University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, CA 94704-5940)
Lisa Ann Maher (Project Director: December 2016 to present)
Danielle A. Macdonald (Co Project Director: January 2017 to present)
RZ-255635-17
Collaborative Research
Research Programs
|
[Grant products][Media coverage]
Totals:
$200,000 (approved)
$200,000 (awarded)
Grant period:
3/1/2018 – 8/31/2023
|
|
Archaeological Investigation of Hunter-Gatherer Aggregation and Movement in Prehistoric Jordan
Excavation and analysis of early settlements of hunter-gatherers at the Paleolithic site of Kharaneh in eastern Jordan. (36 months)
The transition from hunter-gather to food-producing societies in southwest Asia was a pivotal shift in prehistory. The 20,000-year-old hunter-gatherer aggregation site of Kharaneh IV exhibits multi-seasonal, prolonged and repeated habitation, making it the largest Paleolithic site in the region and one that evidences emerging sedentism and settlement, economic intensification, and ritual behaviors associated with dwelling, almost 8,000 years earlier than previously known. As a central hub of occupation for groups from throughout the region, this site is uniquely able to inform us about the construction of communities and interaction networks across a broad social landscape by exploring the nature and motivations for aggregation by reconstructing the spatial organization of domestic and symbolic activities, and undertaking comparative analyses of material culture at contemporary sites to trace how the site’s inhabitants were integrated into broader spheres of social interaction.
|