Jericho, Palestine
Jericho, Palestine [Si].A massive tell mound in the Jordan Valley of Israel, just north of Wadi el-Mafjar. Excavated at various intervals since the late 19th century ad, notably by J. Garstang in 1930–6 and Kathleen Kenyon in 1952–8, the site shows a long and uninterrupted sequence from the Natufian through to the late Bronze Age. The Natufian levels date to about 8000 BC and seem to represent a hunter-gatherer campsite, although Kenyon discovered a rectangular stone platform that may have been some kind of shrine. These are followed by the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A levels (PPNA) at about 7500 BC: a settlement of 4ha was enclosed by a fortification wall that includes a large tower against its inner face. It is one of the earliest permanent settlements known. The houses are round and of mud brick. Subsistence here included cereal cultivation and hunting animals. The succeeding PPNB, dated to c.6500 BC, had rectangular houses with plastered floors. An...
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