Transitions in Prehistory

9 downloads 0 Views 132KB Size Report
The American School of Prehistoric Research (ASPR) Monographs in Archaeology and. Paleoanthropology present a series of documents covering a variety of ...
Transitions in Prehistory Essays in Honor of Ofer Bar-Yosef

Oxbow Books Oxford and Oakville

AMERICAN SCHOOL OF PREHISTORIC RESEARCH MONOGRAPH SERIES Series Editors C. C. LAMBERG-KARLOVSKY, Harvard University DAVID PILBEAM, Harvard University OFER BAR-YOSEF, Harvard University Editorial Board STEVEN L. KUHN, University of Arizona, Tucson DANIEL E. LIEBERMAN, Harvard University RICHARD H. MEADOW, Harvard University MARY M. VOIGT, The College of William and Mary HENRY T. WRIGHT, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Publications Coordinator WREN FOURNIER, Harvard University The American School of Prehistoric Research (ASPR) Monographs in Archaeology and Paleoanthropology present a series of documents covering a variety of subjects in the archaeology of the Old World (Eurasia, Africa, Australia, and Oceania). This series encompasses a broad range of subjects – from the early prehistory to the Neolithic Revolution in the Old World, and beyond including: huntergatherers to complex societies; the rise of agriculture; the emergence of urban societies; human physical morphology, evolution and adaptation, as well as; various technologies such as metallurgy, pottery production, tool making, and shelter construction. Additionally, the subjects of symbolism, religion, and art will be presented within the context of archaeological studies including mortuary practices and rock art. Volumes may be authored by one investigator, a team of investigators, or may be an edited collection of shorter articles by a number of different specialists working on related topics.

American School of Prehistoric Research, Peabody Museum, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Transitions in Prehistory Essays in Honor of Ofer Bar-Yosef

Edited by John J. Shea and Daniel E. Lieberman

www.oxbowbooks.com

Published by Oxbow Books on behalf of the American School of Prehistoric Research. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. © Oxbow Books and the individual contributors 2009 ISBN 978-1-84217-340-4

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Shea, John J., 1960– Lieberman, Daniel E., 1964– Transitions in prehistory : essays in honor of Ofer Bar-Yosef / edited by John J. Shea and Daniel E. Lieberman. p. cm. -- (American School of Prehistoric Research monograph series) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-84217-340-4 1. Paleolithic period. 2. Anthropology, Prehistoric. 3. Antiquities, Prehistoric. 4. Bar-Yosef, Ofer. I. Shea, John J. II. Lieberman, Daniel, 1964- III. Bar-Yosef, Ofer. GN771.T76 2009 930.1'2--dc22 2009002081

TYPESET AND PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

2 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON LONG-TERM LANDSCAPE EVOLUTION IN THE

HULA BASIN

Craig S. Feibel, Naama Goren-Inbar, and Mitia Frumin

Abstract The landscape of the Hula Basin today reflects a composite of tectonic, volcanic, and sedimentary processes active through the late Neogene, and the effects of climate, soils, and biotic systems on the associated communities through that period. The basin has important records of hominin occupations dating to the Acheulean, with openair Mousterian sites, Upper Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic remains, and extensive evidence for the development of human subsistence patterns from the Natufian onwards. Reconstructing the ancient landscapes that witnessed these various developments relies heavily on multidisciplinary approaches to the archaeological record, fossil remains, and their geological context within individual sites. We report here on historical records that allow further understanding of landscape diversity and dynamics in the Hula Valley. First-order tectonic control on the form of the Hula Valley is clear in the steep footwall fronts of the flanking Naftali Mountains and Golan Heights. The geometry of the Hula rhomb graben is apparent in the south, where a series of transverse structural steps leads from the Korazim to the basin floor. In the north, basin filling due to sediment influx has largely buried the complimentary tectonic elements. In the southeast corner of the basin, several small structural blocks mark the transition from the dominantly strikeslip behavior of the Jordan Valley to the extensional regime of the Hula Basin. Active subsidence of

these blocks provided accommodation space for the accumulation of Benot Yakov Formation sediments there, including the important Acheulean site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov. Activity of these blocks persists through historic periods, and they are easily recognized on historical maps and photos. These historical records clearly demonstrate how the Hula landscape responded to both natural environmental dynamics and the perturbations induced by human attempts to modify the character of the basin. By integrating records of change in the extent and character of the Hula Lake, vegetation associations across the basin periphery, and evidence for human occupation and land utilization, we can assess the potential impact of these natural and artificial fluctuations in the character of the Hula Basin through time, and its significance to communities established there. Introduction The Hula Basin of northern Israel (Figure 2.1) has long marked a critical crossroads in human history. Its archaeological records document the expansion of early populations of Homo erectus out of Africa (Goren-Inbar et al. 2000) and the environmental setting for the associated biological exchanges between Africa and Asia (Feibel 2004; Martinez-Navarro 2004). Recently discovered Mousterian and Epipaleolithic occupations (Sharon et al. 2002, in preparation) record subsequent steps in both environmental and

