Guy Bar-Oz

The comparison of survivorship curves derived from seven different models aiming to reconstruct ancient sheep and goat herd maintenance strategies (e.g. optimization of wool, meat, and milk production) shows that many of these models cannot be distinguished statistically. This observation renders the current theoretical framework for reconstructing ancient herd maintenance strategies problematic, due to the possible indeterminacy of model data

The Epipaleolithic sequence of the southern Levant (ca. 24,000e11,500 cal. BP) reflects the shift from mobile to sedentary foraging societies, eventually paving the way to nascent villages, domestication and farming. Early and middle Epipaleolithic cultures (locally, the Kebaran and the Geometric Kebaran) generally produce an archaeological signature of mobile foragers, while the late Epipaleolithic Natufian Culture is renowned for the regular and intensified appearance of durable architecture, cemeteries, groundstones and art, joined with a broad-spectrum economy, and therefore indicates a more complex and sedentary society. Epipaleolithic archaeofaunas have been thoroughly investigated to detect shifts in site-occupation intensity, including changes in prey abundances, ungulate culling patterns and carcass processing habits, but carcass transport decisions received less attention. The transition to sedentary living in the Natufian would entail the exploitation of a defined and contracted territory around the site. In this case, central-place foraging theory predicts that ungulates will be hunted in the site's proximity and hence will be carried away in a more complete form, undergoing minimal or no field butchery. Therefore, we predict that skeletal-element profiles in sedentary Natufian hamlets will be more complete than in pre-Natufian camps, used by mobile foragers. We test this prediction by constructing detailed skeletal-element profiles and examining skeletal-element evenness. The results indicate that ungulate carcasses were transported significantly more completely in the Natufian assemblages, supporting our prediction. We further zoom in to explore the differential distribution of skeletal element abundances within a Natufian hamlet, showing the discard and attrition patterns that eventually produced our skeletal-element record. The results of our analysis of skeletal-element evenness correspond to other archaeological proxies for increased site-occupation intensity and territorial contraction in the Natufian.

Reductions in hunter-gatherer mobility during the Late Pleistocene influenced settlement ecologies, altered human relations with animal communities, and played a pivotal role in domestication. The influence of variability in human mobility on selection dynamics and ecological interactions in human settlements has not been extensively explored, however. This study of mice in modern African villages and changing mice molar shapes in a 200,000-y-long sequence from the Levant demonstrates competitive advantages for com-mensal mice in long-term settlements. Mice from African pastoral households provide a referential model for habitat partitioning among mice taxa in settlements of varying durations. The data reveal the earliest known commensal niche for house mice in long-term forager settlements 15,000 y ago. Competitive dynamics and the presence and abundance of mice continued to fluctuate with human mobility through the terminal Pleistocene. At the Natufian site of Ain Mallaha, house mice displaced less commensal wild mice during periods of heavy occupational pressure but were outcompeted when mobility increased. Changing food webs and ecological dynamics in long-term settlements allowed house mice to establish durable commensal populations that expanded with human societies. This study demonstrates the changing magnitude of cultural niche construction with varying human mobility and the extent of environmental influence before the advent of farming. house mouse | sedentism | Natufian hunter-gatherers | commensalism | niche construction R eductions in hunter-gatherer mobility during the Late Pleisto-cene and development of sedentary ways of life altered human relations with plant and animal communities and played a pivotal role in domestication. Niche construction activities of settled hunter-gatherers, such as building, food storage, and waste accumulation , influenced food webs and exerted novel selection pressures on animal populations in human settlements (1-3). These factors resulted in changes in the abundance, ecology, and evolutionary trajectories of a range of animal species. Wild boars and wolves are thought to have been attracted to food sources in settlements following commensal pathways before developing long-term mutualism characteristic of domestication (4-6). Do-mestication of other animals, like goats or cattle, may have followed from hunting pressures exerted by settled communities and consequent shifts in hunting strategies (7-9). There is limited empirical evidence, however, on when pivotal shifts in mobility and selection pressures on animals in human settlements first occurred. Little is known about changing selection dynamics or competition among commensal taxa with changing occupational pressures. Despite acknowledged relationships between hunter-gatherer sedentism and domestication, scholars also hold widely divergent views regarding the level of hunter-gatherer versus early farmer impacts on ancient landscapes. Our study of the beginnings of mouse commensalism in the Levantine region offers high-resolution data on the effect of fluctuations in human mobility on selection in human settlements , niche partitioning among mice species, and niche dynamics through time. The Levant is the likely place of origin of the commensal niche of house mice (Mus musculus domesticus; hereafter, domesticus) and the springboard for global human-mediated expansion of this species (10-14). Sites dating to the Early Holocene (ca. 12,000 B.P., all dates are calibrated radio-carbon years before present), a short time before the Neolithic, furnish the earliest known fossil evidence of domesticus (11, 13). Evidence for Early Holocene house mice was preceded by several millennia of decreased settlement mobility, social elaboration , and subsistence shifts among complex hunter-gatherers in the southern Levant (15). Wild grain collection, hunting, and reliance on small mammals intensified from as early as 25,000-23,000 B.P (16, 17). The appearance of the Natufian culture ca. 15,000 B.P. has been perceived by many as marking a punctuated transition to sedentism and built settlement environments in the region (18). As a result, it has been suggested that rather than emerging with farming, preagricultural human sedentism led to commensalism in the domesticus lineage (19, 20). This trajectory of reduced mobility was not unidirectional, however, and the intensities with which Natufian settlements were occupied and degree of human mobility continued to fluctuate substantially over ca. 3,500 y before the Neolithic (18, 21, 22). Significance Decreases in hunter-gatherer mobility during the Late Pleisto-cene altered relationships with animal communities and led to domestication. Little is known, however, about how selection operated in settlements of varying duration. This study of mice in modern African mobile settlements and ancient Levantine sites demonstrates competitive advantages for commensal mice when human mobility is low and niche partitioning with noncommensal wild mice when mobility increases. Changing mice molar shapes in a 200,000-y-long sequence from the Le-vant reveal that mice first colonized settlements of relatively settled hunter-gatherers 15,000 y ago. The first long-term hunter-gatherer settlements transformed ecological interactions and food webs, allowing commensal house mice to out-compete wild mice and establish durable populations that expanded with human societies.

