Misplaced Pages

#282717

44-591: Evidence of settlement at Mallaha (or 'Ain Mallaha) dates back to the Mesolithic period circa 10,000 BCE. The first permanent village settlement of pre-agricultural times in Palestine , Kathleen Kenyon describes the material remains found there as Natufian , consisting of 50 circular, semi-subterranean, one-room huts, paved with flat slabs and surrounded by stone walls up to 1.2 meters (3.9 ft) high. The floors and walls of

88-420: A "ceramic Mesolithic" can be distinguished between c.  9,000 to 5,850 BP. Russian archaeologists prefer to describe such pottery-making cultures as Neolithic, even though farming is absent. This pottery-making Mesolithic culture can be found peripheral to the sedentary Neolithic cultures. It created a distinctive type of pottery, with point or knob base and flared rims, manufactured by methods not used by

132-462: A "very large perennial spring, flowing in a long stream from the base of the mountain; at once turns a mill, and forms almost a small river." During the British Mandate times, Mallaha had a roughly rectangular configuration that stretched from north to south. The population lived mostly of agriculture. In the 1922 census of Palestine , Mallaha had a population of 440, all Muslims , increasing in

176-581: A concept in use. In the archaeology of the Americas , an Archaic or Meso-Indian period, following the Lithic stage , somewhat equates to the Mesolithic. The Saharan rock paintings found at Tassili n'Ajjer in central Sahara , and at other locations depict vivid scenes of everyday life in central North Africa . Some of these paintings were executed by a hunting people who lived in a savanna region teeming with

220-577: A population of 142 Jews. With the activation of the National Water Carrier in 1964, Syrian efforts to disrupt drainage patterns into the Sea of Galilee were accompanied by attacks against Israeli farming and fishing activities in the region. Three years later, Syrian forces were repelled further from Yesud HaMa'ala with the capture of the Golan Heights during the 1967 Six-Day War . On 22 July 2006,

264-529: A possible "lunar calendar" at Warren Field in Scotland, with pits of post holes of varying sizes, thought to reflect the lunar phases . Both are dated to before c.  9,000 BP (the 8th millennium BC). An ancient chewed gum made from the pitch of birch bark revealed that a woman enjoyed a meal of hazelnuts and duck about 5,700 years ago in southern Denmark. Mesolithic people influenced Europe's forests by bringing favored plants like hazel with them. As

308-422: A result concerns about malaria restricted further Jewish settlement in the region for fifty years. As drainage technology and pesticide use increased in the 1920s, settlement in the area became more feasible. After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and the establishment of the state of Israel, the swamp was drained and converted into agricultural land. Recognizing the unique ecosystem of the valley and its importance as

352-593: A result of ideological reluctance, different worldviews and an active rejection of the sedentary-farming lifestyle. In one sample from the Blätterhöhle in Hagen , it seems that the descendants of Mesolithic people maintained a foraging lifestyle for more than 2000 years after the arrival of farming societies in the area; such societies may be called " Subneolithic ". For hunter-gatherer communities, long-term close contact and integration in existing farming communities facilitated

396-521: A series of Katyusha attacks by Hezbollah struck communities in the Hulah Valley during the course of the 2006 Lebanon War . In Yesud HaMa’ala, one person was lightly wounded from rocket shrapnel. Prior to the bombings, the community had not seen any hostile attacks since the Six-Day War in 1967. On 29 July three rockets hit Yesud HaMa'ala, lightly wounding a woman and damaging property. Yesud HaMa'ala

440-399: A stopover for migrating birds, scientists lobbied for a small portion of the swamp to remain as a nature reserve. In 1964, the 800 acre (3.2 km²) Hula Valley Nature Reserve , the country's first, was opened. Christian Zionist Laurence Oliphant donated 1,000 roubles to the founding settlers of Yesud Hama’Ala. A census conducted in 1922 by the British Mandate authorities , recorded

484-584: A transitional period between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic was indeed a useful concept. However, the terms "Mesolithic" and "Epipalaeolithic" remain in competition, with varying conventions of usage. In the archaeology of Northern Europe, for example for archaeological sites in Great Britain, Germany, Scandinavia, Ukraine, and Russia, the term "Mesolithic" is almost always used. In the archaeology of other areas,

