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Daily Practice and the Organization of Space at the Dawn of Agriculture: A Case Study from the near East

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Ian Kuijt  and
Nathan Goodale
Ian Kuijt
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, ([email protected])
Nathan Goodale
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY 13323, ([email protected])
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Abstract

Drawing upon the lithic remains from the Late Natufian and Pre-Pottery Neolithic A occupations of "Iraq ed-Dubb, Jordan, we utilize a quantifiable statistical approach with Geographic Information Systems analysis to interpret shifting practices that influenced site structure. This study indicates that the highly mobile Late Natufian population who inhabited the site had fairly nondelineated use of space compared to a more delineated use of space during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A. It appears that intensified intra-community organization of space was a byproduct of decreased residential mobility. Moreover, the emergence of more formal intra-community organization likely aided in the development of much more complex human societies that evolved several millennia after the onset of Holocene conditions.

Résumé

Résumé

Basándonos en los restos de industria lítica hallados en los niveles arqueológicos pertenecientes al Natufiense Reciente y al Neolítico Pre-cerámico A del yacimiento de "Iraq ed-Dubb, Jordania, utilizamos un método estadísticamente cuantificable con el análisis de Sistemas de Información Geográfica para poder entender e interpretar aquellos cambios en el comportamiento humano que afectaron la estructuración interna del asentamiento. Nuestro estudio demuestra como la población Natufiense que habitó el asentamiento, caracterizada por una alta movilidad, casi no disponía de un uso específico del espacio en comparación con el mayor grado de organización del espacio interno del asentamiento durante el Neolítico Pre-cerámico A. Así pues, parece ser que esta mayor intensificación en la organización del espacio interno del asentamiento está directamente relacionada con una disminución en la movilidad residencial de la población. Además, el surgimiento de esta organización interna más formal de los asentamientos seguramente influyó en el posterior desarrollo de aquellas sociedades humanas, mucho más complejas, milenios después de la aparición de las condiciones específicas del Holoceno.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 74 , Issue 3 , July 2009 , pp. 403 - 422
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2009

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