A New Look at Shelter 131/51 in the Natufian Site of Eynan (Ain-Mallaha), Israel

Abstract

In the past 25 years since the reconstruction of Shelter 131 of Eynan was suggested by Francois Valla, its image has become almost iconic—a highly cited symbol of early sedentism constituting a significant part of our knowledge on early stone constructions and the people behind them. A new look at the architectural remains and the stratigraphy resulted in an alternative reconstruction, essentially different than the one we have come to know. We used spatial (architectural-geometrical) analysis in order to study the relationships between the different architectural elements and to test our hypothesis that the series of postholes may have not pertained to the upper floor 131 of Layer IV as suggested by Perrot and Valla, but rather to the successive occupational and architectural episode. The association of the postholes with Wall 51 of Layer III sheds new light on the architectural remains revealing their geometric design, an important characteristic of Early Natufian Architecture, the meaning and implications of which we shortly discuss.

Ecological-cultural inheritance in the wetlands: the non-linear transition to plant food production in the southern Levant

“…The sites also display overwhelming archaeobotanical evidence of wetland use (Rosen 2004(Rosen , 2010(Rosen , 2011Marder et al 2015;Pedersen et al 2016;Ramsey et al , 2017Arranz-Otaegui et al 2018a, b;Sharon et al 2020). Several of these sites have strong archaeological evidence for increasing sedentism in the form of huts made of brushwood, then stone (Valla 1988;Nadel and Werker 1999;Maher et al 2012a;Haklay and Gopher 2015;Richter et al 2017;Ramsey et al 2018) and strengthening social ties to a particular place, evidenced by on-site burial customs and a rich material assemblage that includes shell irrigation/drainage. This paper proposes that in the southern Levant the shift from wild plant food gathering to wild plant food production using wetlands may be detected through the introduction of new management activities, seen in the changing ratios of phytolith taxa and charcoal records in off-site cores; and the changing cultural significance of resources, detected with the introduction of new foodways, seen archaeological via processed food remains and starch spherulites.…”

Geometry and Architectural Planning at Göbekli Tepe, Turkey

“…The use of geometric construction in architectural planning enabled the planner to conceptualize a proportional abstraction of a floor plan of a rather complex design, and to reproduce it at any size. While the relatively simple architectural plans conceptualized in the preceding late Epipaleolithic Natufian may have been mental ‘cognitive plans’ (Haklay & Gopher 2015), during the PPNA, the dramatic increase in complexity of the architectural design must have required the formulation of a schematic (diagrammatic) small-scale floor plan which consisted of a pattern, geometrically constructed and regulated by a length module (and see Haklay & Gopher 2019 for a measure of unit used at Çayönü in the PPNB). The concept of a floor plan as an external planning device is probably the biggest step forward in Neolithic architectural planning.…”

“…In order to detect spatial relations that may not be noticeable at first glance, we use an analytic tool (an algorithm) based on standard deviation mapping to study spatial form and relative location of architectural features in space. The algorithm, which we have previously used to analyse Natufian structures (Haklay & Gopher 2015), produces a statistical centre point based on the relative position of architectural elements. In a second phase of the analysis, the mathematically identified centre point is examined in relation to the whole assemblage of architectural remains (other non-tested features), in order to find out if it may suggest a geometric regularity or indicate a point of significance.…”

“…In the archaeological record, architectural planning that includes specifications of architectural spatial forms prior to construction becomes archaeologically visible with the appearance of stone-built shelters in the late Epipaleolithic period (Natufian sites) in the Levant (Haklay & Gopher 2015). Both the planning and the execution of the plan with accuracy were made possible by conceptualizing basic geometric ideas and methods such as circle, centre and compass arm.…”

Re-Territorializing the Neolithic: Architecture and Rhythms in Early Sedentary Societies of the Near East

“…These practices were carried over by the Natufians but seem not to have been affected by the increased use of stones. The thickness of Natufian stratification can sometimes reach a couple of meters, but it is more often very palimpsestic, making it difficult to understand the episodes of abandonment (Samuelian 2010;Richter et al 2017;Haklay and Gopher 2015). Burials, for their part, are very common on Natufian sites, and seem to have contributed to people's attachment to these sites over the long term.…”