Metagenomic analysis is a highly promising technique in paleogenetic research that allows analysis of the complete genomic make-up of a sample. this technique has successfully been employed to archaeological sediments, but possible leaching of DNA through the sequence limits interpretation. We applied this technique to the analysis of ancient DNA (aDNA) from Late Quaternary stalagmites from two caves in Western Georgia, Melouri Cave and solkota. stalagmites form closed systems, limiting the effect of leaching, and can be securely dated with U-series. The analyses of the sequence data from the Melouri Cave stalagmite revealed potential contamination and low preservation of DNA. However, the two solkota stalagmites preserved ancient DNA molecules of mammals (bear, roe deer, bats) and plants (chestnut, hazelnut, flax). The aDNA bearing layers from one of the two Solkota stalagmites were dated to between ~84 ka and ~56 ka BP by U-series. The second Solkota stalagmite contained excessive detrital clay obstructing U-series dating, but it also contained bear bones with a minimum age of ~50 BP uncalibrated years and ancient DNA molecules. the preservation of authentic ancient DNA molecules in Late Quaternary speleothems opens up a new paleogenetic archive for archaeological, paleontological and paleoenvironmental research. Ancient DNA (aDNA) genomics is a valuable information source on past biological diversity and evolutionary trajectories of species 1-3. A particular focus has been on the analysis of human bones yielding high coverage genomes of archaic humans 4-6 and enabling novel insights into human dispersals and migrations 7-9. Additionally, several studies employed a metagenomic approach to the study of DNA sequence data retrieved from soils and sediments from various environments, including caves 10 , lakes 11 , arid 12 and arctic environments 13,14. Slon et al. 15 using a shotgun sequencing approach and analysing the deamination pattern for identification of authentic ancient DNA 16 , reported on the recovery of archaic human aDNA as well as other mammalian aDNA from archaeological deposits at several sites. This metagenomic research shows that not only bones but many other components of the archaeological and paleontological record, such as deposits themselves, may serve as a preservation medium for ancient DNA. The retrieval of authentic aDNA strands from deposits is made possible by the binding of DNA to various sediment and soil components, including clays 17-19 , silica 20,21 , humic acids 22 and calcite 23. However, soil chemistry , e.g. pH 20 , and soil transformation processes, such as the dissolution and precipitation of minerals, greatly impacts preservation. Furthermore, post-depositional movement of sediment components through turbation, such as bioturbation, as well as other soil translocation processes, such as clay illuviation, may negatively impact the integrity and complicate the interpretation of aDNA found in sediments and soils 24,25 .

