Wadi Hammeh 27
Coordinates: 32 ° 36 ′ 18 ″ N , 35 ° 38 ′ 38 ″ E
Wadi Hammeh 27 is a site of the early Natufia in the Jordan Basin and is therefore more than 13,000 years old (approx. 11,000 BC). It is located on a steep ledge in the Wadi al-Hammeh , a dry valley that flows into the Jordan Valley north of Beisan . A few kilometers north of the excavation site is the Sea of Galilee .
Research history
Between 1983 and 1990, 351 m² of settlement area was excavated here as part of the Pella project of the University of Sydney . The entire settlement probably comprised around 2,000 m². The layers of the Natufien were up to three meters thick and only covered with a thin layer of sediment. In places the walls were visible on the surface. The uppermost settlement layer is disturbed by plant roots ( asphodelia ) and animal tunnels (voles, Microtus irani or Microtus guentheri and blind mice, Spalax ehrenbergi ).
Way of settlement
The settlement has four layers of construction, all of which are threatened by erosion. The houses consist of oval stone structures with a central hearth. The floors are minimally consolidated, but no special sediment has been introduced. The settlement layers are up to 30 cm thick, and Hardy-Smith and Edwards (2004) assume that systematic waste disposal has not yet taken place.
Finds
The numerous finds are dominated by cut stone. Rock artifacts (mortars and millstones, limestone hammer stones, sandstone, and basalt), bone artifacts, ocher, and mussel shells, including dentalium , are also common.
Dating
From layer I, the most recent find layer, three AMS data are available that were obtained from burned seeds:
| Laboratory number | Date BP | BC cal (1 sigma) |
|---|---|---|
| OxA-393 | 11,920 ± 150 | - |
| OxA-507 | 11,950 ± 160 | - |
| OxA-394 | 12,200 ± 160 | - |
Burials
Two burials were under the first layer of settlement. Only individual bones were found in the natufia deposits, mainly skull fragments with scorch marks.
environment
During the Natufien the climate was much more humid than it is today. Charred remains of oak (Quercus sp.), Goosefoot grass (Aegilops sp.), Wild gesture (Hordeum spontaneum), pistachios and wild lentils were found in the settlement.
Economy
Animal bones prove the hunt for:
- Wild sheep
- goat
- Red deer
- deer
- Mesopotamian fallow deer ( Dama mesopotamica )
- Aurochs
- wild boar
- gazelle
- White stork ( Ciconia ciconia )
- Duck (Anas sp.)
literature
- Tania Hardy-Smith, Phillip C. Edwards: The garbage crisis in prehistory: artefact discard patterns at the Early Natufian site of Wadi Hammeh 27 and the origins of household refuse disposal strategies. in: Journal of Anthropological Archeology. New York 23, 2004, 253-289. ISSN 0278-4165 ( full text (PDF; 15.3 MB) as digital copy )
- Phillip C. Edwards: Wadi-Hammeh 27, an early Natufian site at Pella, Jordan. In: Ofer Bar-Yosef , François Raymond Valla (Ed.): The Natufian Culture in the Levant. International Monographs in Prehistory. Archaeological Series. Vol. 1. Ann Arbor, Michigan 1991, 123-148. ISBN 1-879621-03-7
- Phillip C. Edwards (Ed.): Wadi Hammeh 27, an Early Natufian Settlement at Pella in Jordan (= Culture and History of the Ancient Near East 59). Leiden 2013. ISBN 978-90-04-23609-7
Individual evidence
- ^ Chronology Near East Part 1 Levante inclusive Cyprus (2009). (PDF; 34 kB) In: University of Basel. Retrieved March 3, 2011 .
- ^ Danièle C. Martinoli: Plant Food Economy and Environment during the Epipalaeolithic in southwest Anatolia: an Investigation of the Botanical Macroremains from Öküzini and Karain B (Inauguraldissertation) . Basel 2005, p. 82 ( full text [PDF; 48.2 MB ]).