Resumen de Fauna from the Natufian and PPNA Cave Site for Iraq Ed-Dubb in Highland Jordan
Yvonne H. Edwards, Louise Martin
Occupation of the Iraq ed-Dubb cave site spans the Late Natufian and PPNA periods, providing a rare opportunity to carry out an intra-site exploration of human behaviour across a period when there were significant changes in climate and hunter-gatherers were experimenting with the innovative techniques of plant management which would lead to a new way of life as farmers. This paper focuses on zooarchaeological and taphonomic analyses of faunal remains. The data are examined for evidence of subsistence change between the Late Natufian and PPNA through assessment of species diversity, methods of procurement and issues relating to refuse disposal and degree of sedentism. The results indicate that human occupants of Iraq ed-Dubb were living within the capacity of their environment both in the Late Natufian and PPNA, with little significant change in the range of species hunted and trapped or in strategies for their capture. A small increase in emphasis on gazelle and an intensification of artiodactyl carcass-processing might suggest that the emphasis of the hunting/trapping regime was beginning to change during the PPNA. The apparently well-provisioned economy of this small highland site in the Late Natufian contrasts with the over-stretched subsistence regimes of sites to the west of the river Jordan. Spatial analysis of bone waste distribution has revealed, inter alia, that attitudes towards discarded rubbish appear not to have changed between the Early Natufian and PPNA and imply that discard patterns are related to dwelling-based living, but without the social order conferred by life in a village.
