Terminology, process and change: reflections on the Epipalaeolithic of South-west Asia

Abstract

The term Epipalaeolithic, like the Neolithic, was coined in the context of late 19th-and early 20th-century archaeological research in Europe and North Africa. It arrived later in South-west Asia, where it was used to contrast late glacial hunter-gatherers with the sedentary, socially complex farmers of the Holocene aceramic Neolithic. In this contribution we reflect on the history of Epipalaeolithic terminology, its past and current use as an interpretive heuristic, and consider how data from recent research affect (and perhaps call into question) the validity and perceived meaning of the term as it is applied to the Neolithic transition in South-west Asia.

Risk, Reliability and Resilience: Phytolith Evidence for Alternative ‘Neolithization’ Pathways at Kharaneh IV in the Azraq Basin, Jordan

“…year BP [ 21 – 25 ]. The economic and social transformations that marked the emergence of a ‘Neolithic’ way of life included sedentism and agriculture [ 23 ]. Understanding the economic and social practices, particularly plant-use practices, that facilitated increasing sedentism at Early-Middle Epipaleolithic sites such as Kharaneh IV (19,830–18,600 cal.…”

“…year BP [ 26 ]), is of the utmost importance. Yet, direct evidence of plant use in the form of well-preserved macrobotanical remains is extremely limited during this important period, with the exception of the remarkable assemblage at the 23 ka year old site of Ohalo II [ 23 , 27 ]. However, the analysis of this unique macrobotanical evidence has concentrated largely on those plant remains that later became the first domesticates (i.e.…”

“…wetlands) varied according to the local resource and environment options (wetlands, parkland and steppe). Some earlier Epipaleolithic hunter-gatherer sites provide evidence for a burgeoning Neolithic lifestyle [ 23 ]. The unique local ecological factors and historical trajectories of these sites facilitated this transition.…”

Radiocarbon Evidence for the Pace of the M-/L-PPNB Transition in 8th Millennium BC Southwest Asia

“…Had these processes been ones of rapid expansion, the radiocarbon dates from the site would indeed mark the onset of the mega-site phenomenon at 'Ain Ghazal. Nevertheless, alternative interpretations are plausible, from a more steady, or perhaps punctuated expansion of the site, to the extreme possibility that large footprint is a result of a palimpsest of occupations (Richter and Maher 2013). If any of the scenarios on this spectrum are correct, than the actual onset of the mega-site phenomenon would have taken place when the processes resposible for the increased footprint begun and not when the archaeological site reached its full extent.…”

“…The Neolithic of southwest Asia (mid-10th to the 6th millennium cal BC) was a period when a number of earlier practices persisted, such as the wide-ranging exchange networks (Watkins 2008; Richter and Maher 2013), other practices, such as agriculture began (Cauvin 2000) and others still, such as the formation of large communities, took hold but then collapsed (Akkermans and Schwartz 2003; Simmons 2007). The overall division of the southwest Asian Neolithic is based on excavations at Tell es-Sultan (Jericho), where, based on material culture and stratigraphy, two Pre-Pottery Neolithic stages (PPN A and B) followed by the Pottery Neolithic A and B were defined (PNA and B) (Kenyon 1981).…”