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Salient features of Rodedian sites: 1) perforated standing stone (fallen); 2) anthropomorphic image (found fallen); 3) 'vulva-shaped' stone (photographs by U. Avner).

Salient features of Rodedian sites: 1) perforated standing stone (fallen); 2) anthropomorphic image (found fallen); 3) 'vulva-shaped' stone (photographs by U. Avner).

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Article
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Excavations at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B ritual site of Naḥal Roded 110 in the Southern Negev, Israel, have revealed evidence—unique to this region—for on-site flint knapping and abundant raptor remains. Full text available at: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/investigations-at-nahal-roded-110-a-late-neolithic-ritual-sit...

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Context 1
... the southern Negev, approximately 370 mountain cult localities (called 'Rodedian' sites) are known ( Figure 1). Most are attributed to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB, eighth to sixth millennia BC) and contain unique features and artefacts, such as low, stone-built installations and cells, standing stones, perforated stones and stone bowls (Figure 2; Avner et al. 2014). One such cult site, Naḥ al Roded 110, situated around 6km to the north-west of the city of Eilat, was excavated to assess its chronology, material culture, organic remains and spatial layout, and to elucidate site function and palaeoclimate. ...
Context 2
... the southern Negev, approximately 370 mountain cult localities (called 'Rodedian' sites) are known ( Figure 1). Most are attributed to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB, eighth to sixth millennia BC) and contain unique features and artefacts, such as low, stone-built instal- lations and cells, standing stones, perforated stones and stone bowls (Figure 2; Avner et al. 2014). One such cult site, Naḥ al Roded 110, situated around 6km to the north-west of the city of Eilat, was excavated to assess its chronology, material culture, organic remains and spa- tial layout, and to elucidate site function and palaeoclimate. ...
Context 3
... the southern Negev, approximately 370 mountain cult localities (called 'Rodedian' sites) are known ( Figure 1). Most are attributed to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB, eighth to sixth millennia BC) and contain unique features and artefacts, such as low, stone-built instal- lations and cells, standing stones, perforated stones and stone bowls (Figure 2; Avner et al. 2014). One such cult site, Naḥ al Roded 110, situated around 6km to the north-west of the city of Eilat, was excavated to assess its chronology, material culture, organic remains and spa- tial layout, and to elucidate site function and palaeoclimate. ...

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Citations

... This encompasses a large proportion of published data including the timeframe when human societal groups shifted from hunting towards agriculture. Important PPNB assemblages have not yet been fully published so inclusion of this period awaits reports on sites such Nahal Roded (Birkenfeld et al. 2019(Birkenfeld et al. , 2020. Figure 2 shows location of sites included in the analysis as well as secondary sites mentioned but not included in the statistical analysis as they are outside the geographical focus of this analysis or only a small number of bird bones were identified (< 20). Assemblages dating to one of the chronological subdivisions were included in the analysis and temporally insecure data were excluded. ...
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... at the early Epipalaeolithic site of Ohalo(Simmons & Nadel, 1998), WF16's focus on raptors at WF16 is shared with later (PPNB) Neolithic sites. At Shkarat Msaied, 30 km south from WF16, 295 of the 300 avian bird bones were from raptors(Bangsgaard, 2008) while Nahel Roded II in the southern Negev has an assemblage dominated by Accipitridae, with the European honey buzzard most prevalent(Birkenfeld et al., 2019). Both assemblages have been interpreted as deriving from hunting birds on their spring and autumn migrations.The focus on buzzards at WF16 suggests a seasonal targeting of this species, similar to the manner in which Late Natufian community at Shubayqa 1 had targeted migratory wildfowl during the winter months(Yeomans & Richter, 2018). ...
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Excavations at the early Neolithic settlement of WF16 in Faynan, southern Jordan, 11.84‐10.24 ka BP, recovered 17,700 bird bones, of which 7808 could be identified to at least family level. Sixty‐three different bird taxa are present from 18 families, representing a mix of resident and migrant birds, based on present‐day ecology. We describe the settlement context for the assemblage, its taxonomic composition, spatial and chronological distribution, identifying its similarities and differences to avian assemblages from broadly contemporary sites in the region.
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This paper describes analyses of avifauna from Levantine Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene sites at contrasting scales. Firstly, we present avian osteological data from a sequence of occupation at Shubayqa, in northeast Jordan, illustrating changing human-bird-environment interactions over 4000 years offering interpretations of environmental change on avifaunal communities and nature of multi-species relationships at this wetland environment. Secondly, we compare published avifaunal assemblages to investigate the nature of bird-human relationships across a broader temporal and geographical span. During the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene our species gradually transitioned to an agricultural mode of subsistence. Whilst explanations of long-term human behavioural dynamics are frequently sought, disparity between correlation and causation obscures interpretation of trajectories in the human past. People hunted birds for subsistence but extensive evidence for the symbolic importance of birds suggests complex relationships between species. Avifaunal evidence, therefore, presents insights into two commonly suggested primary causes for the shift from hunter-foragers to agriculturalists – resource pressure and symbolic expression. Here we argue that actions of humans gradually modified the landscape and ecological system but this was not a reactionary response to resource stress. Nevertheless, this resulted in the productivity of the landscape increasing and allowed further intensification. Feathers and talons of birds were used for millennia preceding the shift to agriculture and the increase in bird hunting towards the end of the Pleistocene cannot be explained by the increased role of birds in the symbolic realm.