The Late PPNA/Early PPNB Site of Mushash 163 in the Northwestern Badia of Jordan
For a long time, the transition from the PPNA to the EPPNB was considered one of the relatively poorly documented phases of the Neolithization process in the southern Levant. In recent years, however, settlements from this period have been widely documented in the Mediterranean and the arid regions....
Kaydedildi:
| Yayımlandı: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/paleorient, |
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| Yazar: | |
| Materyal Türü: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Dil: | Anglais |
| Baskı/Yayın Bilgisi: |
Paléorient
2025
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| Konular: | |
| Online Erişim: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Özet: | For a long time, the transition from the PPNA to the EPPNB was considered one of the relatively poorly documented phases of the Neolithization process in the southern Levant. In recent years, however, settlements from this period have been widely documented in the Mediterranean and the arid regions. The new data attest to partly contemporaneous cultural developments as in the Euphrates region of the northern Levant; therefore the hypothesis of a north-south diffusion of certain cultural features, especially in the field of lithic technology, seems questionable. One of the settlements in the arid zones is Mushash 163, located in the northwestern Badia1 of Jordan. According to numerous 14C dates and the chipped stone industry, this small site, ca. a quarter of a hectare, was used from the beginning of the 9th to the end of the 8th millennium/beginning of the 7th millennium cal. BC. The site exhibits varied architecture, including round, oval and rectangular buildings. The subsistence base consists exclusively of wild plants and animals throughout the period, indicating a much more productive natural habitat than present-day conditions. In the first half of the 7th millennium cal. BC, the use of the site ends, perhaps related to a deterioration of food resources. The data from Mushash 163 and from other Badia settlements (Wadi Jilat 7, Harrat Juhayra 202, ‘Ainab I) prove the existence of several small sites in the eastern desert steppes in the 9th/8th millennium cal. BC, although questions about the settlement type (permanent/temporary) and the function (residential settlement/hunting station) cannot be definitively answered at present. |
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