SECTION 10

#1732841103283

528-453: A water-dependent species like the hippopotamus , animals that no longer exist in the now-desert area. Yesud ha-Ma%27ala Yesud HaMa'ala ( Hebrew : יְסוּד הַמַּעֲלָה ) is a moshava and local council in northern Israel. The moshava was the first modern Jewish community in the Hula Valley . Built in 1883, the community was among a series of agricultural settlements founded during

572-723: Is a Natufian carving in calcite . A total of 33 antler frontlets have been discovered at Star Carr. These are red deer skulls modified to be worn by humans. Modified frontlets have also been discovered at Bedburg-Königshoven, Hohen Viecheln, Plau, and Berlin-Biesdorf. Weaving techniques were deployed to create shoes and baskets, the latter being of fine construction and decorated with dyes. Examples have been found in Cueva de los Murciélagos in Southern Spain that in 2023 were dated to 9,500 years ago. In North-Eastern Europe , Siberia , and certain southern European and North African sites,

616-566: Is a rare Mesolithic animal carving in soapstone from Finland . The rock art in the Urals appears to show similar changes after the Paleolithic, and the wooden Shigir Idol is a rare survival of what may well have been a very common material for sculpture. It is a plank of larch carved with geometric motifs, but topped with a human head. Now in fragments, it would apparently have been over 5 metres tall when made. The Ain Sakhri figurine from Palestine

660-461: Is after the area fell to Mamluk sultan Baybars . The structures have been assumed to belong to a sugar-producing installation. Mallaha, like most of Palestine , was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in the early sixteenth century. Sufi traveller al-Bakri al-Siddiqi passed by the village in the mid-eighteenth century. Johann Ludwig Burckhardt travelled in the region during the start of

704-465: Is associated with a decline in the group hunting of large animals in favour of a broader hunter-gatherer way of life, and the development of more sophisticated and typically smaller lithic tools and weapons than the heavy-chipped equivalents typical of the Paleolithic. Depending on the region, some use of pottery and textiles may be found in sites allocated to the Mesolithic, but generally indications of agriculture are taken as marking transition into

748-661: Is cultivated by the settlement of Yesud ha-Ma'ala . A village history was published in Damascus in 2005. According to a commentator on Palestinian village history, Rochelle A. Davis, this history is especially notable due to the prominent role women are given in describing village life. Davis believes this might be because the villagers belonged to the Ghawarneh group, where women traditionally took more prominent roles. Mesolithic The Mesolithic ( Greek : μέσος, mesos 'middle' + λίθος, lithos 'stone') or Middle Stone Age

792-471: Is home to the Dubrovin Farm , a museum commemorating the founders of the community, containing personal possessions and furniture from 19th century Russia . Part of the museum includes ruins of a synagogue dating between the 4th and 6th centuries, highlighting the historic Jewish claim to the region. Tel Hazor is very close, even closer than to Hatzor HaGlilit which is named after it (when Yesud HaMa'ala

836-651: Is more common in Near Eastern archaeology. The Balkan Mesolithic begins around 15,000 years ago. In Western Europe, the Early Mesolithic, or Azilian , begins about 14,000 years ago, in the Franco-Cantabrian region of northern Spain and Southern France . In other parts of Europe, the Mesolithic begins by 11,500 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene ), and it ends with the introduction of farming, depending on

880-660: Is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic . The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymously, especially for outside northern Europe, and for the corresponding period in the Levant and Caucasus . The Mesolithic has different time spans in different parts of Eurasia . It refers to the final period of hunter-gatherer cultures in Europe and

924-442: The 1931 census to a population of 654, still all Muslims, in 161 houses. The population, combined with that of 'Arab al-Zubayd , came to 890 Muslims in the 1945 statistics , with a total of 2,168 dunams of land. In 1944/45 a total of 1,761 dunums were used for cereals by the villagers, while 20 dunams were classifies as built-up land. On 25 May 1948 the villagers left their homes on the advice of their Jewish neighbours. This

SECTION 20

#1732841103283

968-783: The Crusader era, the Franks referred to Mallaha as Merla . Ibn al-Qalanisi describes a battle that took place at Mallaha in June 1157 between the Arab and Turkish forces of Nur ad-Din Zangi and those of the Crusaders under King Baldwin III . Qalanisi writes that Nur ad-Din sent his troops to Mallaha immediately after learning via pigeon post that the Franks had set up an encampment there. The battle, as described by Qalanisi,

