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"Simmons, Alan H"
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The neolithic revolution in the Near East : transforming the human landscape
\"Based on more than thirty years of fieldwork, this timely volume examines the Neolithic Revolution in the Levantine Near East and on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Alan Simmons explores recent research regarding the emergence of Neolithic populations, using both environmental and theoretical contexts, and incorporates specific case studies based on his own excavations. Simmons traces chronological and regional differences within this land of immense environmental contrasts - woodlands, steppe, and desert. He argues that the Neolithic Revolution can be seen in a variety of economic, demographic, and social guises and that it lacked a single common stimulus.\"--Jacket.
Book
Stone Age Sailors
Over the past decade, evidence has been mounting that our ancestors developed skills to sail across large bodies of water early in prehistory. In this fascinating volume, Alan Simmons summarizes and synthesizes the evidence for prehistoric seafaring and island habitation worldwide, then focuses on the Mediterranean. Recent work in Melos, Crete, and elsewhere-- as well as Simmons’ own work in Cyprus-- demonstrate that long-distance sailing is a common Paleolithic phenomenon. His comprehensive presentation of the key evidence and findings will be of interest to both those interested in prehistory and those interested in ancient seafaring.
eBook
Stone age sailors : Paleolithic seafaring in the Mediterranean
\"Over the past decade, evidence has been mounting that our ancestors developed skills to sail across large bodies of water early in prehistory. In this fascinating volume, Alan Simmons summarizes and synthesizes the evidence for prehistoric seafaring and island habitation worldwide, then focuses on the Mediterranean. Recent work in Melos, Crete, and elsewhere-- as well as Simmons' own work in Cyprus-- demonstrate that long-distance sailing is a common Paleolithic phenomenon. His comprehensive presentation of the key evidence and findings will be of interest to both those interested in prehistory and those interested in ancient seafaring.\" -- Provided by publisher.
Book
No evidence for widespread island extinctions after Pleistocene hominin arrival
The arrival of modern humans into previously unoccupied island ecosystems is closely linked to widespread extinction, and a key reason cited for Pleistocene megafauna extinction is anthropogenic overhunting. A common assumption based on late Holocene records is that humans always negatively impact insular biotas, which requires an extrapolation of recent human behavior and technology into the archaeological past. Hominins have been on islands since at least the early Pleistocene and
for at least 50 thousand y (ka). Over such lengthy intervals it is scarcely surprising that significant evolutionary, behavioral, and cultural changes occurred. However, the deep-time link between human arrival and island extinctions has never been explored globally. Here, we examine archaeological and paleontological records of all Pleistocene islands with a documented hominin presence to examine whether humans have always been destructive agents. We show that extinctions at a global level cannot be associated with Pleistocene hominin arrival based on current data and are difficult to disentangle from records of environmental change. It is not until the Holocene that large-scale changes in technology, dispersal, demography, and human behavior visibly affect island ecosystems. The extinction acceleration we are currently experiencing is thus not inherent but rather part of a more recent cultural complex.
Journal Article
JOINT CUSTODY: An Archaeological Park at Neolithic Ghwair I, Jordan
Archaeological parks have enjoyed considerable success in both presenting excavation results to the public and, often, in benefiting local communities. While many such parks focus on large and visually impressive sites, smaller sites also can benefit from this approach to archaeological presentation. Here, we present the results of a modest park at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic site of Ghwair I in the remote Wadi Faynan of southern Jordan. The park was constructed after several excavation seasons, and consists primarily of a simple series of trails and signage, accompanied by a brochure in both Arabic and English. This article addresses how Ghwair I fits into broader eco-tourism of the Wadi Faynan area and examines some of the pragmatic issues that were faced, including funding and maintenance.
