Death in Ba`ja. Sepulchral Identity and Symbolism in an Early Neolithic Community of the Transjordanian Highlands. Household and Death in Ba`ja 2, edited by Marion Benz, Julia Gresky, Christoph Purschwitz and Hans Georg K. Gebel. bibliotheca neolithica Asiae meridionalis et occidentalis. 2024. Be..., 2024
The second volume of the "Household and Death Project" presents the main results of our transdisc... more The second volume of the "Household and Death Project" presents the main results of our transdisciplinary studies on burial practices at Ba`ja. Death and the dead were an essential, integral part of early sedentary communities in the Near East. Subfloor burials in Near Eastern Epipalaeolithic and early Neolithic sites attest to close relationships between the living and dead. The many infant burials that were uncovered during the "Household and Death Project" at the Late Pre-Pottery Neolithic site of Ba`ja, in southern Jordan indicate that death was a perpetual companion, whereas extraordinary ornaments and artefacts in the graves suggest prosperity, strong emotional attachment, and relations that were created between the living community and at least some of their late members. Neither the relation to, nor the treatment of death and the dead can be understood without understanding daily life at Ba`ja, and equally, it is impossible to conceive life within this community about 9000 years ago without the close relation to the dead.
Growing reliance on animal and plant domestication in the Near East and beyond during the Pre-Pot... more Growing reliance on animal and plant domestication in the Near East and beyond during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) (the ninth to eighth millennium BC) has often been associated with a “revolutionary” social transformation from mobility toward more sedentary lifestyles. We are able to yield nuanced insights into the process of the Neolithization in the Near East based on a bioarchaeological approach integrating isotopic and archaeogenetic analyses on the bone remains recovered from Nevalı Çori, a site occupied from the early PPNB in Turkey where some of the earliest evidence of animal and plant domestication emerged, and from Ba'ja, a typical late PPNB site in Jordan. In addition, we present the archaeological sequence of Nevalı Çori together with newly generated radiocarbon dates. Our results are based on strontium ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr), carbon, and oxygen (δ 18 O and δ 13 C carb ) isotopic analyses conducted on 28 human and 29 animal individuals from the site of Nevalı Çori. 87...
Jahresbericht der Archäologischen Bodenforschung Basel-Stadt
Bei den Bauarbeiten für den Ausbau des Fernwärmenetzes in den Quartieren rund um den Wettsteinpla... more Bei den Bauarbeiten für den Ausbau des Fernwärmenetzes in den Quartieren rund um den Wettsteinplatz kamen mehrere frühmittelalterliche Gräber, darunter ein reich ausgestattetes Mädchengrab, zum Vorschein. Das Grab enthielt ca. 380 Perlen, eine Schnalle – vermutlich für ein Täschchen – und eine goldtauschierte Gürtelschnalle. Ein solches Ensemble kannte man bisher nur aus sehr reichen Frauengräbern. Der Kantonsarchäologe Guido Lassau und die Grabungsleiterin Corinne Hodel sprechen mit der Wissenschaftsjournalistin Marion Benz über Herausforderungen und Potentiale der Grossgrabungen für die Fernwärmeleitung, über die vielfältigen Informationen, welche das reich geschmückte Mädchen für die archäologische Forschung liefert, und wie wichtig es ist, ihr Lebensumfeld genauer zu kennen, um ihre Rolle in der damaligen Gesellschaft zu verstehen.
Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe - HAL - memSIC, 2020
Season’s Progress and Research Questions •Wall Damage Reports and Earthquake Evidence • Building ... more Season’s Progress and Research Questions •Wall Damage Reports and Earthquake Evidence • Building Stone Manufacturing and Building in Ba`ja • Enigma Sounding 1 of Area A. Resumed Excavations • Sounding 1 of Area A. The Chipped Lithics • Test Unit 9a-c in Area G: Capturing the FPPNB/ PPNC Occupation • Continued Excavations in Area D • The Mural of Room DR26.2. Reappraising Extension and Preservation • Continued Excavations in Room CR28 • Rooms CR5 and CR6: Interfering Ritual and Domestic Evidence •The Hoard of Locus CR5:45. A Biography of Mixing Ritual and Domestic Contexts • Continued Excavation of Collective Burial Remains in Room CR17 • The Season’s Intramural Subadult Burials • Extraction of Jamila`s Grave C1:46 • Season’s Summary and Progressing Research Perspectives
Benz, Marion; Gresky, Julia; Alarashi, Hala. "Similar but different. Displaying social roles... more Benz, Marion; Gresky, Julia; Alarashi, Hala. "Similar but different. Displaying social roles of subadults in burials from the late Pre-Pottery Neolithic site of Ba`ja, Southern Jordan". In: H. Alarashi and R.M. Dessì (eds.). The art of human appearance : from prehistory to the present day. Actes des 40es Rencontres Internationales d'Archéologie et d'Histoire. Nice: Éditions APDCA.