24

Transitions in Prehistory

The historical saga of the Hula Basin becomes increasingly detailed through time, as early records from archives begin to augment, then surpasses, the archaeological heritage. The interplay between these sources of information is elegantly demonstrated at the Crusader fortress of Vadum Jacob at the southern limits of the Hula Basin. The archeological traces of this edifice mesh with historical records of its siege and destruction by Saladin (Ellenblum et al. 1998). Further, the archaeological record shows the impact of large-scale geological effects in the offset of the fortress walls by the 1202 earthquake. This interplay between geological forces, archaeological archives, and historical documentation neatly demonstrates the beauty of integrating such a diverse array of records for better understanding the past. In this contribution, we will examine some aspects of this interplay and its implications for the landscape evolution of the Hula Basin and for the environmental context of its inhabitants through time.

Figure 2.1. Hydrographic map of the Hula Basin (after Dimentman et al. 1992).

hominin transitions towards modern times. The Natufian site at Eynan (Valla 2004) marks crucial transitions towards settled agrarian life, with concomitant milestones such as the domestication of the dog, architecture, burials, and ground stones.

The Hula Basin Today In many ways, our perception of the Hula Basin landscape is strongly conditioned by its presentday configuration and character. This situation is somewhat problematic, as recent human history has wrought major transformations to the Hula landscape. The greatest of these was the draining of the Hula Lake in the 1950s, but agricultural development and land use have had comparable effects on the basin periphery, particularly with respect to its vegetation. Over longer time frames, climatic variation has likely played the greatest role in landscape modification. The character of the landscape today, and of the Hula Lake in the recent past, presents important constraints on the biological systems that operate there (Ashkenazi 2004; Dimentman et al. 1992).

Long-Term Landscape Evolution in the Hula Basin

The climate of the Hula Basin today reflects the topographic variability within a Mediterranean system. Rainfall in the basin ranges from 400 mm per annum in the south to 800 mm per annum in the north, with important contributions from the massif of Mt. Hermon to the northeast, which enjoys up to 1500 mm of precipitation per annum (Zohary and Hambright 1999). A crucial aspect of Hula Basin hydrography has been the abundance of springs associated with the karstic aquifers of the footwall mountains bordering the basin (Por 2004; Dimentman et al. 1992). This climatic regime has demonstrated considerable variability through time, with significant humid and arid intervals (Almogi-Labin et al. 2004). Soils in the Hula Basin follow a pattern determined primarily by the mineral character of the bedrock, and for the valley floor, by the character of the lake. The eastern and southern margins of the basin, floored by basalts, are characterized by brown volcanic soils. The western periphery, underlain by limestones, is mantled with a calcareous rendzina. The northern margin is dominated by coarse mineral soils derived from the Mt. Hermon drainages. For areas within the reach of the lake, organic marls dominate the lake sediments, and soils derived from them are calcareous and humic. In those portions where peats have been deposited, the soils are fully organic histosols, commonly gypsic from oxidation of pyrite. These patterns of soil distribution have been fairly stable throughout the Late Neogene, and changes in character and distribution of associated plant communities have varied primarily in response to climate and land-use pressures. Although the natural biota of the Hula Basin has been severely impacted by the drainage of the 1950s, much of the character of

25

the earlier state has been reconstructed in the remarkable book Lake Hula (Dimentman et al. 1992). Combining travelers’ accounts, early maps, and collections from scientific expeditions, the diversity and patterns of the Hula Lake ecosystem have been portrayed in considerable detail. This work forms the single best starting point for examining the character and variability in ancient Hula landscapes through the Late Neogene. Geological Underpinnings Tectonic processes control the overall form of the Hula Basin, its patterns of sediment accumulation, and the ways in which it responds to climatic signals. Formation of the basin dates back to the Pliocene, with up to 2.5 km of sediment accumulation over the past 4 Ma (Heimann and Steinitz 1989). The structure of the Hula Basin, and in particular its southern margins, has been reviewed by Belitzky (2002). The Hula Valley is formed by normal faulting as a pull-apart basin, a bend in a strike-slip fault system. Within the left-lateral strike-slip Dead Sea Rift system, the Hula Basin occupies a westward step, the transition from the narrowly defined Jordan Fault Line (along which the Jordan River flows from the Hula Basin to the Kinneret) and the complex of faults that continue to the north of Qiryat Shemona. The lateral propagation of this bend through time has been accomplished by a series of transverse normal faults. The structural character of the serial step-down via these faults is still evident on the southern margin of the Hula Valley today (Belitzky 2002), while it is largely buried by sediment accumulation in the north. The transcurrent border faults to the east and west dictate the sharp topographic limits presented in the Naftali Mountains and the Golan Heights. While the degree of development of

