Prehistoric human ecology in the Southern Levant east of the Rift from 20 000-6 000 BP.

Abstract

In spite of alternative post-processual and purely social paradigms, Levantine prehistory relies strongly on a cultural écologie paradigm in interpretation of the archaeological record. Paleo environmental reconstructions, forming the core of such an approach, are refined through periodic syntheses which incorporate newly acquired local and site-specific evidence within regional successions. Data recovered from east of the Rift Valley in the southern Levant (Jordan) reveal a few important differences when compared to our current regional overviews. Perhaps the most striking contrast rests within the Late Glacial Maximum. Here there is good evidence to indicate one or more moist episodes within what is traditionally viewed as a long, cold-dry interval stretching from 22-15 kya. Also, from a cultural perspective, Jordanian data indicate that during the LGM the prehistoric inhabitants of the Levant were not restricted to the Mediterranean woodlands, as traditionally believed. Not only were Kebaran Complex groups (Early Hamran) occupying the fringe areas, arid land adapted populations (Qalkhan and others) were present in substantial numbers within the marginal zone.