Noa Klein E-mail: noacu@yahoo.com M.A. thesis topic: The Lithic Assemblage of Hof Shahaf: a Natufian site at the Shore of Lake Kinneret. Advisors: Prof. Anna Belfer-Cohen and Dr. Leore Grosman.

Abstract:

Hof Shahaf is a Natufian site located on a 12 m cliff at the shore of Lake Kinneret in the Jordan Valley. The site was excavated in 2008, in a salvage excavation headed by Ofer Marder and Reuven Yeshurun of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The Natufian Culture, the last Paleolithic culture in the Levant, was first recognized and defined in what is known as the "Natufian Core Area" of the Mediterranean climatic central Levant. Though some examples of it exist outside this area, it rarely appears on the shore of Lake Kinneret. Hof Shahaf gives the first opportunity to view this culture in this unique context.
The detailed lithic analysis attempts to define the assemblage characteristics and recognize the type of activities that occurred there. Furthermore, the study comparing this particular assemblage with other Natufian assemblages will place the occupation at Hof Shahaf into the Natufian time frame and the regional socio/environmental context.

Projects:

• The lithic assemblage of Hof Shahaf open air site.
• The bone tool assemblage of Hilazon Tachtit Cave site.
• Nahal Ein Gev II Excavations.

Research Interests:

• The Natufian Culture
• Prehistoric ritual and burial customs
• The evolution and development of language