Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-zzh7m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T11:38:32.406Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

34 - Eynan (Ain Mallaha)

from Part III: - Archaeology of Human Evolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 May 2017

Yehouda Enzel
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Ofer Bar-Yosef
Affiliation:
Harvard University, Massachusetts
Get access

Summary

Eynan (Ain Mallaha), in the Upper Jordan Valley, is one of the main Natufian sites. In the history of Neolithic research, Eynan holds a special place as the site where sedentism before agriculture was first evidenced. Occupied from the 15th millennium to the 12th millennium cal. BP, it has revealed three main stages of semi-subterranean rounded buildings associated with a large number of burials. Most of the buildings are understood as houses that become smaller and smaller as time goes. During the Early stage single burials, some with personal adornments are typically associated with floors. Later on, burial pits dug in fills and accommodating several individuals become the rule. A return to single graves related to house floors but devoid of ornaments is observed during the Final stage. Huge amount of flint tools, grinding and pounding stones, as well as worked bones were recovered. Faunal and vegetal (phytoliths) remains suggest a broad-spectrum economy based on hunting, fishing and diverse gathering. The long stratigraphy has also played an important role in establishing subdivisions in the Natufian period.
Type
Chapter
Information
Quaternary of the Levant
Environments, Climate Change, and Humans
, pp. 295 - 302
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2017

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ashkenazi, S. 2013. Reconstruction of the ecosystem of the Final Natufian site of Ain Mallaha (Eynan). In Natufian Foragers in the Levant, ed. Bar-Yosef, O. & Valla, F.R.. Ann Arbor: International Monographs in Prehistory, pp. 312–18.Google Scholar
Bocquentin, F. 2003. Pratiques funéraires, paramètres biologiques et identités culturelles au Natoufien: une analyse archéo-anthropologique. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Université Bordeaux 1.Google Scholar
Bocquentin, F., Cabellos, T. & Samuelian, N. 2013. Graves in context: field anthropology and the investigation of interstratified floors and burials. In Natufian Foragers in the Levant, ed. Bar-Yosef, O. & Valla, F.R.. Ann Arbor: International Monographs in Prehistory, pp. 185–92.Google Scholar
Bridault, A., Rabinovich, R. & Simmons, T. 2008. Human activities, site location and taphonomic process: A relevant combination for understanding the fauna of Eynan (Ain Mallaha), level IB (Final Natufian), Israel. Archaeozoology of the Near East VIII, ed. Vila, E., Gourichon, L., Choyke, A. & Buitenhuis, H.. Lyon: Maison de l'Orient méditerranéen, pp. 99117.Google Scholar
Davis, S.J.M. & Valla, F.R. 1978. Evidence for domestication of the dog 12,000 years ago in the Natufian of Israel. Nature 276: 608–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dubreuil, L. 2004. Long-term trends in Natufian subsistence: A use-wear analysis of ground stone tools. Journal of Archaeological Science 31: 1613–29.Google Scholar
Flannery, K.V. 1969. Origins and ecological effects of early domestication in Iran and the Near East. In The Domestication and Exploitation of Plants and Animals, eds. Ucko, P.J. & Dimbleby, G.W.. London: Duckworth, pp. 73100.Google Scholar
Horowitz, H., 1979. The Quaternary of Israel. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Le Dosseur, G. & Maréchal, C. 2013. Bone ornamental elements and decor-ated objects of the Natufian from Mallaha. In Natufian Foragers in the Levant, ed. Bar-Yosef, O. & Valla, F.R.. Ann Arbor: International Monographs in Prehistory, pp. 293311.Google Scholar
Perrot, J. 1966. Le gisement natoufien de Mallaha (Eynan), Israël. L'Anthropologie 70: 437–83.Google Scholar
Rosen, A.M. 2013. Natufian foragers and the monocot revolution: A phytolith perspective. In Natufian Foragers in the Levant, ed. Bar-Yosef, O. & Valla, F.R.. Ann Arbor: International Monographs in Prehistory, pp. 638–48.Google Scholar
Samuelian, N. 2013. Les chasseurs et cueilleurs du Natoufien final d'Ain Mallaha (Eynan), Israël: la structuration spatiale et fonctionnelle de leur habitat. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Université Paris 1.Google Scholar
Valentin, B., Valla, F.R. & Plisson, H. 2013. Flint knapping and its objectives in the Early Natufian: The example of Eynan-Ain Mallaha (Israel). In Natufian Foragers in the Levant, ed. Bar-Yosef, O. & Valla, F.R.. Ann Arbor: International Monographs in Prehistory, pp. 203–26.Google Scholar
Valla, F.R. 1988. Aspects du sol de l'abri 131 de Mallaha (Eynan), Paléorient 14/2: 283–96.Google Scholar
Valla, F.R., Khalaily, H., Valladas, H. et al. 2007. Les fouilles de Ain Mallaha (Eynan) de 2003 à 2005: Quatrième rapport préliminaire. Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society – Mitekufat Haeven 37: 135379.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×