-
36
-
thought
to
be
the
most
northerly Kebaran-like
occurrence
but
related
material
has
now
been
found
at
Douara
Cave
near
Palmyra
(Akazawa,
197^-,
^)
and
possibly
at
Nahr
el
Homr
east
of
Aleppo
beside
the
Euphrates
(Roodenberg,
forthcoming).
The
evolution
of
this
phase
in
Lebanon
has
become
much
clearer
following
the
recent
wort
at
Ksar
Akil
(Tixier,
197^,
1W
and
Jiita
II
(Hours,
1973,
199).
Sites
with
material related
to
the
Natufian
have
also
been
known
over
a
wide
area
for
some
time.
Helwan
near
Cairo
(Massoulard,
19^9»
29)
and
Yabrud
III
(Rust,
1950,
119)
were
investigated
long
ago
but
recently
several
more
sites
have
been
discovered
and
excavated
in
Lebanon
and
Syria.
No
less
than
four,
Tell
Abu
Hureyra
(Moore,
1975,
56),
Mureybat
(Cauvin,
1972,
107),
Dibsi
Faraj
East
(Wilkinson,
Moore,
forthcoming)
and
Nahr
el
Homr
(Roodenberg,
forthcoming)
have
now
been
examined
in
the
Euphrates
valley
in
the
programme
of
archaeological
exploration
which
has
taken
place during
the
construction
of
the
new
Euphrates
dam.
Work by
Hours
and
his
collaborators
at
Jiita
II
(Chavaillon, Hours,
1970,
215ff)
and
by
Schroeder
at
Saaideh
(1970,
200)
and
Nacharini
has
begun
to
clarify
the
development
of
this
stage
in
Lebanon.
Now
that
sites
with
material
resembling
at
least
in
part
the
assemblages
of
artifacts
from
Kebaran
and
Natufian
sites
in
Palestine
have
been
found
over
such
a
wide
area
of the
Levant
and
even
further
afield
the
traditional
terms
used
to
describe
them
are
no
longer
adequate.
The
descriptions
"Kebaran"
and
"Natufian"
have
been
used
to
describe
every
site
far
beyond
the
confines
of
Palestine with
material
which
bears
only
the
most
general
resemblance
to
that
on
the
type-sites.
They
have
by
such usage
become
so
strained
that
they
have
lost
some
of
their
original
meaning
and
precision.
I
propose
in
this
thesis
to
use
the terms "Kebaran" and "Natufian" only
for
sites
in
Palestine
which
may
be
properly
described
under these
headings.
Sites
found
elsewhere
in
the
Levant
which
have
similarities
with
these
I
shall
classify
as
Mesolithic
1
if
they may be
compared
with
the
Kebaran
and
Mesolithic
2
if
they
have
some
of
the
characteristic
traits
of
the
Natufian.
Both
Mesolithic
1
and
Meso-
lithic
2
will
also
subsume
the
Kebaran
and
Natufian
in
Palestine
itself.