wad Terrace, Mount Carmel, Israel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Mina Weinstein-Evron ,
Reuven Yeshurun ,
Daniel Kaufman ,
Eileen Eckmeier  and
Elisabetta Boaretto
Mina Weinstein-Evron*
Affiliation:
Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, Haifa 31905, Israel
Reuven Yeshurun
Affiliation:
Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, Haifa 31905, Israel
Daniel Kaufman
Affiliation:
Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, Haifa 31905, Israel
Eileen Eckmeier
Affiliation:
Radiocarbon Dating and Cosmogenic Isotopes Laboratory, Kimmel Center of Archaeological Science, Weizmann Institute, 76100 Rehovot, Israel University of Bonn, INRES-Soil Science, Nussallee 13, 53115 Bonn, Germany
Elisabetta Boaretto
Affiliation:
Radiocarbon Dating and Cosmogenic Isotopes Laboratory, Kimmel Center of Archaeological Science, Weizmann Institute, 76100 Rehovot, Israel
*
Corresponding author. Email: evron@research.haifa.ac.il
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Abstract

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The Natufian culture of the southern Levant played an integral role in the transition from simple huntergatherers to food-producing societies of the Neolithic, but the major Natufian hamlets are currently poorly dated. Moreover, none of these complex, continuously occupied base camps have delivered an adequate number of dates to enable an in-depth delineation of intra-Natufian developments. This paper presents the first results of our dating program at el-Wad terrace, Mount Carmel (Israel), one of the major Natufian hamlets of the “core area” of this culture. Thirteen accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon age determinations were obtained from 46 bone (both ungulate and human) and charcoal samples, originating in Early Natufian living surfaces, dwellings, and burials. The obtained dates are largely in agreement with the cultural affiliation of the samples (13–15 kyr cal BP). Two series of dates from different locations show good agreement with the stratigraphy. The ages of the burials clearly point to their being younger than the living surfaces seemingly associated with them. Presently, no burials may be linked with the major architectural phase of Early Natufian el-Wad. Our ongoing dating program and the processing of additional samples from refined contexts will help shed important light on the initial phases of the Natufian culture, habitation duration, intensity, and continuity, as well as the relationships between site features and stratigraphy.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 54 , Issue 3-4 , 2012 , pp. 813 - 822
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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