Terminal Pleistocene–Early Holocene vegetation dynamics in the Natufian-PPNA sites of Shubayqa, Jordanian $$ \mathop H\limits_{ \cdot } $$arrat al-Shām

Abstract Natufian and Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) site occupation and settlement patterns have often been considered strongly dependant on climatic conditions and the availability of biotic resources. However, the reasons for such choices and adaptation mechanisms remain largely unknown, often due to a lack of environmental information to contextualise human occupations in a diachronic perspective. In this study we present a palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the plant communities between the Bølling–Allerød and the Early Holocene in the Ḥarrat al-Shām (the Black Desert) based on archaeobotanical data from Shubayqa 1, 3 and 6, a series of archaeological sites comprising Early to Late Natufian and Pre-pottery Neolithic occupations (14.6–11.5 ka bp ). Our study includes the anthracological analysis of over 4,500 charcoal fragments, combined with the ecological classification of ~ 32,500 seed/fruit remains. Our results reflect a lush environment in the now only seasonally flooded Qa’ Shubayqa. Perennial water bodies allowed for the existence of wetland and aquatic components such as Cyperaceae, flowering rush ( Butomus umbellatus) , pondweeds ( Potamogeton sp.), reeds ( Phragmites sp., Typha sp.), and woody taxa like tamarisk ( Tamarix sp.), ash ( Fraxinus sp.), poplar/willow (Salicaceae) and chastetree ( Vitex sp.). The surrounding dryland steppe was dominated by grasses, low shrubs and occasional Irano-Turanian arboreal taxa like almond ( Amygdalus sp.) and pistachio ( Pistacia sp.). Overall, results reflect a stable availability of woody-plant resources from dryland steppe and wetland habitats between the Bølling–Allerød and the Early Holocene. While an increase in Irano-Turanian trees is recorded towards the end of the Younger Dryas and Early Holocene in the wood-charcoal assemblage.