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76 - The Epipalaeolithic and Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Lebanon

from Part VI: - Humans in the Levant

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 May 2017

By
Andrew N. Garrard
Edited by
Yehouda Enzel  and
Ofer Bar-Yosef
Yehouda Enzel
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Ofer Bar-Yosef
Affiliation:
Harvard University, Massachusetts
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Summary

This chapter summarises our knowledge of the Epipalaeolithic and Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Lebanon (24-8.5 ka cal BP). During the LGM forest, vegetation was much reduced in the Lebanese Mountains, but expanded significantly in the terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene. The Early Epipalaeolithic (Kebaran) is documented from several excavated sites including Ksar Akil, Abri Bergy and Jiita II just north of Beirut, but until recently the Middle and Late Epipalaeolithic (Geometric Kebaran and Natufian) was only known from two excavated localities, the upper levels of Abri Bergy and from Saaidé II in the Bekaa Valley. Excavations at Pre-Pottery Neolithic A and B sites had also been restricted to Nachcharini in the Antilebanon Mountains and Tell Labwe South in the Bekaa Valley. In the last decade, an excavation project has been undertaken at two adjacent caves at Moghr el Ahwal in the Qadisha Valley, which cuts the Lebanese Mountains to the southeast of Tripoli. These have revealed extensive Geometric Kebaran deposits and evidence for Kebaran, Natufian and Pre-Pottery Neolithic occupation, which include several burials and a rich artefactual and faunal record.
Type
Chapter
Information
Quaternary of the Levant
Environments, Climate Change, and Humans
 , pp. 691 - 698
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2017

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