Nahal Oren

The site of this ancient village of pit houses is located on the northern bank of the wadi (river) Nahal Oren on Mount Carmal, 10 km (6.2 mi) south of present-day Haifa, Israel.

Archaeologists carbon dated emmer wheat grains found at the earliest strata of the site to 14,000 BCE, indicating the possible earliest cultivation of wheat food source. The place was inhabited over a great time span with artifacts found from Kebaran (Upper Paleolithic), Natufian (Epipaleolithic), Pre-Pottery Neolithic A and B (PPNA and PPNB) industries,

Located just below an earlier inhabited cave, the PPNA village of 13 sub-circular houses, shown here, stood on four artificial closely set terraces. The buildings were similar to those of PPNA Jericho, Palelstine, West Bank.

During Neolithic occupation, the main source of food appears to have been gazelles, and judging from the high incidence of immature gazelle bones, this species may have been domesticated. Later there was a shift to goat husbandry. This may have occurred because goats are less selective in their diets than gazelles and able to graze in areas where the gazelle could not fare well.

Elevation is close to sea level.

Materials: mortarless stone retaining walls, log roof structure (?), with fiber and mud roofing (?).

Data for CG model:
1.Noy, Tamar; Legge A.J.; and Higgs, E.S.; 2014; Recent Excavations at Nahal Oren, Israel, article in Proceeding of the Prehistoric Society, December 2014
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276372201_Recent_Excavations_at_Nahal_Oren_Israel
2.Nadel, Dani; and Rosenberg, Danny; 2011; Late Natufian Nahal Oren and its satellite sites, some regional & ceremonial aspects, in Before Farming (continued as Hunter Gatherer Research journal), Volume 2011, Issue, Liverpool University Press, UK.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259256999_Late_Natufian_Nahal_Oren_and_its_satellite_sites
3. Banning, E. B. 2003; Housing Neolithic Farmers, Near Eastern Archaeology, Mar-Jun 2003; ProQuest.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266393614_Housing_Neolithic_Farmers