NAHAL KARKOM, A PRE-POTTERY NEOLITHIC B SITE IN THE SOUTHERN NEGEV, ISRAEL: ARCHAEOLOGICAL REPORT AND ARCHAEOMETRIC ANALYSES

Abstract

Five seasons of researches at the Middle Pre-Pottery Neolithic B site of Nahal Karkom (Southern Negev, Is

rael) have highlighted a campsite consisting of a few, stonewalled curvilinear structures in a beehive ar

rangement. The site experienced three intermittent, seasonal occupations within a short time frame, proba

bly starting from the first half of the VIII millennium B.C.E. It has yielded a range of typical Southern Levan

tine PPNB material culture: the lithic assemblage features the use of bidirectional core technology, with a

preponderance of bladelets and small blades, tranchet axes, borers, tanged projectile points, ground stones.

The location of the site and the nature of the findings are indicative of repeated (probably, winter-late

spring) occupations of this Southern Negev marginal zone by a band carrying on a mobile foraging exi

stence, or a logistic stop of a small group residentially based elsewhere.