Local Technological Traditions in the Early and Middle Epipaleolithic of Ein Gev Area

In the Levant, the Epipalaeolithic is a long sequence of cultural entities dated between ca. 24,000 to 11,500 cal BP. Different Epipalaeolithic entities are mainly defined based on chronological and geographical patterns in the produced types of microliths. However, typological variability provides limited information on the dynamics of the local learning communities through time. The present study wishes to test whether the analysis of the microlith manufacturing process can help track the movement of people and ideas beyond the observed variability in microlith types, providing a novel insight on the population dynamics. The study focuses on the area of Ein Gev, where three different Early and Middle Epipalaeolithic cultural entities (Kebaran, Nizzanan, and Geometric Kebaran) were recorded respectively in three sites (Ein Gev I, III, and IV). We conducted an attribute analysis of cores and production blanks. Our results were discussed in light of a theoretical framework for the transmission of typological and technological traits among prehistoric populations. It suggests that, in a geographically limited area, continuity of technological traits among assemblages attributed to different cultural entities can be associated with continuity in the population. The analysis enabled tracking the continuity between the local Kebaran and Geometric Kebaran manufacturing traditions. In contrast, the Nizzanan occupation of the area presents technological traits that may reflect a different manufacturing tradition. It is suggested that the possible increase in territoriality of local groups can be considered among the factors that triggered, during the Natufian, the onset of sedentism.