Yiftah'el
Basic information
Sample name: Yiftah'el
Reference: L. Sapir-Hen, T. Dayan, H. Khalaily, and N. D. Munro. 2016. Human hunting and nascent animal management at Middle Pre-Pottery Neolithic Yiftah'el, Israel. PLoS ONE 11(7):e0156964 [ER 3753]
Geography
Country: Israel
Coordinate: 32° 45' 19" N, 35° 13' 40" E
Coordinate basis: stated in text
Time interval: Holocene
Max Ma: 0.01038
Min Ma: 0.00908
Age basis: radiocarbon (calibrated)
Geography comments: "The site of Yiftah'el is located at the western fringe of the Beit Netofa Valley, Lower Galilee, Israel, approximately 25 km east of the city of Haifa and about 8 km west of Nazareth. The site is estimated to extend over 4 ha, and is c. 145 m above present-day sea level".
"The main occupational period at Yiftah'el dates to the Mid-Late PPNB, from roughly 9000-10,000 cal. BP".
"The main occupational period at Yiftah'el dates to the Mid-Late PPNB, from roughly 9000-10,000 cal. BP".
Environment
Lithology: not described
Taphonomic context: human accumulation,settlement
Archaeology: buildings,burials,hearths,stone tools,other artifacts,other structures
Habitat comments: "Approximately 2,000 m2 of the main occupational period at Yiftah'el has been excavated. The PPNB buildings display a rectilinear plan with mud-brick and/or stone walls. Elements present within the structures include constructed hearths, pits, installations and burials. All of the structures have thick lime-plastered floors".
"The material remains recovered from the site are extremely rich and include more than ten tons of lithics (flint artefacts consisting of arrowheads, sickleblades, axes, burins and naviform cores), botanical and faunal remains, among others. Notably, a cache of three plastered skulls deposited in a pit were recovered from Area I".
"The material remains recovered from the site are extremely rich and include more than ten tons of lithics (flint artefacts consisting of arrowheads, sickleblades, axes, burins and naviform cores), botanical and faunal remains, among others. Notably, a cache of three plastered skulls deposited in a pit were recovered from Area I".
Methods
Life forms: carnivores,rodents,ungulates,other small mammals,birds,snakes,turtles,frogs,fishes,crustaceans
Sampling methods: quarry,screenwash
Sample size: 5291 specimens
Years: 1982 - 1983, 2007 - 2008
Sampling comments: "The site of Yiftah'el was discovered in January 1982 when the first excavation of around 80 m2 (Area D) was undertaken. Further remains were uncovered in 1983 from three new areas, with one (Area C) being contemporaneous with Area D.
A total of 185 m2 was excavated from Area C. All mid-PPNB sediment from Areas C and D was sieved through 5 mm mesh".
"The more recent 2007–2008 excavations at Yiftah’el were initiated in response to further expansion of Highway 77. Four more areas (F, G, H and I) were opened during these excavations, with most faunal material originating from Areas G and I. Bones were retrieved by hand, except for floor contexts which were sieved through 5mm mesh".
The counts below correspond to all identified remains recovered from Areas C and D (obtained from Horwitz 2003) as well as Areas G and I (from Sapir-Hen et al. 2016).
A total of 185 m2 was excavated from Area C. All mid-PPNB sediment from Areas C and D was sieved through 5 mm mesh".
"The more recent 2007–2008 excavations at Yiftah’el were initiated in response to further expansion of Highway 77. Four more areas (F, G, H and I) were opened during these excavations, with most faunal material originating from Areas G and I. Bones were retrieved by hand, except for floor contexts which were sieved through 5mm mesh".
The counts below correspond to all identified remains recovered from Areas C and D (obtained from Horwitz 2003) as well as Areas G and I (from Sapir-Hen et al. 2016).
Metadata
Sample number: 4004
Contributor: Benjamin Carter
Enterer: Benjamin Carter
Created: 2022-10-10 18:56:10
Modified: 2022-10-10 08:12:36
Abundance distribution
26 species
4 singletons
total count 5291
geometric series index: 35.3
Fisher's α: 3.559
geometric series k: 0.7273
Hurlbert's PIE: 0.6718
Shannon's H: 1.6078
Good's u: 0.9992
Each square represents a species. Square sizes are proportional to counts.
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| Gazella gazella | 2867 | 21 kg |
| Capra aegagrus | 420 | 22 kg browser-grazer |
| Bos primigenius | 450 | |
| Sus scrofa | 522 | 54 kg herbivore |
| Cervus elaphus | 13 | 104 kg |
| Capreolus capreolus | 3 | 22 kg browser |
| also 18 Cervidae indet. | ||
| Lepus capensis | 99 | |
| Vulpes vulpes | 416 | 5.3 kg carnivore-insectivore |
| Felis lybica | 21 | |
| "Felis silvestris"; also 34 Felis sp. | ||
| Martes foina | 18 | 1.3 kg carnivore-frugivore |
| Vormela peregusna | 1 | 356 g |
| Mustela nivalis | 1 | 77.5 g carnivore |
| Herpestes ichneumon | 5 | 2.9 kg carnivore-insectivore |
| Meles meles | 2 | 11 kg invertivore-herbivore |
| also 1 Mustelidae indet. | ||
| Canis lupus familiaris | 7 | 43 kg carnivore |
| Erinaceus concolor | 5 | |
| Rodentia indet. | 8 | |
| Alectoris chukar | 29 | 541 g omnivore |
| Falconiformes indet. | 1 | |
| Passeriformes indet. | 15 | |
| also 21 Aves indet. | ||
| Testudo graeca | 360 | |
| Serpentes indet. | 3 | |
| Pisces indet. | 7 | |
| Amphibia indet. | 2 | |
| presumably frogs | ||
| Potamon potamios | 15 | |
| Trionyx triunguis | 1 | |