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Archaeologists working in the Eastern Mediterranean do not fully understand the relationship between the earliest known farming communities of the Early Neolithic and the earliest known proto-urban communities of the Late Neolithic, despite more than a century of intensive study. The ongoing excavations at Beisamoun Pond 11, in the Hula Valley of northern Israel (ca. late 8th – early 7th millennia BCE), provide a rare opportunity to better understand this transition. For this study, micromorphological analyses were performed on the earthen construction materials and the surrounding sediments from a large, multiphase structure and several partially preserved architectural features. These analyses were performed alongside excavation in order to clarify the stratigraphic relationships, site formation processes, and degree of preservation of context at the site. Five main conclusions are drawn. First, the earliest exposed layers were built on a sloping, irregularly surfaced wetland soil. Second, construction material at the Pond 11 area was composed of local silty clay loam mixed with ashes, dung, and plant temper. Third, construction material and archaeological accumulation degraded during a period of semi-abandonment, ca. 6700 – 6600 BCE, and the degradation products (e.g., adobe, ash, coprolites, and charcoal) are spread over 175 m. Fourth, several walls of the early Pond 11 structure survived for centuries and were reused during later periods of rebuilding. Finally, bioturbation and pooling water have greatly disturbed the upper layers; the earlier layers are better preserved. The micromorphological results lead to a discussion of community continuity and social memory during this period. The extent of the deposits indicates a large early site, which may have continued elsewhere after ca. 6600 BCE. The reuse and reoccupation of the main structure suggest continuity social values in the wider Beisamoun site, even as new forms of mortuary practice suggest social change. The conclusion adds to recent data that the Early to Late Neolithic transition was more gradual and subtle than claimed previously. At the methodological level, this dissertation provides a further example of the benefits of integrating micromorphology during ongoing excavation.

This thesis aims to investigate the social structure of Neolithic Period. To do this, both physical anthropological and archaeological data are used, and it is sought after whether burial customs and skeleton biology can be a parameter to understand social organization of a concerned area in a given time period. For this thesis the data comes from Abu Hureyra and &Ccedil / ay&ouml / n&uuml / . Quantified data of burial types and grave goods are used in order to create descriptive statistical graphics. Then, correspondence analysis is employed to detect statistical significance in data sets, if exists. Anthropological data is stemmed from previous researchers. On the other hand, they were still used to investigate sex and age distributions with the same tools employed before. As a final study two settlements are compared within and with each other to chase the clues for social differentiation.

Cette étude porte sur le «Skull Building» de Çayönü (Sud-Est anatolien, Néolithiqueprécéramique), qui est l’un des plus anciens bâtiments à usage funéraire au Proche-Orient. Les restes humains provenant des différents dépôts osseux (110.460fragments) du «Skull Building» ont été étudiés au travers d’une approche archéoantropologiqueet taphonomique qui n’avait encore jamais été appliquée à un sitepréhistorique anatolien. Nous avons mis au point un logiciel de dénombrement,estimé le nombre minimum d’individus inhumés lors de chacune des deux phasesd’utilisation (NMI = 97 pour le bâtiment ovalaire, NMI = 231 pour le bâtimentrectangulaire) et mis en évidence un changement des pratiques entre le bâtimentovalaire (le plus ancien) et le bâtiment rectangulaire (le plus récent). Les résultatsobtenus permettent de proposer une nouvelle interprétation du fonctionnement de cebâtiment, dans la mesure où les analyses ont montré que les différents dépôts de laseconde phase d’utilisation (bâtiment rectangulaire) étaient liés entre eux. / This study focuses on the "Skull Building" of Çayönü (Southeast Anatolian PrepotteryNeolithic), which is one of the oldest buildings for burial use in the MiddleEast. Human remains from different bone deposits (110,460 fragments) of the "SkullBuilding" have been studied through an archaeo-anthropological and taphonomicapproach which had never been applied to a prehistoric site in Anatolia. We havedeveloped a software for counting, estimated the minimum number of individualsburied in each of the two phases of use (NMI = 97 for the Oval Building, NMI = 231for the Rectangular Building) and highlighted a change in practices between the ovalbuilding (the oldest) and the rectangular building (most recent). The results obtainedallow proposing a new interpretation for the functions of this building, insofar as theanalysis showed that different deposits of the second phase of use (RectangularBuilding) were interrelated.

