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The objective of this thesis is to enhance the archaeological visibility of mobile pastoralists in the southern Levant, accomplished through an ethnoarchaeological study of Bedouin mortuary practices in Jordan. Qualitative data, collected via 136 ethnographic interviews, and quantitative data, collected from 20 Bedouin cemeteries, are analyzed to distinguish the material residues of Bedouin funerary practices. Patterns in these data are investigated using a multi-scalar spatial model, to improve archaeological interpretations and produce a predictive model for locating the material signatures of mobile pastoralist mortuary practices in the southern Levant. This research yields results of high archaeological visibility, demonstrating that Bedouin mortuary practices leave behind a detectable material signature on the landscape. / February 2017

abstract: This dissertation creates models of past potential vegetation in the Southern Levant during most of the Holocene, from the beginnings of farming through the rise of urbanized civilization (12 to 2.5 ka BP). The time scale encompasses the rise and collapse of the earliest agrarian civilizations in this region. The archaeological record suggests that increases in social complexity were linked to climatic episodes (e.g., favorable climatic conditions coincide with intervals of prosperity or marked social development such as the Neolithic Revolution ca. 11.5 ka BP, the Secondary Products Revolution ca. 6 ka BP, and the Middle Bronze Age ca. 4 ka BP). The opposite can be said about periods of climatic deterioration, when settled villages were abandoned as the inhabitants returned to nomadic or semi nomadic lifestyles (e.g., abandonment of the largest Neolithic farming towns after 8 ka BP and collapse of Bronze Age towns and cities after 3.5 ka BP during the Late Bronze Age). This study develops chronologically refined models of past vegetation from 12 to 2.5 ka BP, at 500 year intervals, using GIS, remote sensing and statistical modeling tools (MAXENT) that derive from species distribution modeling. Plants are sensitive to alterations in their environment and respond accordingly. Because of this, they are valuable indicators of landscape change. An extensive database of historical and field gathered observations was created. Using this database as well as environmental variables that include temperature and precipitation surfaces for the whole study period (also at 500 year intervals), the potential vegetation of the region was modeled. Through this means, a continuous chronology of potential vegetation of the Southern Levantwas built. The produced paleo-vegetation models generally agree with the proxy records. They indicate a gradual decline of forests and expansion of steppe and desert throughout the Holocene, interrupted briefly during the Mid Holocene (ca. 4 ka BP, Middle Bronze Age). They also suggest that during the Early Holocene, forest areas were extensive, spreading into the Northern Negev. The two remaining forested areas in the Northern and Southern Plateau Region in Jordan were also connected during this time. The models also show general agreement with the major cultural developments, with forested areas either expanding or remaining stable during prosperous periods (e.g., Pre Pottery Neolithic and Middle Bronze Age), and significantly contracting during moments of instability (e.g., Late Bronze Age). / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Geography 2011

La fin du 6e millénaire et le début du 5e millénaire constituent une des périodes les moins connues de la préhistoire du Levant sud. Dans ce contexte, les fouilles menées sur le site de Tel Tsaf, dans la vallée du Jourdain, offrent une opportunité inédite d’apporter un éclairage sur les sociétés de cette période. Cette étude s’est attachée, à travers la définition des systèmes de production, de distribution et d’utilisation des céramiques, à définir le fonctionnement social et économique du site et, au-delà, à adresser son statut au niveau régional. Nous avons pour cela développé une approche techno-pétrographique des assemblages céramiques, fondée sur l’identification des chaînes opératoires de production technique. Dans un deuxième temps, nous avons replacé l’assemblage céramique de Tel Tsaf dans le cadre plus large de la vallée du Jourdain et du Levant, à travers des comparaisons au niveau micro et macro-régional. Cette étude s’est avérée particulièrement riche. A l’échelle du site, elle nous a permis de mettre en évidence une société complexe et multi-culturelle. A l’échelle de la région, elle nous a permis de définir une communauté de pratiques au sein de la vallée du Jourdain et de mettre en évidence un phénomène de migration depuis le Levant nord, sur le site de Tel Tsaf. À l’appui des résultats de ce travail, ainsi que des études comparatives réalisées sur le matériel des sites de Beth Shean XVIII et d’Abu Gosh III – Jasmine street, il nous a été possible de proposer une réflexion d’ensemble sur la vallée du Jourdain et le Levant sud au tournant du 5e millénaire / The late 6th-early 5th millenium BC is one of the least known of the southern Levant prehistoric periods. In this context, the excavations on the site of Tel Tsaf, in the Jordan Valley, offer an unprecedented opportunity to shed light on communities from that period. This study aimed, through the definition of production systems, distribution and use of ceramics, to define the social and economic functioning of the site and beyond, to address its regional status. In this purpose, we have developed a techno-petrographical approach of the ceramic assemblage, based on the identification of chaînes opératoires. Secondly, we recontextualized the ceramic assemblage of Tel Tsaf in the broader context of the Jordan Valley and the Levant, through comparisons at micro and macro-regional level.This study prooved particularly rich. At the site level, it allowed us to highlight a complex and multi-cultural society. At the regional scale, it allowed us to define a community of practice in the Jordan Valley and highlight a phenomenon of migration from the northern Levant, to the site of Tel Tsaf. Regarding our results on Tel Tsaf, as well as comparative studies on the material of Beth Shean XVIII sites and Abu Gosh III - Jasmine street, we attempted to provide a broader reflection on the Jordan Valley and the Southern Levant at the turn of the 5th millennium.