[EN] Increasing social differentiation and the emergence of collective identities are considered to be fundamental changes brought about by Neolithisation. Commitment and loyalty – and therefore socialization within the group – became important elements in Neolithic agricultural communities. Henceforth, personal identities were probably mainly determined by the group and the ascription of social roles will have begun at quite an early age. Within the framework of the project Household and Death – Commodification and Identities in Ba`ja during the Late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (LPPNB) of the Southern Levant, more than eighteen subadult interments in single, double and collective burials were discovered. On the one hand, these burials show striking similarities in their rituals, obviously adhering to distinct social rules, but on the other hand, there are many differences in the way the bodies are displayed and in the organization of the funerary space. Besides grave constructions of differing complexity, jewelry and so-called grave goods were used as diacritical means with which the community indicated social differences during burial rituals. The locations and associations of certain burials could be indicative of Neolithic concepts concerning social groups. We will compare the burial rituals, the appearance of the bodies and the objects within the graves to seek reasons for these differences, and thereby assess the social roles ascribed to subadults at the Neolithic site of Ba`ja.[FR] L’augmentation de différences sociales et l’émergence des identités collectives sont considérées comme des changements fondamentaux de la Néolithisation. L’engagement et la loyauté envers le groupe – et donc la socialisation – devinrent des critères décisifs pour les communautés néolithiques. Dès lors, l’identité personnelle était probablement profondément déterminée par le groupe et l’attribution des rôles sociaux commençait sans doute dès l’enfance. Dans le cadre du projet Household and Death – Commodification and Identities in Ba`ja during the Late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (LPPNB) of the Southern Levant, plus de dixhuit squelettes d’enfants furent découverts dans des sépultures individuelles, doubles et collectives. D’une part, ces sépulcres montrent des similitudes frappantes dans leurs rites funéraires, reflet probable de conventions sociales bien définies. D’autre part, des différences considérables relatives à la disposition des corps et à l’organisation de l’espace funéraire sont observées. Parallèlement à la construction généralement complexe des tombes, la variabilité des parures corporelles et le mobilier funéraire suggèrent une mise en scène des différences sociales des individus enterrés. La localisation et l’association de certaines tombes peuvent indiquer un concept de « groupe social » au sein de cette société néolithique. Nos études intégrales des funéraires, de l’apparence du corps et des offrandes tentent d´expliquer ces différences sociales rendues visibles au sein des inhumations d’enfants du site néolithique de Ba`ja.Peer reviewe
Death in Ba`ja. Sepulchral Identity and Symbolism in an Early Neolithic Community of the Transjordanian Highlands. Household and Death in Ba`ja 2, edited by Marion Benz, Julia Gresky, Christoph Purschwitz and Hans Georg K. Gebel. bibliotheca neolithica Asiae meridionalis et occidentalis. 2024. Be..., 2024
The second volume of the "Household and Death Project" presents the main results of our transdisc... more The second volume of the "Household and Death Project" presents the main results of our transdisciplinary studies on burial practices at Ba`ja. Death and the dead were an essential, integral part of early sedentary communities in the Near East. Subfloor burials in Near Eastern Epipalaeolithic and early Neolithic sites attest to close relationships between the living and dead. The many infant burials that were uncovered during the "Household and Death Project" at the Late Pre-Pottery Neolithic site of Ba`ja, in southern Jordan indicate that death was a perpetual companion, whereas extraordinary ornaments and artefacts in the graves suggest prosperity, strong emotional attachment, and relations that were created between the living community and at least some of their late members. Neither the relation to, nor the treatment of death and the dead can be understood without understanding daily life at Ba`ja, and equally, it is impossible to conceive life within this community about 9000 years ago without the close relation to the dead.
Growing reliance on animal and plant domestication in the Near East and beyond during the Pre-Pot... more Growing reliance on animal and plant domestication in the Near East and beyond during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) (the ninth to eighth millennium BC) has often been associated with a “revolutionary” social transformation from mobility toward more sedentary lifestyles. We are able to yield nuanced insights into the process of the Neolithization in the Near East based on a bioarchaeological approach integrating isotopic and archaeogenetic analyses on the bone remains recovered from Nevalı Çori, a site occupied from the early PPNB in Turkey where some of the earliest evidence of animal and plant domestication emerged, and from Ba'ja, a typical late PPNB site in Jordan. In addition, we present the archaeological sequence of Nevalı Çori together with newly generated radiocarbon dates. Our results are based on strontium ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr), carbon, and oxygen (δ 18 O and δ 13 C carb ) isotopic analyses conducted on 28 human and 29 animal individuals from the site of Nevalı Çori. 87...