26

Transitions in Prehistory

these structural components may have varied through time, these have been the first-order controls on the Hula Valley landscape throughout the period of concern here. Perhaps the most distinctive outcome of this structural pattern is the characteristic NW–SE trend of the southwest shoreline of the Hula Lake. This is a direct manifestation of the lake surface meeting the structural trend of the rhomb graben (Figure 2.1). A second aspect of tectonic influence that is significant is the rate at which subsidence accommodates sediment influx. This relationship determines the configuration of the basin. If sediment supply equals or exceeds subsidence, the basin will be filled, with no room for a significant body of standing water, hence no lake. If subsidence exceeds sediment supply, space is available for filling by water, and a lake is possible. Cores from the basin indicate that subsidence has been fairly constant through the Late Neogene, at roughly 50 cm/ka. While closely matching sediment supply, the character of sedimentary facies throughout the cores indicates that this area has maintained conditions for a shallow water body through most of this period. While the long-term volcanic construction of the Golan is of regional significance, one aspect of volcanic activity is of crucial importance to the character of the Hula Basin. Amid the structural complexity of the southeast corner of the basin, the outlet of the Jordan River has long been controlled by “the plug,” a lava flow that forms the hydrographic sill to the Hula Basin. This feature coincides with the approximate intersection of the arcuate Korazim Fault Line with the linear Jordan Fault Line (Belitzky 2002) and suggests tectonic control on the sill. Young basalt flows are known just downstream, however, and the exact nature and history of “the plug” has not been determined.

Sedimentary processes round out the geological agents shaping the Hula Basin landscape. The primary agent here is fluvial transport moving water and sediment down the rift valley. Because of the interplay with tectonic accommodation, most of the coarse clastic material is trapped in the northern Hula Basin, resulting in the subdued alluvial apron there. The carbonate-charged waters of the Jordan River and springs entering the basin determine the chemical pathways within the lake system, resulting in the dominance of marls within the lacustrine facies. Organic productivity within the Hula swamps contributes an important component to the sediments, and in certain intervals, peats have dominated the lacustrine fill (Picard 1952). These geological factors can be seen as dominant controls on the Hula Basin landscape today, in the pre-drainage descriptions of the basin, and in the characteristics of the environmental setting for earlier occupations of the region. They form a significant portion of the medium for landscape evolution, and although the response times for many geological factors are relatively long, they do respond and change in significant ways. Turning from the broad constraints on landscape variability – the modern landscape and its geological underpinnings – to the historical record, we can now consider lessons from shortterm observations on how the character of the Hula landscape has changed through time. Historical Perspectives The Hula Lake has a long historical record (Dimentman et al. 1992), with mention back to the fourteenth century BC and its earliest description in the first century AD. For an understanding of landscape evolution, however, two eras are of

Long-Term Landscape Evolution in the Hula Basin

particular interest: the accounts of travelers from the nineteenth century, and the investigations associated with the draining of the Hula Lake in the mid-twentieth century. Travelers’ accounts provide insights into the short-term variability that the Hula landscape has experienced. These accounts tend to describe the landscape in terms of the difficulty of passage, time of transit, and unusual encounters, but nonetheless, they may contain considerable detail of interest. The former lake and its marshes are well described by Tristram (1876). His view from higher elevations looking down on the lake details its character: “A large triangular sheet of water, at the lower end of the vast swampy plain, it has neither the bold outlines nor the deep coloring of the holy lake. The base of the triangle is at the north end, where the impenetrable mass of reed and papyrus suddenly breaks into a lake. This edge is wholly inaccessible, but it would well repay the trouble of carrying a boat for its examination. The course of the Jordan can be closely traced from the heights by the open water down its centre, and on many open pools we could make out flocks of duck, great white egret, and all the other rarities, hopelessly out of reach . . .” (Tristram 1876:581–582). He leaves no doubt as to the character of the marshes to the north of the lake “The whole marsh is marked in the maps as impassable, and most truly it is so. I never anywhere else have met with a swamp so vast and so utterly impenetrable. First, there is an ordinary bog, which takes on up to the knees in water, then after half a mile, a belt of deeper swamp, where the yellow water lily (Nuphar lutea, D.C.) flourishes. Then a belt of tall reeds; the open water covered with white water-lily (Nymphae alba, L.), and beyond again an impenetrable wilderness . . .” (Tristram 1876:579–580).

