edited by

Ofer Bar-Yosef&

François R. Valla

InternatIonal Monographs In prehIstory

Archaeological Series 19

Natufian Foragers in the Levant

Terminal Pleistocene Social Changes in Western Asia

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Natufian foragers in the Levant : terminal Pleistocene social changes in Western Asia / edited by Ofer Bar-Yosef & François Valla. pages cm. -- (Archaeological series / International Monographs in Prehistory ; 19) Papers from a symposium held in 2009. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-879621-45-9 (paperback : acid-free paper) -- ISBN 978-1-879621-46-6 (hard cover : acid-free paper) 1. Natufian culture--Middle East--Congresses. 2. Hunting and gathering societies--Middle East--Congresses. 3. Pleistocene-Holocene boundary--Congresses. 4. Social archaeology--Middle East--Congresses. 5. Social change--Middle East--History--To 1500--Congresses. 6. Excavations (Archaeology)--Middle East--Congresses. 7. Middle East--Antiquities--Congresses. I. Bar-Yosef, Ofer. II. Valla, François Raymond. GN774.3.N38N28 2013 306.3›640956--dc23 2013035516

© 2013 by International Monographs in PrehistoryAll rights reserved

Printed in the United States of AmericaAll rights reserved

Paperback:ISBN 978-1-879621-45-9Hard Cover:ISBN 978-1-879621-46-6

This book is printed on acid-free paper. ∞

International Monographs in PrehistoryAnn Arbor, MichiganU.S.A.

Printed with the support of the American School of Prehistoric Research (Peabody Museum, Harvard University)

Table of Contents

List of Contributors ................................................................................................................... vii

Preface – The Natufian Culture in the Levant: Twenty Years LaterOfer Bar-Yosef and François R. Valla ...............................................................................xv

Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................xix

Northern Levant

Natufian Lifeways in the Eastern Foothills of the Anti-Lebanon MountainsNicholas J. Conard, Knut Bretzke, Katleen Deckers, Andrew W. Kandel, Mohamed Masri, Hannes Napierala, Simone Riehl and Mareike Stahlschmidt ..............................1

The Natufian of Moghr el-Ahwal in the Qadisha Valley, Northern LebanonAndrew Garrard and Corine Yazbeck ..............................................................................17

The Natufian of Southwestern Syria Sites in the Damascus ProvinceKurt Felix Hillgruber ........................................................................................................28

The Natufian Occupations of Qarassa 3 (Sweida, Southern Syria)Xavier Terradas, Juan José Ibáñez, Franck Braemer, Lionel Gourichon and Luis C. Teira ...................................................................................................................................45

The Early Natufian Site of Jeftelik (Homs Gap, Syria)Amelia del Carmen Rodríguez Rodríguez, Maya Haïdar-Boustani, Jesús E.González Urquijo, Juan José Ibáñez, Michel Al-Maqdissi, Xavier Terradasand Lydia Zapata ..............................................................................................................61

Fish in the Desert? The Younger Dryas and its Influence on the Paleoenvironment at Baaz Rockshelter, Syria

Hannes Napierala .............................................................................................................73

Preliminary Results from Analyses of Charred Plant Remains from a Burnt Natufian Building at Dederiyeh Cave in Northwest Syria

Ken-ichi Tanno, George Willcox, Sultan Muhesen, Yoshihiro Nishiaki, YousefKanjo and Takeru Akazawa..............................................................................................83

Southern Levant

El-Wad

Spatial Organization of Natufian el-Wad through Time: Combining the Results of Past and Present Excavations

Mina Weinstein-Evron, Daniel Kaufman and Reuven Yeshurun ...................................88

iv

The Last Natufian Inhabitants of el-Wad TerraceNoga Bachrach, Israel Hershkovitz, Daniel Kaufman and MinaWeinstein-Evron..............................................................................................................107

Domestic Refuse Maintenance in the Natufian: Faunal Evidence from el-Wad Terrace, Mount Carmel

Reuven Yeshurun, Guy Bar-Oz, Daniel Kaufman and Mina Weinstein-Evron ...........118

Natufian Green Stone Pendants from el-Wad: Characteristics and Cultural ImplicationsDaniella E. Bar-Yosef Mayer, Naomi Porat and Mina Weinstein-Evron ......................139

Eynan

The Final Natufian Structure 215-228 at Mallaha (Eynan), Israel: an Attempt at Spatial Analysis

