A unique human-fox burial from a pre-Natufian cemetery in the Levant (Jordan).
New human burials from northern Jordan provide important insights into the appearance of cemeteries and the nature of human-animal relationships within mortuary contexts during the Epipalaeolithic period (c. 23,000-11,600 cal BP) in the Levant, reinforcing a socio-ideological relationship that goes...
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2011-01-01
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Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/21298094/pdf/?tool=EBI |
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doaj-a6f4e42addef4d479981ea86ee936fd32021-03-03T19:54:00ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032011-01-0161e1581510.1371/journal.pone.0015815A unique human-fox burial from a pre-Natufian cemetery in the Levant (Jordan).Lisa A MaherJay T StockSarah FinneyJames J N HeywoodPreston T MiracleEdward B BanningNew human burials from northern Jordan provide important insights into the appearance of cemeteries and the nature of human-animal relationships within mortuary contexts during the Epipalaeolithic period (c. 23,000-11,600 cal BP) in the Levant, reinforcing a socio-ideological relationship that goes beyond predator-prey. Previous work suggests that archaeological features indicative of social complexity occur suddenly during the latest Epipalaeolithic phase, the Natufian (c. 14,500-11,600 cal BP). These features include sedentism, cemeteries, architecture, food production, including animal domestication, and burials with elaborate mortuary treatments. Our findings from the pre-Natufian (Middle Epipalaeolithic) cemetery of 'Uyun al-Hammam demonstrate that joint human-animal mortuary practices appear earlier in the Epipalaeolithic. We describe the earliest human-fox burial in the Near East, where the remains of dogs have been found associated with human burials at a number of Natufian sites. This is the first time that a fox has been documented in association with human interments pre-dating the Natufian and with a particular suite of grave goods. Analysis of the human and animal bones and their associated artefacts provides critical data on the nature and timing of these newly-developing relationships between people and animals prior to the appearance of domesticated dogs in the Natufian.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/21298094/pdf/?tool=EBI |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Lisa A Maher Jay T Stock Sarah Finney James J N Heywood Preston T Miracle Edward B Banning |
spellingShingle |
Lisa A Maher Jay T Stock Sarah Finney James J N Heywood Preston T Miracle Edward B Banning A unique human-fox burial from a pre-Natufian cemetery in the Levant (Jordan). PLoS ONE |
author_facet |
Lisa A Maher Jay T Stock Sarah Finney James J N Heywood Preston T Miracle Edward B Banning |
author_sort |
Lisa A Maher |
title |
A unique human-fox burial from a pre-Natufian cemetery in the Levant (Jordan). |
title_short |
A unique human-fox burial from a pre-Natufian cemetery in the Levant (Jordan). |
title_full |
A unique human-fox burial from a pre-Natufian cemetery in the Levant (Jordan). |
title_fullStr |
A unique human-fox burial from a pre-Natufian cemetery in the Levant (Jordan). |
title_full_unstemmed |
A unique human-fox burial from a pre-Natufian cemetery in the Levant (Jordan). |
title_sort |
unique human-fox burial from a pre-natufian cemetery in the levant (jordan). |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
series |
PLoS ONE |
issn |
1932-6203 |
publishDate |
2011-01-01 |
description |
New human burials from northern Jordan provide important insights into the appearance of cemeteries and the nature of human-animal relationships within mortuary contexts during the Epipalaeolithic period (c. 23,000-11,600 cal BP) in the Levant, reinforcing a socio-ideological relationship that goes beyond predator-prey. Previous work suggests that archaeological features indicative of social complexity occur suddenly during the latest Epipalaeolithic phase, the Natufian (c. 14,500-11,600 cal BP). These features include sedentism, cemeteries, architecture, food production, including animal domestication, and burials with elaborate mortuary treatments. Our findings from the pre-Natufian (Middle Epipalaeolithic) cemetery of 'Uyun al-Hammam demonstrate that joint human-animal mortuary practices appear earlier in the Epipalaeolithic. We describe the earliest human-fox burial in the Near East, where the remains of dogs have been found associated with human burials at a number of Natufian sites. This is the first time that a fox has been documented in association with human interments pre-dating the Natufian and with a particular suite of grave goods. Analysis of the human and animal bones and their associated artefacts provides critical data on the nature and timing of these newly-developing relationships between people and animals prior to the appearance of domesticated dogs in the Natufian. |
url |
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/21298094/pdf/?tool=EBI |
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