Jahresbericht der Archäologischen Bodenforschung Basel-Stadt
Bei den Bauarbeiten für den Ausbau des Fernwärmenetzes in den Quartieren rund um den Wettsteinpla... more Bei den Bauarbeiten für den Ausbau des Fernwärmenetzes in den Quartieren rund um den Wettsteinplatz kamen mehrere frühmittelalterliche Gräber, darunter ein reich ausgestattetes Mädchengrab, zum Vorschein. Das Grab enthielt ca. 380 Perlen, eine Schnalle – vermutlich für ein Täschchen – und eine goldtauschierte Gürtelschnalle. Ein solches Ensemble kannte man bisher nur aus sehr reichen Frauengräbern. Der Kantonsarchäologe Guido Lassau und die Grabungsleiterin Corinne Hodel sprechen mit der Wissenschaftsjournalistin Marion Benz über Herausforderungen und Potentiale der Grossgrabungen für die Fernwärmeleitung, über die vielfältigen Informationen, welche das reich geschmückte Mädchen für die archäologische Forschung liefert, und wie wichtig es ist, ihr Lebensumfeld genauer zu kennen, um ihre Rolle in der damaligen Gesellschaft zu verstehen.
Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe - HAL - memSIC, 2020
Season’s Progress and Research Questions •Wall Damage Reports and Earthquake Evidence • Building ... more Season’s Progress and Research Questions •Wall Damage Reports and Earthquake Evidence • Building Stone Manufacturing and Building in Ba`ja • Enigma Sounding 1 of Area A. Resumed Excavations • Sounding 1 of Area A. The Chipped Lithics • Test Unit 9a-c in Area G: Capturing the FPPNB/ PPNC Occupation • Continued Excavations in Area D • The Mural of Room DR26.2. Reappraising Extension and Preservation • Continued Excavations in Room CR28 • Rooms CR5 and CR6: Interfering Ritual and Domestic Evidence •The Hoard of Locus CR5:45. A Biography of Mixing Ritual and Domestic Contexts • Continued Excavation of Collective Burial Remains in Room CR17 • The Season’s Intramural Subadult Burials • Extraction of Jamila`s Grave C1:46 • Season’s Summary and Progressing Research Perspectives
Benz, Marion; Gresky, Julia; Alarashi, Hala. "Similar but different. Displaying social roles... more Benz, Marion; Gresky, Julia; Alarashi, Hala. "Similar but different. Displaying social roles of subadults in burials from the late Pre-Pottery Neolithic site of Ba`ja, Southern Jordan". In: H. Alarashi and R.M. Dessì (eds.). The art of human appearance : from prehistory to the present day. Actes des 40es Rencontres Internationales d'Archéologie et d'Histoire. Nice: Éditions APDCA.[EN] Increasing social differentiation and the emergence of collective identities are considered to be fundamental changes brought about by Neolithisation. Commitment and loyalty – and therefore socialization within the group – became important elements in Neolithic agricultural communities. Henceforth, personal identities were probably mainly determined by the group and the ascription of social roles will have begun at quite an early age. Within the framework of the project Household and Death – Commodification and Identities in Ba`ja during the Late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (LPPNB) of the Southern Levant, more than eighteen subadult interments in single, double and collective burials were discovered. On the one hand, these burials show striking similarities in their rituals, obviously adhering to distinct social rules, but on the other hand, there are many differences in the way the bodies are displayed and in the organization of the funerary space. Besides grave constructions of differing complexity, jewelry and so-called grave goods were used as diacritical means with which the community indicated social differences during burial rituals. The locations and associations of certain burials could be indicative of Neolithic concepts concerning social groups. We will compare the burial rituals, the appearance of the bodies and the objects within the graves to seek reasons for these differences, and thereby assess the social roles ascribed to subadults at the Neolithic site of Ba`ja.[FR] L’augmentation de différences sociales et l’émergence des identités collectives sont considérées comme des changements fondamentaux de la Néolithisation. L’engagement et la loyauté envers le groupe – et donc la socialisation – devinrent des critères décisifs pour les communautés néolithiques. Dès lors, l’identité personnelle était probablement profondément déterminée par le groupe et l’attribution des rôles sociaux commençait sans doute dès l’enfance. Dans le cadre du projet Household and Death – Commodification and Identities in Ba`ja during the Late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (LPPNB) of the Southern Levant, plus de dixhuit squelettes d’enfants furent découverts dans des sépultures individuelles, doubles et collectives. D’une part, ces sépulcres montrent des similitudes frappantes dans leurs rites funéraires, reflet probable de conventions sociales bien définies. D’autre part, des différences considérables relatives à la disposition des corps et à l’organisation de l’espace funéraire sont observées. Parallèlement à la construction généralement complexe des tombes, la variabilité des parures corporelles et le mobilier funéraire suggèrent une mise en scène des différences sociales des individus enterrés. La localisation et l’association de certaines tombes peuvent indiquer un concept de « groupe social » au sein de cette société néolithique. Nos études intégrales des funéraires, de l’apparence du corps et des offrandes tentent d´expliquer ces différences sociales rendues visibles au sein des inhumations d’enfants du site néolithique de Ba`ja.Peer reviewe
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