past horizons20 Plastered human skull ( credit: M. Barazani)

21past horizons Kfar HaHoresh Investigations at Kfar HaHoresh, a small site nestled in the Nazareth hills of lower Galilee, have revealed a stratigraphic sequence spanning the early through to the late Pre- Pottery Neolithic B ( PPNB). Thirteen painstaking excavation seasons have demonstrated tremendous potential for exploring mortuary, ritual, subsistence and industrial activities in this region, and allow a glimpse into an exciting era in human prehistory. PPNB ( ca. 8500- 6750 calBC) corresponds to the period when the first large village communities were established in the fertile areas of the Near East. At this time the sphere of cultural interaction had widened, stretching from central Anatolia to southern Sinai and included Cyprus. Rectilinear houses became commonplace, while public and ritual architecture are also found. Although hunting and gathering remained important, plants and animals were becoming increasingly domesticated. Evidence shows there was intensive ritual activity, and prestige items were exchanged over considerable distances. It was likely that social tensions within and between communities arose from these changes, exacerbated by differences in the accumulation of material, social and ritual wealth. Yet, few studies have focused on these increased stresses that gave rise to social complexity and ranking, and the effect they may have had on mortuary and burial practices of the period. These included primary interments within settlements, often ( but not always) with later skull removal, as well as multiple and secondary burials. In a few instances skulls had the facial features modelled in plaster. A Cult and Mortuary Site by A. Nigel Goring- Morris & Michal Birkenfeld continued ? ?