Hunter-gatherer-builders: 70 years of research at the Natufian hamlet of Eynan-Mallaha (upper Jordan Valley, Israel)

Since 1955, research at Eynan-Mallaha has unraveled an exceptionally thick, well-preserved, and detailed archaeological sequence spanning from the Early to the Final Natufian. Among other important findings, the site has yielded a relatively high number of stone constructions, comprising semi-circular and circular semi-subterranean buildings, divulging a clear evolutionary trend in early building activity. Here we review the work that has been carried out in regard to Eynan-Mallaha's constructions, from the site's discovery to the latest discoveries from our renewed excavations. Archival records from earlier excavations at the site are considered here in detail for the first time using digitization tools and high-resolution data acquisition techniques. Our focus is on a series of nested buildings (Loci 148–131–51-62) occupied at different times during the Early Natufian, which is re-evaluated here in light of cumulative and more fine-grained stratigraphic data, architectural analysis from the emerging field of Building Archaeology, and GIS-aided analysis combining archival and recent datasets. We argue for the development of a strong sense of place and permanence at Eynan-Mallaha, attested by the nuanced series of continuities in and modifications to the documented constructions from one generation to another through the constantly repaired and recycled built-up space.