27

Robinson (1865:69) described the character of the southern margin of the Hula Basin: “On the south the basin of the Huleh is closed by a broad tract of uneven and mostly uncultivated higher ground which shelves down from the base of the loftier hills around Safed, and which shuts up the whole valley; leaving only a depression south of the lake, along which the Jordan rushes, in its deep and rocky chasm, to the lake of Tiberias . . .” This account is typical of many that observe the structurally controlled shelving of the southern Hula Basin, and the steep gorge through which the Jordan River exits the basin. Perhaps the most valuable of the travelers’ accounts is that of MacGregor (1869). He had anticipated Tristram’s observation on the need for a boat to explore the lake, and along with tales of his adventures, returned with a rich record of the Hula. His maps of the Hula Lake (Figure 2.2) provide invaluable details such as water depths and distribution of vegetation. His record of the distribution of papyrus around the outlet of the Jordan River is of particular interest. A significant perspective on the character of the Hula Lake shoreline comes from a fisherman’s map of 1943 (reproduced in Dimentman et al. 1992). This map distinguishes between muddy shorelines, encountered along the central eastern shore, and “stones and coarse sand,” which are indicated along the southeastern and southwestern shores. This documentation of sandy beaches may reflect the types of shorelines preserved in many of the archaeological levels of the Acheulean Gesher Benot Ya’aqov site (Goren-Inbar et al. 2000; Feibel 2001, 2004). These few examples demonstrate how historical observations can contribute important base data on changing landscapes. Over the next century, multiple attempts to drain the valley and expand agricultural utilization culminated

28

Transitions in Prehistory

Figure 2.2. MacGregor’s (1869) map of Lake Hula.

in the Hula Drainage Project (Zohary and Hambright 1999). The result of this endeavor was the large-scale draining of the Hula Lake and the associated marshes. However the economic and environmental outcomes are weighed, the dramatic transformation of the landscape has rendered the ancient Hula Basin a much more distant setting to discern. It is in this light that examples of first-hand observation and historical documentation provide crucial data to integrate into our reconstructions of the ancient landscape.

Landscape Evolution in the Hula Basin By integrating the geological evidence for longterm controls of the Hula Valley landscape with archaeological and paleontological data as well as with historical records of short-term character and dynamics, we can reconstruct something of the environmental context for the diverse prehistoric occupations of the region. By the early Pleistocene, the basic geological controls on the Hula Basin were well established, along with the edaphic constraints on the biological communities. Two early variables in this landscape equation were the biotic components of the communities themselves (GorenInbar et al. 2000; Melamed 2003; MartinezNavarro 2004) and the climatic regime (AlmogiLabin et al. 2004; Feibel 2004). Biotic exchanges between Africa and Asia had a strong influence on the biotic assemblage, while orbital-scale climatic variability drove shifts in the extent of the paleo-Hula Lake and its associated vegetation belts. This set up a pattern that would persist through the Pleistocene, with new arrivals from Africa or Asia entering the community and pushing the biotic dynamic, while water budgets associated with multiscale climatic phenomena shifted these communities around the landscape. While the physical underpinnings were little transformed, as the distribution of water changed on the landscape, so too did the range and extent of biological communities. The Pleistocene landscape was thus one of dynamic flow. In contrast, the transition towards the Holocene Epoch, along with the establishment of Natufian communities, began a largely static element in community and landscape structure. Human populations became more sedentary and less responsive to environmental perturbations at the same time that Holocene climatic

Long-Term Landscape Evolution in the Hula Basin

stability set in, reducing the environmental dynamic (Rossignol-Strick 1997). Among the greatest of all perturbations to the Hula Basin landscape was the drainage of the Hula Lake and marshes in the 1950s. Blinded to many central elements of the ancient Hula ecosystem, we now must resort to a close investigation and analysis of historical archives for clues to the character and dynamics of the Hula landscape. Historical records have become one more key to the ancient past. Acknowledgments This paper represents an attempt to draw together a diverse array of scientific data, spanning geological, archaeological, and historical domains. We offer it as a tribute to Ofer Bar-Yosef, whose career has opened up so many paths to interdisciplinary investigation. We hope that the manuscript in some small way reflects his geographical, archaeological, and geological interests and his thorough knowledge. We also thank the volume editors, Dan Lieberman and John Shea, for their quiet encouragement and patience during the gestation of this paper.

