Instability in an early sedentary context: the contribution of bioanthropology to the explication of Natufian society (Near East, 13000-9800 BCE)

Résumé En

The Near East is characterized by early sedentism amoung hunter-gatherers who built the first durable hamlets ca. 15000 years ago. These Natufian communities evolved during approximately three millennia and gave birth to Neolithic socio-economic systems at the dawn of the Holocene. This general trend should not, however, conceal diverse cultural trajectories and possible transitory returns to mobile lifestyles. Among the three phases of development recognized so far (Early, Late, Final), the Late Natufian raises questions as to the linearity of the settlement process. During this phase, approximately linked to the Younger Dryas climatic downturn, territorial occupation clearly changed. Some sites were abandoned while others were used principally as cemeteries. Others again became smaller than before, and the sizes of dwelling structures were drastically reduced. Technical and symbolic productions continue the strong legacy of the previous culture, but funerary practices exhibit a sharp break, with collective management of the dead (gathered in the same funerary area or even in the same grave) superceding the kind of individual or family management strategies documented for the previous period. Although Natufian populations remained generally homogeneous through time, bioanthropological analyses of Late Natufian communities reveal that significant changes were also taking place. Using multivariate analyses on a large corpus of biological markers, and metric and morphological data, we will attempt in this presentation to interpret the differences observed and define whether they may relate to such apparent behavioural changes.