Tell Aswad, situé à environ 30km à l’Est / Sud-Est de Damas, est un grand tell d’environ 6 hectares dont la hauteur maximale ne dépasse pas de 4,50 m la grande plaine lacustre qui l’entoure. Le site de Tell Aswad datant entièrement du Néolithique Précéramique B (entre 8200 et 7500 av. J.-C.) est un site de référence du Levant Central. Ces populations, complètement agriculteurs/éleveurs, montrent des liens entre les populations et les cultures du Levant Nord et Sud. Les niveaux attribués à l’horizon PPNB ancien, période mal connue au Levant Sud, lui donne une grande importance historique au niveau régional. Ainsi, ce site offre une documentation rare qui peut être utilisées dans la recherche des origines du PPNB dans la région et les identités culturelles qui lui correspondent. Il nous a offert une riche documentation sur les pratiques funéraires. Répartis sur presque la totalité de son occupation, plus de 119 individus ont été exhumés. Les résultats nous indiquent la présence d’une continuité diachronique des pratiques funéraires tout au long de l’occupation, celles-ci étant originaire d’une tradition ancestrale. Elles révèlent le recours aux funérailles uniques mais se spécifient par des funérailles multiples, à travers le prélèvement des crânes. Chacun de ces deux modèles résulterait d’un choix imposé et sélectif issu du système social (hiérarchisé), indiquant la manière dont le défunt doit être inhumé. Les différents traitements des crânes prélevés, dont le surmodelage, correspondraient à des « rituelles» et pratiques funéraires hautement culturalisées. Elles témoignent de l’ordre social et de l’intégrité du groupe et matérialisent l’un des traits majeurs de l’identité culturels des sociétés Néolithiques du PPNB à Tell Aswad. L’étude de l’organisation spatiale des sépultures au cours de l’occupation PPNB de Tell Aswad, révèle un changement des lieux d’inhumations, depuis l’inhumation dans des maisons, à l’intérieur de la cellule familiale, jusqu’à la conception de lieux spécifiques dédiés aux pratiques funéraires. L’organisation spatiale de ces lieux devient pour nous une source supplémentaire témoignant de l’organisation sociale dans ce site. / Tell Aswad, located 30 km East/South-East of Damascus, is a nearly 6 hectares tell not exceeding 4,5 meters height above the great lacustrian plain surrounding. The whole stratigraphy of the site dates from PPNB (8200-7500 B.C.), it's a reference site for the Central Levant because of the farmer/cattle breeder population showing connections between Southern and Northern Levant. The ancient PPNB levels, poorly understood in South Levant, give to the site an important historical status on a regional level. Thus, Tell Aswad offers us a rare documentation used for a better understanding of the PPNB period origins in the area and the cultural identities corresponding. The data are especially rich for the funeral practices. More than 119 individuals have been excavated spread on the entire occupation. Our results indicate the presence of a diachronic continuity of the funeral practices throughout the occupation due to an ancestral tradition. They reveal the use of simple burials but also specificity in the multiple burials by means of the skull withdrawal. Both models result from a selective choice imposed by the social system (hierarchical), indicating how the deceased had to be buried. The variability inside the skull treatment including the modeled skulls correspond to "ritual" and funerary practices highly culturalized. They reflect a social order and a group integrity materializing one of the major feature of the cultural identity of Neolithic PPNB society in Tell Aswad. Studying the spatial organization of the burials during the PPNB occupation of Tell Aswad reveals changes in burial sites, from burials in the house inside the family unit until the creation of specific area dedicated to funerary practices. The spatial organization of these areas becomes for our research a supplementary testimony of the social organization in the site.