Page 56 - TINA Dergi Sayi 10

TINA

Denizcilik Arkeolojisi Dergisi

The presence of such a mixed mode of subsistence tivities. Overall, the mode of subsistence of the sub-
at the site of Atlit-Yam , fits many of the criteria merged PN settlements on the Israeli palaeo coast
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outlined in Butzer’s model of the typical Mediter- resembles that of their terrestrial counterparts but
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ranean diet and represents one of the earliest exam- with the addition of olive oil production and some
ples of this settlement type. Contemporaneous sites marine resource exploitation, primarily of fish. The
of a similar kind are found at Ashkelon on the south- sites can be divided into permanent settlements, that
ern Israeli coast and at Ras Shamra on the Syrian include dwellings and burials (Neve-Yam and Tell
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littoral . Hreiz) and seasonal settlements (Kfar Samir, Hishu-
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At this stage water wells were developed, exploiting ley Carmel, Kfar Galim, Nahal Galim, Hahoterim,
the coastal aquifer in the Carmel littoral. Megadim, Habonim), some yielding water wells and
Examining the seasonality of the different sub- installations for olive-oil extraction.
sistence activities in Atlit-Yam in different months A significant feature of the permanent PN sites is
over the year (sowing, harvesting, animal husbandry, the appearance of an organized burial ground, sep-
gathering and fishing), demonstrates an efficient arated from the living area. In the earlier PPNC At-
combination of land-based food procurement activ- lit-Yam settlement, intramural burials lacking grave
ities with the exploitation of marine resources, with structures are scattered throughout the site . In the
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minimum overlap in time. Together with the inven- later Neve-Yam PN site, stone-built cist graves are
tion of artificial sources of water (water wells), these found (Fig. 22). These are organized in a pattern and
diverse year-round food procurement activities made are concentrated in a distinct area of the site . Buri-
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seasonal mobility unnecessary and enabled a seden- al grounds separated from the residential area are
tary year-round occupation on the coast (Fig. 21) . unknown in other PN sites in the region. The moti-
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4. Permanent submerged Pottery Neolithic set- vation to develop separate burial grounds may have
tlements mainly attributed to the Wadi Rabah cul- evolved as a means of resolving ‘territorial friction’
ture, (ca. 7500 – 6800 BP), represented at Tel Hreiz between the living and the dead over the uses of the
and Neve-Yam, are also found in palaeosol deposits sub-surface space. These uses include the digging of
between the kurkar ridges. They include specialized water wells, house foundations, installations, stor-
Pottery Neolithic localities, such as those focused age and refuse pits, as well as planting and plowing.
on olive oil production, such as at Kfar Samir. In These activities may have increased the number of
contrast to the botanical assemblage from PPNC At- incidental exposures and disturbances of burials
lit-Yam, in most PN sites thousands of olive stones within sites (Fig. 23), perhaps provoking a conflict
were recovered. This change may be seen as the be- between the use of the sub-soil for burials and its
ginning of intensive exploitation of olives for human use by the living for various activities. However,
consumption. Olive oil extraction, possibly from there could have been additional socio-economic
wild olives, seems to be a PN innovation, first attest- and symbolic reasons for this division, which we do
ed to in these submerged Wadi Rabah sites . Also not understand. During the late Chalcolithic period
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observed in the submerged PN sites, is a reduced in- (see below), burial in separate graveyards became a
tensity in the exploitation of marine-based resources, common practice, and this burial practice is usual in
increased animal husbandry and reduced hunting ac- many human societies up to the present-day.

53 GALILI et al. 2002, 2004a, 2004b.
54 BUTZER 1996.
55 PERROT-GOPHER 1996; GARFINKEL-DAG 2008.
56 VAN ZEIST -BAKKER-HEERES 1984; HELMER 1989.
57 GALILI et al. 2004.
58 GALILI et al. 1997.
59 e.g. GOPHER-GOPHNA 1993, HORWITZ et al. 2002, 2006.
60 GALILI et al. 2005b, ESHED-GALILI 2011.
61 GALILI et al. 2009.
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