Hunting at the Fringe of the Desert: Animal Exploitation at Nahal Efe (northern Negev, Israel) during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B

Abstract. Nahal Efe is the largest and best preserved Middle PPNB site in the Negev (Israel), constituting a privileged data source for reconstructing the animal exploitation and subsistence strategies of the hunter-gatherer communities that inhabited the Negev 10,000 years ago. The preliminary results of the study of the faunal assemblage from excavation seasons 2015–2019 are presented in this paper. The zooarchaeological study indicates that during the Middle PPNB the community of hunter-gatherers at Nahal Efe exploited a wide spectrum of animal species, favoured by the great potential in terms of animal resources that the site’s surroundings offered, in a contact area between different eco-zones. Large and middle-sized ungulates, small carnivores, hares, and birds were captured, revealing the variability and adaptability of the hunting strategies of the community at Nahal Efe. Hunting, as a source of animal-based food, focused on the exploitation of ibex (C. nubiana) and gazelle (G. gazella) in similar proportions, which were most probably transported complete or almost complete to the site and intensively processed. Finally, another remarkable aspect of the faunal assemblage is the deposit of remains of at least three species of diurnal raptors inside a pit in one of the excavated residential buildings (Unit 10), evidencing the exploitation of birds of prey, most probably to acquire raw materials (e.g. feathers and talons). The presence of fox remains at the site also seems to be related to the procurement of raw materials, furs in this case, but its consumption is also suspected.