Tomorrow’s mundane is today’s extraordinary: A case study of a plastered installation during Neolithization

Abstract

For reconstructing past human ways of life we study mundane remains, but in order to detect special worldviews and behaviors we endeavor to observe the extraordinary embedded in those remains. There are many ways to define the ‘extraordinary’. Here we center on early occurrences of phenomena that later become mundane, rendering them ‘extraordinary’ through being rare compared to later frequent appearances. This study explores such extraordinary phenomena with relation to the processes of Neolithization in the Southern Levant, focusing on a round plastered installation (Feature 6) that was unearthed in the Late Natufian village of Nahal Ein Gev II (ca. 12,000 calBP). To investigate the feature’s function, we conducted a micro-geoarcheological analysis of the walls and fill to understand its use and formation processes, using Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and micromorphology. Our results show that the walls were not exposed to elevated temperatures and that the interior of the installation was filled with mixed sediments. We therefore rule out the use of the feature as a cooking installation or a kiln. The interior mixed assemblage indicates secondary infilling after the feature was no longer in use for its initial purpose, thus challenging the identification of its original function. To date, there are no parallels for such lime and clay plastered installations in the Natufian culture. Yet, this type of feature becomes increasingly common with the advance of Neolithization where such features served as storage installations, integral to the farming way of life. We conclude that Feature 6 in NEG II is ‘extraordinary’ in the context of the Late Natufian, heralding the development of clay lined storage installations. We argue that this example of ‘extraordinary’ within the long process of Neolithization in the Near East helps to illuminate the gradual process of cultural innovation in which new features appear at first as extraordinary phenomena which later will become mundane.

Mortars, plasters and pigments—research questions and sampling criteria

“…For example, the archaeometric investigations made on the wall plasters of a round installation (Feature 6), found at the Late Natufian village of Nahal Ein Gev II (NEG II, ca. 12,000 cal BP) helped to shed light on the likely use of that structure as one of the very first storage installations (Grosman et al 2020). Firstly, the authors reconstructed the morphology of the installation as a plastered domed pit.…”

On the Thorny Issue of Single-Submission

“…Firstly, to the issue of time-sensitive manuscripts, it is established fact that humans are governed by time and space, and that there is no iota of flippancy in the aphorism that "today's extraordinary is tomorrow's mundane" [11]. Consequently, it is also common knowledge that most reputable journals have facilities for the prompt dissemination of time-critical or seminal information; in appreciation of its value and exigency.…”