Sociological landscape and evolutionary phenomena: a technological approach to the Neolithic southern Levant ceramic assemblages

Abstract

This article re-examines the ongoing debate surrounding Early Pottery Neolithic entities in the southern Levant through a technological analysis of ceramic assemblages from five significant sites belonging to the so-called Yarmukian and Lodian/Jericho IX cultural entities. The technological analysis identifies the manufacturing process employed in vessel production across multiple scales of observation. The results reveal a uniform technological tradition throughout the southern Levant, testifying to socially-linked potter communities. The technical variant known as ‘shining’ is shown to result from a branching process, followed by its gradual selection over time. Its differential spatial distribution can be attributed to both the temporal distance between sites during demic diffusion and the formation of regional collectives.