François R. Valla, Hamoudi Khalaily, Nicolas Samuelian, Anne Bridault, Rivka Rabinovich, Tal Simmons, Gaëlle Le Dosseur and Shoshana Ashkenazi ....................146

A Study of two Natufian Residential Complexes: Structures 200 and 203 at Eynan (Ain Mallaha), Israel

Nicolas Samuelian ..........................................................................................................172

Graves in Context: Field Anthropology and the Investigation of Interstratified Floors and Burials

Fanny Bocquentin, Teresa Cabellos and Nicolas Samuelian ........................................185

Obsidian in Natufian Context: the Case of Eynan (Ain Mallaha), IsraelHamoudi Khalaily and François R. Valla ......................................................................193

Flint Knapping and its Objectives in the Early Natufian. The Example of Eynan- Ain Mallaha (Israel)

Boris Valentin, François R. Valla and Hugues Plisson with the collaboration of Fanny Bocquentin ...........................................................................................................203

Searching for the Functions of Fire Structures in Eynan (Mallaha) and their Formation Processes: a Geochemical Approach

Ramiro J. March ..............................................................................................................227

Avifauna of the Final Natufian of EynanTal Simmons ....................................................................................................................284

Bone Ornamental Elements and Decorated Objects of the Natufian from MallahaGaëlle Le Dosseur and Claudine Maréchal ...................................................................293

Reconstruction of the Habitats in the Ecosystem of the Final Natufian Site of Ain Mallaha (Eynan)

Shoshana Ashkenazi .......................................................................................................312

v

Southern Levant - other sites

Wadi Hammeh 27: an open-air ‘base-camp’ on the Fringe of the Natufian ‘homeland’Phillip C. Edwards, Fanny Bocquentin, Sue Colledge, Yvonne Edwards, Gaëlle Le Dosseur, Louise Martin, Zvonkica Stanin and John Webb ...........................................319

Art Items from Wadi Hammeh 27Janine Major ...................................................................................................................349

The Final Epipaleolithic / PPNA site of Huzuq Musa (Jordan Valley)Dani Nadel and Danny Rosenberg .................................................................................382

Natufian Settlement in the Wadi al-Qusayr, West-Central JordanMichael Neeley ................................................................................................................397

The Steppic Early Natufian: Investigations in the Wadi al-Hasa, JordanDeborah I. Olszewski ......................................................................................................412

The Natufian of the Azraq Basin: An AppraisalTobias Richter and Lisa A. Maher ..................................................................................429

Chert Procurement Patterns And Exploitation Territory: Case Study From Late Natufian Hayonim Terrace (Western Galilee, Israel)

Christophe Delage ...........................................................................................................449

A Faunal Perspective on the Relationship between the Natufian Occupations of Hayonim Cave and Hayonim Terrace

Natalie D. Munro ............................................................................................................463

The Natufian at Raqefet CaveGyörgy Lengyel, Dani Nadel and Fanny Bocquentin ....................................................478

Hof Shahaf: A New Natufian Site on the Shore of Lake KinneretOfer Marder, Reuven Yeshurun, Howard Smithline, Oren Ackermann, Daniella E. Bar-Yosef Mayer, Anna Belfer-Cohen, Leore Grosman, Israel Hershkovitz, Noa Klein and Lior Weissbrod ...............................................................................................505

The Life History of Macrolithic Tools at Hilazon Tachtit CaveLaure Dubreuil and Leore Grosman ..............................................................................527

General Reviews, Climate and Interpretations

Breaking the Mould: Phases and Facies in the Natufian of the Mediterranean ZoneAnna Belfer-Cohen and A. Nigel Goring-Morris ...........................................................544

Ruminations on the Role of Periphery and Center in the NatufianA. Nigel Goring-Morris and Anna Belfer-Cohen ...........................................................562

vi

The Natufian and the Younger DryasDonald O. Henry .............................................................................................................584

Scaphopod Shells in the Natufian CultureAldona Kurzawska, Daniella E. Bar-Yosef Mayer and Henk K. Mienis ......................611

The Natufian Chronological Scheme – New Insights and their ImplicationsLeore Grosman ................................................................................................................622

Natufian Foragers and the ‘Monocot Revolution’: A Phytolith PerspectiveArlene M. Rosen ..............................................................................................................638

Lithic Technology in the Late Natufian – Technological Differences between ‘Core-area’ and ‘Periphery’

Hila Ashkenazy ...............................................................................................................649

Variability of Lunates and Changes in Projectile Weapons Technology during the NatufianAlla Yaroshevich, Daniel Kaufman, Dmitri Nuzhnyy, Ofer Bar-Yosef and Mina Weinstein-Evron..............................................................................................................671

