˗ˏˋ towers, villages, and longhouses ´ˎ˗

Question 1

what happened in the middle east?

Answer 1

settlement of of villages, domestication of plants and animals, and general questions surrounding agriculture started to spread to europe.

Question 2

what is the fertile crescent?

Answer 2

• a ribbon of mediterranean climate that arcs across the middle east
• it is characterized by dry summers and winter rains with enough precipitation to support vegetation ranging from woodlands to open-park woodlands

Question 3

what is stage one technology(the kebaran and geometric kebaran periods)?

Answer 3

• most sites are small hunter-gatherer encampments with few remains other than stone tools and animal bones
• mostly small blades (bladelets), shaped into geometric forms like triangles and rectangles

Question 4

what is stage one settlementts (the kebaran and geometric kebaran periods)?

Answer 4

• ohalo: kebaran site in northern israel with excellent preservation of organic remains
• shortly after abandoned, it was submerged beneath the waters of the sea of galilee
• artifacts discovered include large collection of bladelets, awls, and shell beads

Question 5

what is stage one domestication (the kebaran and geometric kebaran periods)?

Answer 5

• no evidence of either animal or plant domestication during this period
• the people used the available resources, camped near a lake
• plant remains recovered include wild grasses, fruits, nuts and water plants
• animal remains recovered include gazelles, deer, wild pig, goat, hare, red fox and wildcat, as well as various different birds

Question 6

what is the natufian?

Answer 6

societies in the middle east that practiced a broad-spectrum subsistence strategy that relied on a wide range of resources.

Question 7

what is the mallaha a natufian?

Answer 7

site in northern israel with the remains of oval stone structures.

Question 8

what is stage two technology (the natufian period)?

Answer 8

• lunate: tiny, crescent-shaped stone tool
• tools found include: mortars, pestles, and grooved stones known as shaft straighteners
• long-distance trade of tools and shell beads

Question 9

what is stage two settlements (the natufian period)?

Answer 9

• unsure if they were occupied year-round, or seasonably
• structures built of stones, piled ontop of each other, about 1 meter high (just over 3ft), forming a semi-circle
• younger dryas: a period of global climatic stress that had a significant impact on natufian society
• we can see the results of this climate change in size and frequency of natufian settlements

Question 10

what is stage two domestication (the natufian period)?

Answer 10

• rare to find plant remains at natufian sites
• abu hureyra: a site on the upper euphrates river in syria that was occupied during the natufian and the neolithic periods
• found some plant remains here and it was a wide variety of plants, but no clear evidence of having been domesticated
• no evidence of domestication of herd animals, but found remains of many at sites
• two different sites show domestication (or at least taming) of dogs

Question 11

what is stage three technology (the early neolithic)?

Answer 11

• early neolithic divided into two parts: pre-pottery neolithic a; 12,000-10,800 years ago (end of the younger dryas event) and pre-pottery neolithic b; 10,800-8,500 years ago (period of improved climate)
• shift between these two parts characterized by gradual move away from tools made on bladelets to a tool kit made of blades with a particular emphasis on arrowheads
• grinding stones, and development of plaster (from limestone)

Question 12

what is stage three settlements (the early neolithic)?

Answer 12

• sites like netiv-hagdud show the use of storage pits, as well as separate places for trash (away from houses)
• netiv hagdud: a pre-pottery neolithic a site in the jordan valley that was a village of between 20 and 30 houses
• jericho tower: a 9-meter-high structure made of undressed stone and mud brick dating to the pre- pottery neolithic a
• the earliest known large-scale piece of architecture in the middle east
• 12 skeletons were found at the base of the staircase, they were inserted when the staircase began to collapse

Question 13

what is jerf el ahmar?

Answer 13

• a pre-pottery neolithic a site on the upper euphrates river in syria with the remains of communal structures
• communal structures and “city planning”
• many communal structures show evidence of ritual and violence

Question 14

what is the second half of the early neolithic?

Answer 14

• shift from round to rectangular houses
• pre-pottery neolithic b village at abu hureyra, syria
• size of up to 1,440 houses with a population of about 5,000 people

Question 15

what is stage three hidden rituals (the early neolithic)?

Answer 15

• hidden, displayed, and daily life rituals
• plastered skulls: human skulls on which a plaster face has been modeled; found buried beneath floors on sites dating to the pre-pottery neolithic b period
• could be an early form of ancestor worship
• at the site of badja in southern jordan, the excavator has found a series of unused axes carefully hidden within the walls of a house
• the excavator suggests that these beautifully crafted hidden objects would have had a magical function

Question 16

what is stage three displayed rituals (the early neolithic)?

