Under the direction of Dr. Douglas Bamforth, Mr. Mark Becker will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. His goal is twofold: to apply new techniques of analysis to archaeological materials to demonstrate their utility and to gain insight into the processes which led to the domestication of plants and animals in the Near East. At approximately 12,000 years ago evidence for a shift in lifestyle in the Israel-Sinai area is evident. Peoples known as the `Natufians` established large permanent or semi-permanent villages, adopted ceramics and displayed many of the attributes associated with pastoral and agricultural societies. Although they did not in fact have domesticates and relied on hunted and gathered foods, clearly they were on a trajectory which led in this direction. Archaeologists however do not agree on how their predecessors were organized during the Upper Paleolithic Period, from ca. a35,000 to 12,000 years ago which preceded this. Some argue that the pattern observed in the Natufian developed gradually and that evidence for increasing sedentization is present in the Upper Paleolithic. Others believe that the Natufian pattern occurs abruptly and its appearance is quantum in nature. The distinction is important because the alternatives suggest different underlying processes are involved. Mr. Becker will examine this issue by studying a series of 6 Upper Paleolithic sites located in the Sinai Desert. He will focus on stone tools and the byproducts of their manufacture because these are the most common materials recovered in such sites. Through use wear analysis he will determine the range of activities which took place in each location. He will refit tools with the byproducts of their manufacture and spatially plot these within sites. These data provide information on single vs. multiple occupations. By using such procedures it is possible to determine the range of activities conducted in individual settlements and the relative length of time each was occupied. The six sites under consideration span the Upper Paleolithic period and thus it can be determined whether directional change occurred through time. This research will test the applicability of relatively new analytic techniques to Near Eastern archaeological material. It will address a significant anthropological question and assist in training a promising young scientist.
