Insights into the Social Structure of the PPNB Site of Kfar HaHoresh, Israel, Based on Dental Remains

Kurt W Alt; Marion Benz; Werner Vach; Tal L Simmons; A Nigel Goring-Morris

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0134528

Insights into the Social Structure of the PPNB Site of Kfar HaHoresh, Israel, Based on Dental Remains

PLoS One. 2015 Sep 16;10(9):e0134528. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0134528. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Kurt W Alt¹, Marion Benz², Werner Vach³, Tal L Simmons⁴, A Nigel Goring-Morris⁵

Affiliations

¹ Center of Natural and Cultural History of Teeth, Danube Private University, Krems-Stein, Austria; Integrative Prehistory and Archaeological Science IPAS, Basel University, Basel, Switzerland; State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt and Heritage Museum, Halle, Germany.
² Department of Near Eastern Archaeology, Albert-Ludwigs University, Freiburg, Germany.
³ Center of Medical Biometry and Medical Informatics, University Medical Center, Albert-Ludwigs University, Freiburg, Germany.
⁴ Institute for Advanced Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
⁵ Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.

Abstract

One of the central questions of the transition from mobile hunter-gatherers to sedentary farming communities concerns the establishment of new social structures and group identities. Along with other important factors, such as territory, ideology or economy, biological relationships might have played a decisive role in defining social groups. We therefore systematically analyzed teeth and jaw remains from nine sites in the Near East dating from the Natufian to the Late PPNB as primary proxy data for the reconstruction of familial relationships. This paper presents the results of morphological analyses on the teeth of the individuals from Kfar HaHoresh, one of the investigated Pre-Pottery Neolithic B sites. Kfar HaHoresh is located in the Nazareth hills of Galilee (32°42'20'' N 35°16'28'' E), Israel. Different statistical methods were applied to our data of epigenetic traits with the aim of determining biological relationships within the community, whereby the data of the eight other sites were used as cross-references. Our comparison of the traits of all individuals from Kfar HaHoresh indicates a rather heterogeneous community, but clearly shows one cluster belonging to a quite homogenous group, suggesting close biological relations between females and sub-adults. Interestingly, none of the male individuals belongs to this cluster, although their number outweighs that of the female individuals. This might suggest matrilocal residence patterns. However, due to the incomplete preservation of the teeth along with several other uncertainties, our conclusion must be seen as preliminary. A cross-examination of the results on skeletons excavated after our investigation should also be taken into consideration.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Age Factors
Anthropology*
Archaeology*
Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Humans
Interpersonal Relations*
Israel
Male
Tooth / anatomy & histology*
Young Adult

Grants and funding

The SIGN-Project (“Social Identities of Neolithic Groups in the Near East”) was funded by the “Eliteprogramme for Postdocs” (2007–2009). MB is indebted to the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung for this generous support (http://www.bwstiftung.de). Investigations at Kfar HaHoresh have been funded by generous grants (to ANGM) from the Irene Levi-Sala CARE Foundation (http://prehistory.org.il/?page_id=894), the National Geographic Society (Grant #8625/09) (www.nationalgeographic.com) and the Israel Science Foundation (Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Grants #840/01, #558/04, #755/07 and #1161/10) (www.isf.org.il). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.