1012-583: The First Aliyah . In 2022 it had a population of 1,798. The name of the village was taken from a sentence in the Hebrew Bible : "He ( Ezra ) determined to go up." ( Ezra 7:9 ), which was connected to the Zionist Aliyah . In the late 19th century, the Hulah Valley was mostly swampland and the 15,000 acre (61 km²) shallow Lake Hula . The region was a well-known breeding ground for mosquitoes, and as

1056-406: The archaeology of China , and can be mostly regarded as happily naturalized, Mesolithic was introduced later, mostly after 1945, and does not appear to be a necessary or useful term in the context of China. Chinese sites that have been regarded as Mesolithic are better considered as "Early Neolithic". In the archaeology of India , the Mesolithic, dated roughly between 12,000 and 8,000 BP, remains

1100-408: The " Neolithic package" (including farming, herding, polished stone axes, timber longhouses and pottery) spread into Europe, the Mesolithic way of life was marginalized and eventually disappeared. Mesolithic adaptations such as sedentism, population size and use of plant foods are cited as evidence of the transition to agriculture. Other Mesolithic communities rejected the Neolithic package likely as

1144-580: The "Younger Stone Age". Compared to the preceding Upper Paleolithic and the following Neolithic, there is rather less surviving art from the Mesolithic. The Rock art of the Iberian Mediterranean Basin , which probably spreads across from the Upper Paleolithic, is a widespread phenomenon, much less well known than the cave-paintings of the Upper Paleolithic, with which it makes an interesting contrast. The sites are now mostly cliff faces in

1188-754: The Eastern Baltic. Spreading westward along the coastline it is found in the Ertebølle culture of Denmark and Ellerbek of Northern Germany, and the related Swifterbant culture of the Low Countries . A 2012 publication in the Science journal, announced that the earliest pottery yet known anywhere in the world was found in Xianrendong cave in China, dating by radiocarbon to between 20,000 and 19,000 years before present, at

1232-558: The Isle of Man and the Tyrrhenian Islands, a macrolithic technology was used in the Mesolithic. In the Neolithic, the microlithic technology was replaced by a macrolithic technology, with an increased use of polished stone tools such as stone axes. There is some evidence for the beginning of construction at sites with a ritual or astronomical significance, including Stonehenge , with a short row of large post holes aligned east–west, and

1276-661: The Middle East, between the end of the Last Glacial Maximum and the Neolithic Revolution . In Europe it spans roughly 15,000 to 5,000  BP ; in the Middle East (the Epipalaeolithic Near East ) roughly 20,000 to 10,000  BP . The term is less used of areas farther east, and not at all beyond Eurasia and North Africa . The type of culture associated with the Mesolithic varies between areas, but it

1320-429: The Neolithic . The more permanent settlements tend to be close to the sea or inland waters offering a good supply of food. Mesolithic societies are not seen as very complex, and burials are fairly simple; in contrast, grandiose burial mounds are a mark of the Neolithic. The terms "Paleolithic" and "Neolithic" were introduced by John Lubbock in his work Pre-historic Times in 1865. The additional "Mesolithic" category

1364-712: The Neolithic farmers. Though each area of Mesolithic ceramic developed an individual style, common features suggest a single point of origin. The earliest manifestation of this type of pottery may be in the region around Lake Baikal in Siberia. It appears in the Yelshanka culture on the Volga in Russia 9,000 years ago, and from there spread via the Dnieper-Donets culture to the Narva culture of

Mallaha - Misplaced Pages Continue

1408-827: The Neolithic, some authors prefer the term "Epipaleolithic" for hunter-gatherer cultures who are not succeeded by agricultural traditions, reserving "Mesolithic" for cultures who are clearly succeeded by the Neolithic Revolution, such as the Natufian culture . Other authors use "Mesolithic" as a generic term for hunter-gatherer cultures after the Last Glacial Maximum, whether they are transitional towards agriculture or not. In addition, terminology appears to differ between archaeological sub-disciplines, with "Mesolithic" being widely used in European archaeology, while "Epipalaeolithic"

1452-527: The adoption of a farming lifestyle. The integration of these hunter-gatherer in farming communities was made possible by their socially open character towards new members. In north-Eastern Europe, the hunting and fishing lifestyle continued into the Medieval period in regions less suited to agriculture, and in Scandinavia no Mesolithic period may be accepted, with the locally preferred "Older Stone Age" moving into

