The Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B in The Southern Levant

During the last twenty years, several archaeological sites with occupation levels attributed to the Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B have been excavated in the southern Levant, filling the previous information gap. Our excavations at Tell Qarassa North (Sweida, Syria) and Kharaysin (Zarqa, Jordan), with EPPNB occupations dated from ca. 8600 to 8200 cal. BC, have contributed to the renewal of our knowledge of the PPNB in the southern area of the Fertile Crescent. This paper presents the main results obtained for both sites regarding architecture, lithic industries, funerary customs and plant and animal exploitation. Both sites show some of the key characteristics of the PPNB period, such as square architecture; bidirectional blade technology and the use of large tanged arrowheads; the transition to plant domestication and, most probably, the beginning of animal herding; complex funerary customs, including the manipulation of human remains; and intensification in human iconography. However, regional peculiarities can be observed in architecture, as houses are grouped together, sharing intermediate walls, while the corners of the buildings are still rounded. These results stress the relevance of the Southern Levantine cultural area in fostering the dynamics leading to the coalescence of the PPNB across the Fertile Crescent.