Specialized Hunting of Gazelle in the Natufian: Cultural Cause or Climatic Effect?Guy Bar-Oz, Reuven Yeshurun and Mina Weinstein-Evron .........................................685

Commensalism: was it Truly a Natufian Phenomenon? Recent Cntributions from Ethnoarchaeology and Ecology

Lior Weissbrod, Daniel Kaufman, Dani Nadel, Reuven Yeshurun and Mina Weinstein-Evron..............................................................................................................699

185

New way of settling, new way of burying

At the end of the Epipaleolithic burial customs of the Natufian culture show a clear break with those of preceding periods. Graves, rarely associated with living spaces before, become regular features of permanent settlements. Sometimes the Natufian burials occur in close proximity to the dwellings, but more often they are embedded in the rubble of abandoned houses. This is to say, with a reduction of mobility, a veritable lack of division between the living and the dead took place. Indeed, the grave seems to play an important role in the attachment to territory and the process of settling down (Bar-Yosef and Belfer-Cohen 2002). One may note that, in some cases, when a site was abandoned temporarily, or even definitively, burial activity nevertheless went on for a while (Belfer-Cohen 1988; Valla 1991; Bocquentin 2003). Also, we must keep in mind the suggestion that Natufian sites may have been used primarily for burial purposes, before any settlement took place (Bar-Yosef and Goren 1973; Bocquentin 2003). In this case, graves might have played an important symbolic role in new settlement foundation, although exhaustive excavations are necessary for resolving this issue. The intercalation of burials and dwellings in the Natufian context is altogether remarkable. Howev-er, the question of the exact temporal link between the dead and the living remains unsolved for most known cases. Opinions concerning the existence of burials dug into occupied floors differ (Perrot and Ladiray 1988; Belfer-Cohen 1989; Valla 1995; Valla and Bocquentin 2008). Unfortunately, many Natufian graves were found during the first half of the last century, before houses were identified by excavators (Weinstein-Evron 1998). Later on and up till now, the problem of interstratification of burials and houses has been exacerbated by problems in identifying floors and the edges of burial pits. In the first place, the Natufian predilection for partially

Graves in Context: Field Anthropology and the Investigation of

Interstratified Floors and Burials

Fanny Bocquentin, Teresa Cabellos and Nicolas Samuelian

burying buildings, frequently reorganizing floors and rebuilding on top of previous structures (e.g. Samuelian et al. 2006) leaves archaeologists with serious problems of stratigraphic interpretation. Secondly, the homogeneity of the sediments of some important Natufian sites (in either caves or open areas) makes the restitution of the different stratigraphic units even more complicated.

How can physical anthropology complement regular archaeological field methods?1

Taking specific post-depositional history into consideration

In addition to post-depositional factors such as erosion, flooding, chemical processes, the actions of rodents and microorganisms, and later anthropogenic disturbance that can affect archaeological features, corpses in graves are also subject to organic decay. This explains why hardly any skeletons are found in a rigorously primary state. The decomposition of soft body parts (viscera, muscles, fat and skin) creates empty spaces allowing joint disarticulations and bone movements (Fig. 1A). Thus, the position of a skeleton when unearthed is the result of different factors, such as biological process of decay, decomposition of associated items or perishable grave architecture and post-depositional disturbances (natural agents or human activities). A careful dig together with forensic consider-ations is necessary for retrodicting the general de-velopment of a grave, backwards from the recovered human remains to the initial burial event (Fig. 1B). These procedures will eventually give valuable in-formation about the nature of the deposit (primary or secondary), the original position of the body (to be distinguished from displacement due to decom-position or other perturbations), the successive or simultaneous character of the deposits in the case

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of a multiple grave, the limits of the pit (when the characteristic of the sediment is unhelpful), the possible presence of a container (coffin, shroud, etc.) and other possible post-depositional funerary actions (removal or reorganisation of the bones).