1496-678: The end of the Last Glacial Period . The carbon 14 datation was established by carefully dating surrounding sediments. Many of the pottery fragments had scorch marks, suggesting that the pottery was used for cooking. These early pottery containers were made well before the invention of agriculture (dated to 10,000 to 8,000 BC), by mobile foragers who hunted and gathered their food during the Late Glacial Maximum. Epipalaeolithic Near East Caucasus Zagros While Paleolithic and Neolithic have been found useful terms and concepts in

1540-468: The gap with his naming of the Azilian Culture. Knut Stjerna offered an alternative in the "Epipaleolithic", suggesting a final phase of the Paleolithic rather than an intermediate age in its own right inserted between the Paleolithic and Neolithic. By the time of Vere Gordon Childe 's work, The Dawn of Europe (1947), which affirms the Mesolithic, sufficient data had been collected to determine that

1584-521: The homes were decorated in solid white or red, a simple and popular decorative motif in the Near East at the time. The inhabitants appear to have subsisted on fish from nearby Lake Hula , as well as by hunting and gathering; no evidence of animal domestication or cultivation has been found, with the exception of dogs: the burial of a human being with a domestic dog at the site represents the earliest known archaeological evidence of dog domestication. During

1628-530: The material record, such as the Maglemosian and Azilian cultures. Such conditions also delayed the coming of the Neolithic until some 5,500 BP in northern Europe. The type of stone toolkit remains one of the most diagnostic features: the Mesolithic used a microlithic technology – composite devices manufactured with Mode V chipped stone tools ( microliths ), while the Paleolithic had utilized Modes I–IV. In some areas, however, such as Ireland, parts of Portugal,

1672-534: The nineteenth century, but according to Edward Robinson , who travelled there in 1838, Burckhardt mislabeled the whole S.W. coast of the lake as el-Mellahah. Robinson observed that Ain el-Mallaha lay northwest of Lake Hula, and was "a single large fountain." Nearby was "usually a large encampment of the Ghawarineh in tents and reed huts." In 1881, the PEF 's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Ain el Mellahah as

1716-629: The open air, and the subjects are now mostly human rather than animal, with large groups of small figures; there are 45 figures at Roca dels Moros . Clothing is shown, and scenes of dancing, fighting, hunting and food-gathering. The figures are much smaller than the animals of Paleolithic art, and depicted much more schematically, though often in energetic poses. A few small engraved pendants with suspension holes and simple engraved designs are known, some from northern Europe in amber , and one from Star Carr in Britain in shale . The Elk's Head of Huittinen

1760-426: The region between c.  8,500 and 5,500 years ago. Regions that experienced greater environmental effects as the last glacial period ended have a much more apparent Mesolithic era, lasting millennia. In northern Europe, for example, societies were able to live well on rich food supplies from the marshlands created by the warmer climate. Such conditions produced distinctive human behaviors that are preserved in

1804-550: The term "Epipaleolithic" may be preferred by most authors, or there may be divergences between authors over which term to use or what meaning to assign to each. In the New World, neither term is used (except provisionally in the Arctic). "Epipaleolithic" is sometimes also used alongside "Mesolithic" for the final end of the Upper Paleolithic immediately followed by the Mesolithic. As "Mesolithic" suggests an intermediate period, followed by

Mallaha - Misplaced Pages Continue

1848-409: Was added as an intermediate category by Hodder Westropp in 1866. Westropp's suggestion was immediately controversial. A British school led by John Evans denied any need for an intermediate: the ages blended together like the colors of a rainbow, he said. A European school led by Gabriel de Mortillet asserted that there was a gap between the earlier and later. Edouard Piette claimed to have filled

1892-532: Was bloody and quick, resulting in decisive victory for the Muslim forces, who are reported to have lost only two men, with the king narrowly escaping with a bodyguard. The battles for control over Mallaha continued. The Itinerary of Richard I notes that the army had advanced to Merla, "where the king had spent one of the previous nights." Just SE of Mallaha (at grid 2071/2737), excavations have revealed structures, probably dating to thirteenth or fourteenth century, that

1936-571: Was part of a "whispering campaign" launched by the Haganah following Operation Yiftach . According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi , describing the remains of the village in 1992: "The sandy hill on which the village was situated is completely overgrown with tall grass, cactuses, and weeds, as well as an assortment of fig, eucalyptus, and date-palm trees. Amidst the overgrowth, stone rubble from destroyed houses can be seen. The surrounding land

#282717