Cette étude se propose d’apporter des éléments pour une analyse de l’évolution des cultures prédynastiques et sud levantines, entre la fin du 5e et la première moitié du 4e millénaire (4300-3300 avant notre ère). En Egypte, cette période commence au début du Prédynastique, lorsque des groupes d’agro-pasteurs se sédentarisent peu à peu le long de la vallée du Nil et dans le Delta. Elle se termine par l’avènement d’une société hiérarchisée et la mise en place des conditions préalables à l’apparition de l’Etat au début du 3e millénaire. Au Levant sud, cette période s’étend de la fin du Chalcolithique au début du Bronze Ancien I. A travers l’examen d’un matériel inédit (le mobilier céramique de Tell el-Iswid dans le Delta du Nil, l’habitat de Bir es-Safadi dans le Néguev nord) et la réévaluation de données publiées (notamment l’architecture de Tuleilat Ghassul au sud de la vallée du Jourdain et la nécropole de Minshat Abou Omar en Basse Egypte), cette étude a pour but d’apprécier dans quelle mesure le développement des sociétés de Haute Egypte, de Basse Egypte et du Levant sud, a été affectée par les contacts interrégionaux. Il s’agit d’évaluer quelles innovations techniques ou quelles influences d’ordre économique et social, ces échanges ont pu véhiculer. Il s’agit également de préciser la forme et les modalités de ces contacts (échanges de proche en proche ou réseaux à longue distance), aussi bien que les agents de leur organisation. Cette analyse permettra en outre de porter un regard nouveau sur le processus d’uniformisation de la culture égyptienne, qui s’est déroulé peu de temps avant l’unification politique du pays. / This study intends to provide elements for an analysis of the evolution of Predynastic and Southern Levant cultures, between the end of the 5th and the middle of the 4th millennium (4300-3300 BC). In Egypt, this period starts at the beginning of the Predynastic era, when groups of agro-pastoralists settled gradually along the Nile Valley and the Delta. It ends with the advent of a hierarchical society and the setting of the conditions conductive to the emergence of State at the beginning the 3rd millennium. In the Southern Levant, this time frame extends from the end of the Chalcolithic to the beginning of the Early Bronze Age I. Through the analysis of an unpublished material (the Predynastic pottery from Tell el-Iswid in the Nile Delta, the dwellings of the Chalcolithic settlement of Bi r es-Safadi in the Northern Negev), and the reappraisal of published data (the architecture of Tuleilat Ghassul in the South of the Jordan Valley or the Minshat Abu Omar cemetery in Lower Egypt for example), this study aims to assess to what extent the development of societies in Upper Egypt, Lower Egypt and the Southern Levant was affected by interregional contacts. The issue is to estimate what kind of technical innovations, economic or social influences, these exchanges could have conveyed. The purpose is also to provide details on the modality of these contacts and the organization of these exchanges (down-the-line or long distance networks). This will lead us to propose a new approach to the homogenisation process of the Egyptian culture, which took place shortly before the political unification of the country.