Bone disarticulations as aids in the recon-struction of spatial and temporal processes

Bone disarticulation is obviously useful (but not sufficient)2 for discussing the nature - primary or

secondary- of deposits. However, relative position of the bones within the grave is still of great importance for anthropologists further on in the analysis. In the case of primary deposits, comparisons of the natural anatomical articulations of the human skeleton with the state of bone dislocations encountered in the field attest to movements induced by taphonomic processes. Direction and amplitude of these movements depend primarily on the space (empty or filled) in which decomposition took place (Fig. 1C). A burial in a filled space (in a simple pit

Fig. 1. Principles and procedures of field anthropology. A) Post-depositional history of the grave: sys-tematic taphonomic processes and possible exogenous factors disturb the original organisation of the body and all other items buried with it. B) The precise relative position of the bones when unearthed permits anthropologists to restore the movements occurred in the grave and, from it, discuss the general evolution of the grave from the human remains backwards to the burial event. C) Movement of skeletal elements after joint disarticulation depends mainly on the space in which decomposition takes place. Theoretically, in the case of corpse 1, bones will collapse only within the initial body volume and, in the case of corpse 2, movement of bones will be possible within the initial body volume as well as outside of it, into the empty space delimited by the sealed coffin. In both cases 1 and 2, the direction and amplitude of the displacements will depend on the stability or otherwise of the disarticulated bones; and on the speed of infilling of the original or secondarily created empty surrounding space, or release by the corpse itself. This infilling can be as fast as the process of putrefaction (in this case movements will be minimal) or occur over longer time-spans. D) Temporal information concerning the evolution of the burial is provided by the sequence of relative speed of joint dislocation. Labile articulations, rapidly destroyed, can give information on events close to the time of death; on the contrary, persistent articulations may be useful for discussing events occurred later, at the end or after the decay process.

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for instance) will allow only minimal movement of the bones outside the original body space during decay. On the other hand, burial within an empty space protected by a funerary structure is conducive to larger movements. In addition to these scenarios, one must also consider the possibility of secondary spaces created by changes in corpse volume and the collapse of perishable funerary structures. When disjointed, bones will move according to three factors: a) stable or unstable position in terms of gravity; b) stable position due to support from surrounding funerary structures or the enclosing pit walls and c) the speed of later infilling. The latter can be either immediate or occur over considerable time, according to the characteristics of the surrounding sediment and the permeability of the grave structure itself. If the disorder of the bones remains unexplained after considering these different taphonomic aspects, exogenous factors of disturbance might be involved. Consequently, joint disarticulation is a goldmine of information concerning the space surrounding the corpse, the funerary arrangements during burial and all later activities. Forensic knowledge can also provide an-thropologists with data concerning the order in which structures collapse and other exogenous disturbances, in relation to the sequence of bodily decomposition. Actually, despite the fact that the absolute time of putrefaction is both context-specific and highly variable, the relative sequence of joint dislocation is quite stable (Fig. 1D). Since labile articulations are rapidly destroyed, a skeleton is unlikely to have been disturbed shortly after death if the connections between the bones involved are preserved. On the contrary, persistent articulations are more enduring and, if disconnected, may provide evidence of movement of bones long after death.

A case study: Burial H156, exhumed between two living floors of House 203 at Mallaha

Recent discoveries of final Natufian burials at Mallaha

Approximately 120 skeletons have been found at the Natufian site of Mallaha (Upper Galilee) (Perrot and Ladiray 1988; Bocquentin in Valla et al. 1998, 2001, 2004; Bocquentin and Cabellos in Valla et al. 2007). It has been possible to establish that during the Early and Final phases of occupation, graves were sometimes closely associated with houses (Valla and Bocquentin 2008). The Final

Natufian is mostly known from the excavation supervised by F. Valla and H. Khalaily from 1996 to 2005. All of the structures and graves from that phase are embedded within a thick stony layer. The sediment is very homogeneous and no pit limits or any archaeological features could be distinguished in it. The reconstruction of features was made indirectly, by assessing the quantity and distribution of artifacts and the analyses of taphonomic processes. The skeletons excavated since 1996 (MNI = 25) have been found in three different archaeological contexts: 1) some are isolated at the top of the stony layer and therefore post-date any of the dwelling structures; 2) some have been found inside the houses, and 3) some are associated with other structures of ambiguous function. More than half of the skeletons were found in type 2 contexts, in close relation with the houses. In most of these cases, evidence of levelling or partial destruction of graves shows their precedence with regard to the living floors (ex.: H159-172, H171, H175, H179, locus 240). On the other hand, there is one example of a grave dug into a deserted house, probably shortly after its abandonment, because some hearths inside the house remained unburied to that point (ex.: H160-166). However, the best testimony of the dynamic link between burials and floors at Mallaha is illustrated by H156, found in House 203.