Answer 16

• gšbekli tepe, on the euphrates river in eastern turkey
• series of buildings has been found built around monumental t-shaped pillars quarried as a single block from the bedrock
• some pillars were carved with human or animal figures
• site could be linked to seasonal gatherings, during mid-summer to autumn
• Çayönü, eastern turkey
• remains of 450 individuals from one structure, called the skull Room, mostly from pits
• room/building was burnt, possibly as a ritual
• not something that only folks from the neolithic practiced
• paris catacombs (built in 12 years)
• human remains were removed from cemeteries and relocated to catacombs for space
• conatins
• now it is available to tour, but many areas are collapsed
• skull chapel in poland: built in 1776, contains remains from over 3,000 people
• human remains from 30 year war, as well as natural causes
• built as a shrine for those who died prematurely, as well as serve as a reminder of our own mortality

Question 17

what is stage three daily life rituals (the early neolithic)?

Answer 17

• many figurines found within houses at sites
• some argue they are toys, some argue they were ritual figurines set out on display

Question 18

what is stage three domestication (the early neolithic)?

Answer 18

• rachis: the part of a cereal plant that holds the seed to the stalk and keeps the seed on the plant until it is harvested. in wild grains, the rachis is brittle and shatters easily, allowing seeds to disperse
• aseries of dried figs, recovered from the pre-pottery neolithic a site of gilgal, located in the jordan valley near netiv hagdud, are earliest evidence of plant domestication in middle east
• figs are not capable of reproduction, without human assistance
• sites show domestication and use of a variety of plants including cereals (emmer wheat, einkorn wheat, and barley), pulses (lentil and pea), and legumes (bitter vetch and chickpea)
• also evidence of domestication of goats and sheep

Question 19

what is stage four technology (the late neolithic)?

Answer 19

• sherd: short for potsherd; a broken piece of ceramic material, especially one found on an archaeological site
• found on sites: small bowls, jars, pots for cooking
• switch from plaster to pottery
• less focus on skilled blade making, more quickly made tools from local sources

Question 20

what is stage four settlement and ritual (the late neolithic)?

Answer 20

• start to see small figurines that tend to be of stylized humans rather than animals
• Çatalhöyük: a late neolithic site in turkey that includes rooms decorated with elaborate frescoes
• frescoes include: vultures circling headless human figures, as well as a large bull surrounded by human figures
• seated woman just under 7 inches tall

Question 21

what is stage four domestication (the late neolithic)?

Answer 21

• decline in reliance on hunting for meat
• sheep and goats
• full range of plants, as seen in early timeframes

Question 22

what were the benefits of the neolithic revolution?

Answer 22

• guided humanity towards a lot of changes
• agriculture came from the switch to villages, and a more communal type of living

Question 23

what was the spread of agriculture to Europe?

Answer 23

• origins of domestication in europe can be traced to the middle east
• no clear evidence of indigenous domestication in
  europe
• wave of advance: 8,500 years ago, domesticated plants and animals begin to spread into SE europe
• 7,500 years ago, farming spread into central and western europe
• by 6,000 years ago, people in most of western europe, including southern scandinavia, britain, and ireland, were practicing agriculture

Question 24

what is the language dispersal hypothesis?

Answer 24

• the theory that the spread of agriculture across europe was the result of the migration of farmers who spoke indo-european languages
• some theorize that farmers slowly pushed out/replaced the foragers

Question 25

what are other theories about the spread of agriculture?

Answer 25

• mesolithic hunter-gatherers were drastically adapting and changing before agriculture arrived
• lepenski vir: an impressive mesolithic site along the danube river in serbia where structures, burials, and sculptures were found (occupied between 8,400 and 7,600 years ago)
• linear band keramik: the culture of the earliest farming communities that emerged around 7,200 years ago in central and western europe; also referred to as LBK culture
• talheim: an LBK site in germany where a pit containing a mass grave was discovered
• the remains of 11 men, 7 women, and 16 children; totaling 34 individuals
• 20 were killed by a blow to head and 2 adults were killed by arrows to the head

Question 26

what are longhouses?

Answer 26

long rectangular structures, measuring up to 30 meters (98 feet) long, and housing extended families.