Netiv Hagdud: An Early Neolithic Village Site in the Jordan Valley.

Netiv Hagdud is an Early Neolithic village site in the Lower Jordan Valley. Systematic excavations exposed a 500-sq m surface, which included several oval and circular houses. Carbonized plant remains, animal bones, and a wealth of lithic assemblages were the primary materials recovered from the houses and the fill. The seeds indicate that barley cultivation was practiced, along with the continuous gathering of wild fruits and seeds. Gazelle hunting and trapping of migratory waterfowl provided the major meat sources. Evidence concerning distribution of subsistence activities indicates that the site was occupied during at least nine months each year. Domestic activities are expressed in a variety of grinding and pounding tools, a few bone objects, and numerous flint tools. The lithic industry, classified as Sultanian, is characterized by the presence of Khiam points, sickle blades, and tranchet (Tahunian) axes, and is similar to that uncovered in Jericho. Flexed burials, the removal of adult skulls, and a few female figurines are the only sources of information concerning on-site symbolic activities. The report discusses the primary finds from the excavations and places the site within the context of other Early Neolithic sites in the southern Levant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]