Journal Article
The Neolithic Revolution in the Near East
One of humanity's most important milestones was the transition from hunting and gathering to food production and permanent village life. This Neolithic Revolution first occurred in the Near East, changing the way humans interacted with their environment and each other, setting the stage, ultimately, for the modern world.Based on more than thirty years of fieldwork, this timely volume examines the Neolithic Revolution in the Levantine Near East and the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Alan H. Simmons explores recent research regarding the emergence of Neolithic populations, using both environmental and theoretical contexts, and incorporates specific case studies based on his own excavations. In clear and graceful prose, Simmons traces chronological and regional differences within this land of immense environmental contrasts-woodland, steppe, and desert. He argues that the Neolithic Revolution can be seen in a variety of economic, demographic, and social guises and that it lacked a single common stimulus.Each chapter includes sections on history, terminology, geographic range, specific domesticated species, the composition of early villages and households, and the development of social, symbolic, and religious behavior. Most chapters include at least one case study and conclude with a concise summary. In addition, Simmons presents a unique chapter on the island of Cyprus, where intriguing new research challenges assumptions about the impact and extent of the Neolithic.The Neolithic Revolution in the Near Eastconveys the diversity of our Neolithic ancestors, providing a better understanding of the period and the new social order that arose because of it. This insightful volume will be especially useful to Near Eastern scholars and to students of archaeology and the origins of agriculture.
eBook
Ais Giorkis: An unusual early Neolithic settlement in Cyprus
For over a century, archaeologists have been intrigued by the inception of food production and sedentary lifeways, the so-called \"Neolithic Revolution.\" Research focused on the Near Eastern and Anatolian mainlands has documented some of the earliest Neolithic cultures known. The adjacent Mediterranean islands were generally believed to have been late recipients of Neolithic economies. Recent research challenges this by establishing both Late Epipalaeolithic and early Neolithic occupations on Cyprus. Ais Giorkis contributes to this revision. It is an early Neolithic site (ca. 7500 cal b.c.) in the uplands, unlike most contemporary sites, which are near the coast. Ais Giorkis is more complex than originally believed, containing unusual architecture, abundant and sophisticated artifacts, and some of the oldest directly dated domesticated plants in the Near East. It also has a faunal assemblage that includes small numbers of cattle bones, previously undocumented before the Bronze Age, but now shown to be present at three early Neolithic sites.
Journal Article
Ghwair I: A Small, Complex Neolithic Community in Southern Jordan
The past several years have witnessed exciting developments in defining the transition to food production in the Near East. In particula1; the documentation of large mega-sites has caused considerable revision in our comprehension of the trajectory of early Neolithic village life. At the same time, recent excavations at smaller villages have also provided considerable new data. One such site is Ghwair I, a small but exceptionally preserved Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) village located in the Wadi Feinan of southern Jordan.
This paper summarizes the results of interdisciplinary archaeological investigations at Ghwair I, One of the project's primary research objectives was to examine if a \"rural\" and \"turban\" (or \"core/periphery\") distinction could be made between Ghwair I and mega-sites. Our findings suggest that Ghwair I was not a peripheral village linked to larger sites. Rathe1; it was an unexpectedly complex settlement that may have served as a local regional center. we also sought to precisely define the site's chronology, artifactual variability, village development, and social structure. Our results show that Ghwair I isfirmly dated to the Middle PPNB; that artifactual diversity and variability is considerable, especially amongst chipped and ground stone; that the village became increasingly complex throughout its occupation; and that social o1lJanization was sophisticated as reflected by artifacts, burials and both residential and non-residential architectural features. Finally, initiated an ecologicalstudy to determine if small settlements such as Ghwair I caused the same negative efficts as have been proposed for some larger sites. The evidence here is ambiguous, but does not suggest the same degree of human effict as at larger settlements. This paper concludes with a discussion of Ghwair I's place within the wider Neolithic world.
Journal Article
American Researchers and the Earliest Cypriots
At Aetokremnos, this association between pygmy hippopotami bones and chipped-stone artifacts could, of course, have been purely coincidental, since some of the sites recorded by Pile occurred on sand dunes near the cliffs edge and could have eroded onto Aetokremnos' surface.\\n Thus, more often than not methodological blinders may have inhibited surveyors from recording artifact scatters if no evidence of architecture accompanied the surface finds.
Journal Article