News & Excavations

The Pre-Pottery Neolithic B site of Kfar HaHoresh, in lower Galilee:
The 2007-8 Excavation Seasons

A. Nigel Goring-Morris*, Hila Ashkenazi*, Omry Barzilai*, Michal Birkenfeld*, Vered Eshed**, Yuval Goren***, Liora Kolska Horwitz†, Maya Oron* & John Williams‡

*Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91905, Israel.
**Israel Antiquities Authority, POB 586, Jerusalem, Israel.
*** Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, 69978, Israel.
†Department of Evolution, Systematics and Ecology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91904, Israel.
‡120 London Road, Wheatley, OX 331YH, UK.

Kfar HaHoresh is a small site nestled in the Nazareth hills of lower Galilee with a stratigraphic sequence spanning the early through late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB - ca. 8,500-6,750 calBC). Thirteen excavation seasons have revealed it's potential for investigating mortuary, ritual, subsistence and industrial activities. The site has been interpreted as a regional cult and funerary center for nearby lowland villages due to its secluded location and unusual contextual associations.

Human burials at Kfar HaHoresh (totalling ca. 70 individuals) display an unusual demographic profile compared to other PPNB populations, with a high representation of young adult males. Many graves occur under or associated with lime plaster surfaced L-shaped walled structures. Burials vary from complete single articulated through multiple secondary burials comprising up to 15 individuals, plus intentional arrangements of human bones, in one case perhaps depicting an animal. Individual skulls and skull caches are found, including three on which the facial features had been modelled using plaster. Grave goods comprise chipped and groundstone tools, shells, minerals and animal bones.

In addition to lime-plastered surfaces, terrace walls are found. Monoliths and post supports are common, as are a variety of hearths, ovens, firepits and kilns against a dense backdrop of associated midden and refuse deposits.

The 2007-8 seasons focused on the north and east side of the excavation area (Figure 1). Efforts centered on exposing a massive multi-phased walled enclosure with an L-shaped configuration of two walls at right angles to one another; one wall is 10m long, while the other, still only partially uncovered, is >20m long. The bounded area has patches of uneven lime plastered surfaces. Depressions and subsidence indicate the probable presence of underlying pits similar to inhumation L1005, also located under this structure that was associated with evidence for feasting on a herd of eight wild cattle.

Fig. 1: Aerial view of Kfar HaHoresh to the south during 2008 season. Sandbag rectangle denotes the previously excavated 'Bos pit', L1005.

Two burials excavated in the 2007/8 seasons are noteworthy. L1804, within early PPNB midden deposits, is the shallow secondary pit burial of 'half-a-man,' a male some 40-45 yrs old. It lacked anatomical associations, although the individual bones were carefully arranged, with an east-west alignment for the long bones (Figure 2).

Tools include sickle blades, projectile points, burins, perforators and bifacials (Figures 6-7).

Fig. 6: Projectile points: 1, 3-4, Helwan points (#1 on obsidian); 5, Jericho point; 6-7, Byblos points; 8, Amuq point with Abu Gosh retouch. Note varied raw materials. Photo: A.N. Goring-Morris.

Fig. 7: 1-2, axes (#2 is polished); 3, chisel; 4, denticulated sickle blade; 5, naviform lame a crete; 6, limestone tool. Photo: A.N. Goring-Morris.

Groundstone tools and animal bones, mostly of hunted animals (gazelle, deer, wild boar and cattle, as well as some goat and fox) were also abundant. Symbolic items included plain or incised polished pebble tokens (Figure 8). In the literature Neolithic fertility symbols are often associated with female imagery, but at Kfar HaHoresh the only gender oriented depictions are phallic figurines, often carved from soft chalk; one was found as a probable foundation deposit in the wall of L1604. Fig. 8: Symbolic items: 1, phallic figurine, 2, votive axe on serpentine; 3, shell pendant; 4, incised token. Photo: A.N. Goring-Morris.

Extensive exchange networks indicated by Mediterranean, Red sea and freshwater sea shell ornaments (Figure 9: 3-5); exotic minerals included malachite from south of the Dead sea (Figure 9:2): , obsidian from central Anatolia (Figure 6:1), and a serpentine votive axe from northern Syria or Cyprus (Figure 8:2). Fig. 9: 1, incised basalt fragment; 2, polished lump of malachite; 3, cut Cypraea sp. (cowrie) shell; 4, freshwater Melanopsis sp.; 5, Cut Nassa gibbosula. Photo: A.N. Goring-Morris.

Acknowledgements

Excavations at Kfar HaHoresh have been funded by grants from the Irene Levi-Sala CARE Foundation, the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Jerusalem Center for Anthropological Studies, the MAFCAF Foundation, the Israel Science Foundation, and the National Geographic Society.