29

30

Transitions in Prehistory

References Almogi-Labin, A., M. Bar-Matthews, and A. Ayalon 2004 Climate variability in the Levant and northeast Africa during the Late Quaternary based on marine and land records. In Human Paleoecology in the Levantine Corridor, edited by N. Goren-Inbar and J. D. Speth, pp. 117–134. Oxbow Books, Oxford. Ashkenazi, S. 2004 Wetland drainage in the Levant (Lake Hula, Amik Gölü, and el-Azraq Oasis): Impact on avian fauna. In Human Paleoecology in the Levantine Corridor, edited by N. Goren-Inbar and J. D. Speth, pp. 167–190. Oxbow Books, Oxford. Belitzky, S. 2002 The structure and morphotectonics of the Gesher Benot Ya’aqov area, northern Dead Sea Rift, Israel. Quaternary Research 58:372–380. Dimentman, C., H. J. Bromley, and F. D. Por 1992 Lake Hula: Reconstruction of the Fauna and Hydrology of a Lost Lake. The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Jerusalem. Ellenblum, R., S. Marco, A. Agnon, T. Rockwell, and A. Boas 1998 Crusader castle torn apart by earthquake at dawn, 20 May 1202. Geology 26:303–306. Feibel, C. S. 2001 Archaeological sediments in lake margin environments. In Sediments in Archaeological Context, edited by J. K. Stein, and W. R. Farrand, pp. 127–148. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City. 2004 Quaternary lake margins of the Levant Rift Valley. In Human Paleoecology in the Levantine Corridor, edited by N. Goren-Inbar and J. D. Speth, pp. 21–36. Oxbow Books, Oxford. Goren-Inbar, N., C. S. Feibel, K. L. Verosub, Y. Melamed, M. E. Kislev, E. Tchernov, and I. Saragusti 2000 Pleistocene milestones on the Out-of-Africa corridor at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel. Science 289:944–947. Heimann, A., and G. Steinitz 1989 40Ar/39Ar total gas ages of basalts from Notera #3 well, Hula Valley, Dead Sea Rift: Stratigraphic and tectonic implications. Israel Journal of Earth Science 38:173–184. MacGregor, J. 1869 The Rob Roy on the Jordan, Nile, Red Sea & Gennesareth, &c. A Canoe Cruise in Palestine and Egypt, and the Waters of Damascus. C. J. Murray, London. Martinez-Navarro, B. 2004 Hippos, pigs, bovids, sabre-toothed tigers, monkeys, and hominids: Dispersals through the Levantine Corridor during Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene times. In Human Paleoecology in the Levantine Corridor, edited by N. GorenInbar and J. D. Speth, pp. 37–51. Oxbow Books, Oxford. Melamed, Y. 2003 Reconstruction of the Hula Valley vegetation and the hominid vegetarian diet by the Lower Paleolithic botanical remains from Gesher Benot Ya’aqov. Ph.D. Dissertation, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan. Picard, L. 1952 The Pleistocene peat of Lake Hula. Bulletin of the Research Council of Israel II(2):147–156.

Long-Term Landscape Evolution in the Hula Basin

31

Por, D. F. 2004 The Levantine waterway, riparian archaeology, paleolimnology, and conservation. In Human Paleoecology in the Levantine Corridor, edited by N. Goren-Inbar and J. D. Speth, pp. 5–20. Oxbow Books, Oxford. Robinson, E. 1865 Physical Geography of the Holy Land. John Murray, London. Rossignol-Strick, M. 1997 Paléoclimates de la Méditerranée orientale et de l’Asie du Sud-Ouest de 15.000–6.000 B.P. Paléorient 23:175–186. Sharon, G., O. Marder, and E. Boaretto 2002 A note on 14C dates from the Epi-Paleolithic site at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov. Mitekufat Haeven – Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society 32:5–15. Tristram, H. B. 1876 The Land of Israel: A Journal of Travels in Palestine, Undertaken with Speical Reference to Its Physical Character, 3d ed. E. B. Young and Co., New York. Valla, F. R. 2004 Natufian behavior in the Hula Basin: The question of territoriality. In Human Paleoecology in the Levantine Corridor, edited by N. Goren-Inbar and J. D. Speth, pp. 207–220. Oxbow Books, Oxford. Zohary, T., and D. Hambright 1999 Lake Hula Lake Agmon. Ariel 109. http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1990_1999/1999/9 /Lake%20Hula%20-%20Lake%20Agmon