Grave H156: description and analysis

H156 is the skeleton of an adult woman. Her skull was discovered when the upper floor of House 203 was exposed. The very top of the cranial vault lay at the same level as the artefacts abandoned on the floor. Numerous pieces of flint, as well as two large pieces of bone (one metapodial of a fallow deer and a skull of a roe deer complete with both antlers), clearly indicated the level of the living floor in this area (layer a: Fig. 2A) (Samuelian 1998). When this floor was removed, the complete skeleton of H156 was found next to Post-hole 213, following a south-west/north-east orientation (Fig. 2B). The corpse was lying on its back in a tightly flexed position, which is quite common for this period at Mallaha. The upper part of the thorax (mostly its left side, from the 4th thoracic vertebra to the head) had been straightened against the walls of the grave pit. The left knee had been brought up to the chin and, despite the lack of bone, the same original position is likely for the right knee because both feet are symmetrically situated above the pelvis.

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The arm and forearm are extended alongside the ribs with the right hand against the pelvis and the left hand lying under it (Fig. 3). Detailed observations of the burial provide us with three important results: 1) the transversal and vertical compression of the body is shown by the constriction of the shoulders, the vertical position of the right coxal, and the elevation of the head and neck. These aspects suggest the original presence of a narrow container. 2) At the periphery of the body, very well defined limits are indicated by the vertical and delimited position of the bones which follow a linear pattern. This pattern provides evidence of a feature which played a supportive role for the corpse during joint disarticulation as no bone collapsed outside this roughly rectangular contour. 3) On the contrary, within this space the movements of the bones are of large amplitude: reversal of the cervical column, first ribs, mandible and left shoulder; rotation of the metatarsals; and sliding of the lower part of the body to the north-east corner of the grave, which is also the direction of the slope. In fact, only the joints at the base of the grave had remained stable; that is to say in their original positions (left hand phalanges under the pelvis, left elbow against the knee, some vertebrae-ribs joints). These taphonomic characteristics reflect the existence of an empty space surrounding the corpse during the entire period of the decay process. Considering all these points together, we can conclude that it is likely that the corpse of H156 was buried in a kind of narrow perishable structure (such as a coffin or a chest) which was quite rigid, sealed and probably made of materials such as reeds or wood. In part, however, the disorder seen in the grave cannot be explained by natural taphonomic processes. For instance, the right tibia, the fibula and the patella are all absent. Also, the right

femur is not in its correct anatomical position, and indeed lies far from it, beside the skull in an empty area left between the left leg and the thorax (Fig. 3). Finally, the skull is at the opposite side of where it would be placed as the result of natural collapse once the decay process was completed. These rearrangements of the bones clearly point to anthropogenic activity. The bones involved were

Fig. 2. Occupation sequences of House 203. Layer C: Upper level of the oldest occupation phase of house 203 (according to the present stage of excavations). Fireplace 234 (2) is partly covered by the bottom of the Grave H156 (1) and the foundation of Post-hole 213. Layer B: build-ing phase of Post-hole 213 and Burial H156. Layer A: last occupation floor before definitive abandonment of the structure. Post-hole 213 (partially dug) was in use at that time. On top of the burial were left a metapodial of a fallow deer (1) and a skull with both antlers of a roe deer (2). The very top of the skull vault of H156 (3) is seen right at the base of the living floor.

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originally laid at the top of the grave and their new positions have tended to reduce the height of the grave. This post-depositional activity should not be attributed to a secondary funerary act, but more likely to the levelling of the new floor located right over the grave. This event occurred at the end of the decay process, but before the perishable funerary structure disappeared, enabling the reopening of the grave and the rearrangement of the bones. Directly under the bones, the bottom of the grave was partly covered by tiny burned stones, which turned out to be the upper filling of an undisturbed fireplace (str. 234), located to the east of the burial (Bocquentin in Valla et al. 2001; Samuelian in Valla et al. 2004). The burial left this previous occupation (layer c: Fig. 2C) entirely undisturbed, and this observation leads us to think that the coffin was placed directly on the floor rather than in a pit dug specially for it.

