Large Predator Hunting and Its Interpretation: Leopards, Bears and Lions in the Archaeological Record of the Southern Levant

In this paper, we discuss the occurrence of lions, bears and leopards in south Levantine archaeological assemblages between the last glacial maximum (c. 25,000 years ago) and the Iron Age (c. 2500 years ago). We argue that the occurrence of these large carnivores constitutes a significant long-term...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cambridge archaeological journal 2023-02, Vol.33 (1), p.137-156
Main Authors: Shimelmitz, Ron, Reshef, Hagar, Nativ, Assaf, Marom, Nimrod
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Archaeology
Bears
Ceramics
Egalitarianism
Farmers
Historic buildings & sites
Hunter-gatherers
Hunting
Hypotheses
Institutionalization
Iron Age
Neolithic
Social capital
Wildcats
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Summary:In this paper, we discuss the occurrence of lions, bears and leopards in south Levantine archaeological assemblages between the last glacial maximum (c. 25,000 years ago) and the Iron Age (c. 2500 years ago). We argue that the occurrence of these large carnivores constitutes a significant long-term cultural feature that begins with the first settled hunter-gatherer communities of the Natufian culture. Importantly, we show that carnivoran species representation in the archaeological record shifts through time, with leopards common during the Neolithic and lions and bears during the Bronze and Iron ages. These shifts, we suggest, are best understood as reflecting the interplay between costly signalling and symbolism as they interacted through processes of increasing socio-political complexity.
ISSN:0959-7743
1474-0540
DOI:10.1017/S0959774322000221