The social transformations in the South Levantine Neolithic show two basic tendencies: 1) complex social structures are replaced by less complex ones, before more complex social structures develop; and 2) most likely connected to that: heterarchical and hierarchical patterns are linked together in varying ways; the more needs for social regulation appear, the more heterarchical elements trigger corporate, hierarchical and central structures, and new sedentary types of conflict occur. The development of family and communal life modes moved as shifting waves through the ecozones of the southern Levant: core household structures (MPPNB) are replaced by corporate extended families households (LPPNB) which then again are replaced by core household structures (FPPNB-PNA-B); heterarchical communities (PPNA) get replaced by hierarchical (MPPNB-LPPNB) communities, before pastoral-heterarchical communities develop (FPPNB-PNA-B) and exist together with the hierarchical permanent settlements of the FPPNB-PNA-B. The qualities and momentum of this general development may differ according to regional ecological conditions, including reversible and conservative regional developments. / Las transformaciones sociales del Neolítico en el Levante meridional denotan dos tendencias básicas: 1) las estructuras sociales complejas son reemplazadas por otras de características menos elaboradas en una etapa previa al despliegue de estructuras sociales más complejas, y 2) probablemente en forma paralela, se entrelazan principios heterárquicos y jerárquicos del orden social en proporciones cambiantes. Con la creciente demanda de una regulación de los elementos heterárquicos, estos desaparecen para ser sustituidos por estructuras jerárquicas corporativas y centrales, por lo que aparecen nuevas formas sedentarias de conflicto. El desarrollo de las formas de vida familiares y comunales atravesó, a manera de olas consecutivas, los diferentes paisajes del Levante meridional: estructuras familiares nucleares (en el PPNB Medio) fueron reemplazadas por estructuras familiares extensas corporativas (PPNB Tardío) y volvieron, luego, a su estado inicial (PPNB Final a PNA-B). Las comunidades heterárquicas (PPNA) se convirtieron en jerárquicas (PPNB Medio a PPNB Tardío) antes del surgimiento de comunidades heterárquicas pastoriles (PPNB Final a PNA-B) que coexistieron, en forma paralela, con asentamientos jerárquicos permanentes (PPNB Final a PNA-B). Las cualidades y la velocidad de este proceso general dependen, en forma especial, de factores ecológicos regionales e incluyen desarrollos regionales de carácter tanto reversible como conservador.

This paper analyses the opposing views regarding the presence or absence of the Sikil at Dor in Palestine during Early Iron Age 1. Textual sources claim that the Sikil were pirates who came from the west and settled in Cyprus. Egyptian sources point to a Sikil presence at Dor. Some scholars regard the Egyptian sources and archaeological finds at Dor as evidence of a Sikil settlement at Dor. Others maintain that there is a continuity of ceramics at Dor from Canaanite to Phoenician. Though there were foreign influences at Dor during Early Iron Age 1 which point to newcomers, they propose that these newcomers probably came from Cyprus. No archaeological record of a Sea People-presence at Dor has been discovered. This study textually traces the Sikil from the Aegean to Cyprus, Egypt and finally to Dor and a theory is presented that the Sikil originated in the Aegean, temporarily settled in Cyprus and finally at Dor. / Old Testament & Ancient Near Eastern Studies / M.A. (Biblical Archaeology)

This paper analyses the opposing views regarding the presence or absence of the Sikil at Dor in Palestine during Early Iron Age 1. Textual sources claim that the Sikil were pirates who came from the west and settled in Cyprus. Egyptian sources point to a Sikil presence at Dor. Some scholars regard the Egyptian sources and archaeological finds at Dor as evidence of a Sikil settlement at Dor. Others maintain that there is a continuity of ceramics at Dor from Canaanite to Phoenician. Though there were foreign influences at Dor during Early Iron Age 1 which point to newcomers, they propose that these newcomers probably came from Cyprus. No archaeological record of a Sea People-presence at Dor has been discovered. This study textually traces the Sikil from the Aegean to Cyprus, Egypt and finally to Dor and a theory is presented that the Sikil originated in the Aegean, temporarily settled in Cyprus and finally at Dor. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M.A. (Biblical Archaeology)