To sum up, the stratigraphic succession in this area of House 203 is as follows: firstly, Fireplace 234 was built up (event c) and, a bit later, Post-hole 213 (event b) was added. Then Grave H156 (event b’) was placed on the floor, partly overlying structures 213 and 234 (event b). The funerary coffin was probably covered by sediment as protection from natural agents, but this is difficult to ascertain. Later, when the corpse had decomposed and the grave partly collapsed, the bones were removed or reorganized, and the burial was definitely sealed by a new phase of occupation of the house (event a). The filling of event b (about 10 cm thick throughout) is characterized by a level of sediment and medium-sized stones (5-7 cm in diameter) of unequal density, packed amongst the different areas of the house (Samuelian in Valla et al. 2001). This fill may have been the result of natural sedimentation but more probably it is the product of an anthropogenic

Fig. 3. Grave H156 (adult woman), Final Natufian, Mallaha. A) Picture of H156 in situ (first layer): the corpse, oriented in a south-west/north-east direction, is lying on the back in a tight flexed position. The upper part of the thorax had been aligned against the vertical limit of the grave (picture: F. R. Valla). B) Drawing of H156: the skull and the right femur which are not in their original positions but were deliberately moved after the decay process are outlined in light grey tones (drawing: F. Bocquentin). C) Schematic drawing of the original position of the body when placed in the grave (after original diagram from P. Chambon).

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contribution, either brought into the house at the same time as Burial H156, or later, when the upper floor was organized.

Conclusion

H156 provides a unique illustration of a Natufian single burial involving a wooden chest or equivalent structure. Perishable containers must also have existed, however, in the context of collective graves from the Late Natufian, when the dead were buried together in the same place, but successively, and at different times (Perrot and Ladiray 1988; Bocquentin 2003). The stratigraphic location of Burial H156 between two living-floors is also noteworthy in the Natufian context. This burial was located in a house, which was occupied just before the death of the individual concerned, and again right after the decay of the corpse. If these data do not unequivocally answer the renowned question “are the dead buried in their own houses?”, at least they show, in this case, a strong link between house and burial. This link is demonstrated by the short period between several different events. First, the corpse was deposited on the floor, even as the floor deposits lay unburied. Secondly, the house was reoccupied, if not immediately3, at least quite shortly after the funeral before the grave structure was totally destroyed. Although the absolute time span of abandonment is difficult to evaluate (between a few months to a few years later, at most), one can, nevertheless, presume that the memory of the dead woman was still maintained. Despite their manifest nature, the interwoven links between the dead woman and the house warrant some additional comments. The fact that the woman was probably deposited directly on the floor of the house is remarkable. This kind of superposition, without destruction of the house floor has not been described before from a Natufian context. We have found only two comparable cases: H157 buried on Basin 206 at Mallaha and H14 buried directly on the slabs of the huge fireplace at Nahal-Oren. Also, the precise location of H156 within House 203 may not have been arbitrary but symbolic. The woman was lying alongside the main post-hole, this is to say the pillar of the house, and her body was oriented perpendicularly to the entrance of the house4. This case study provides us with new data regarding corpse treatment and interstratification between burials and houses during the Final Natufian period. These discoveries were made

thanks to strong collaboration in the field between archaeologists and anthropologists, with the efforts of all concerned focused on the same questions. Field anthropology is a specific approach, which takes into consideration taphonomic aspects such as the spatial distribution of the bones within the grave. Because it allows us to discuss the surrounding environment of the cadaver when buried, this approach provides us with unique spatial and stratigraphic perspectives concerning the grave itself, and between the grave and adjacent archaeological features. The case of H156 in House 203 was amenable to analysis because both the floors and the burial are well preserved. In House 200, the succession of quotidian activities and burials is even more frequent but, consequently, less clear (Bocquentin 1998, 2001, 2004; Bocquentin and Cabellos 2007). Altogether, however, there is no doubt that the end of the Natufian is characterized, at Mallaha, by a strong increase in the co-mingling of the dead and the living in residential space.

Notes

1 Our training in field methods in physical anthropology is mainly based on the pioneer work of A. Leroi-Gourhan, C. Mordant, J. Leclerc and H. Duday (Leroi-Gourhan et al. 1962; Duday 1981; Duday et al. 1990; for an English version see Duday 2009). 2 An apparent disorder of bones does not nec-essarily correspond to a secondary deposit. To demonstrate a secondary deposit, one must find evidence that corpse decomposition occurred in a place other than the burial itself (Hertz 1907; for an English version see Hertz 1960). 3 This is possible but can not be proved. 4 For a detailed discussion on burial’s orientation see also Valla and Bocquentin 2008.

Acknowledgments:

We are very grateful to Ofer Bar-Yosef and François R. Valla who invited us to contribute to this volume. We are also particularly thankful to Phillip Edwards who has enhanced our text with his suggestions and has also carefully corrected its English version. The Centre de Recherche Français à Jérusalem welcomed us during our lab work. Finally, we want to thank warmly François R. Valla and Hamoudi Khalaily who place their confidence in our work, season after season, at Mallaha.

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