The recent discovery of a Late/Final Pre-Pottery Neolithic B burial of an adult and two children associated with fox bones at the site of Motza, Israel, demonstrates the broader socio-cultural perspective , and possibly continued animistic world views, of Neolithic foragers at the onset of the agricultural revolution. Recent excavations at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B mega-site of Motza (7600-6000 BC), central Israel, have revealed a rare human burial with two foxes. The fox bones were dismem-bered, except for one foot found in articulation, and scattered among the human remains. What could this burial reveal about interactions between humans and small carnivores in the eighth and seventh millennia BC? We propose that Neolithisation entails closer relations between humans and small carnivores, relations that find expression in ritual practice. This is an animistic reflection of an anthropogenic ecology, which is advantageous to such animals and can be related to the general transition to agriculture in the Levant during this period. Motza, located in the Judean Hills west of Jerusalem, is one of the largest sites in the southern Levant, approximately 40ha (Figure 1). It was previously excavated (Khalaily et al. 2007) and is remarkable for its architecture, plaster floors, a lithic assemblage rich in arrowheads, multiple graves and numerous animal bones. As one of the earliest and largest agricultural villages in the Mediterranean phytogeographic zone, Motza has much to

The Late Bronze of the Eastern Mediterranean (1550-1150 BCE) was a period of strong commercial relations and great prosperity, which ended in collapse and migration of groups to the Levant. Here we aim at studying the translocation of cattle and pigs during this period. We sequenced the first ancient mitochondrial and Y chromosome DNA of cattle from Greece and Israel and compared the results with morphometric analysis of the metacarpal in cattle. We also increased previous ancient pig DNA datasets from Israel and extracted the first mitochondrial DNA for samples from Greece. We found that pigs underwent a complex translocation history, with links between Anatolia with southeastern Europe in the Bronze Age, and movement from southeastern Europe to the Levant in the Iron I (ca. 1150-950 BCE). Our genetic data did not indicate movement of cattle between the Aegean region and the southern Levant. We detected the earliest evidence for crossbreeding between taurine and zebu cattle in the Iron IIA (ca. 900 BCE). In light of archaeological and historical evidence on Egyptian imperial domination in the region in the Late Bronze Age, we suggest that Egypt attempted to expand dry farming in the region in a period of severe droughts. The period between ca. 1,450 and 950 BCE-much of the Late Bronze Age and the early Iron Age-was one of the most dramatic in the history of the Eastern Mediterranean basin 1. During the Late Bronze Age the great Egyptian and Hittite empires ruled over extensive regions of the Near East and northeastern Africa, Mycenaean palatial societies flourished in what is currently Greece and the shores of western Turkey, and Cyprus functioned as a regional supplier of copper. This was a period of pronounced "globalization", characterized by strong trade relations that created a cultural koine, perhaps best represented by the cargo of the Uluburun shipwreck [on the southern coast of Turkey 2 ]. This period of great prosperity ended in a major collapse process known as the "Crisis Years" (refs 1 and 3; for possible relation to climate change see refs 4 and 5). The breakdown of the old order was accompanied by movements of groups, sometimes called the Sea Peoples (among them the Philistines), from various parts of the Mediterranean to the Levant (e.g., ref. 6). These momentous processes shaped the history of the Old World, opening the way to the emergence of new regional kingdoms, among them biblical Israel and Judah. In the Late Bronze Age, various commodities were shipped along Eastern Mediterranean coasts, including copper ingots from Cyprus, prestige ceramic vessels from the Mycenaean world and Cyprus, and resin from the coast of the Levant (e.g., ref. 2). Most of these items are conspicuous to archaeologists. However, because of the

The early sixth millennium settlement at Sha'ar Hagolan, in the central Jordan valley, shows evidences for early village planning, including courtyard houses, streets, and a water well, and also a large number of portable symbolic items, notably clay figurines of a corpulent female are dominant. The largest courtyard building in the settlement was previously suggested to have served ritual purposes, based on the pottery assemblage, figurines, and burials found in it. In this paper we report the results of a zooarchaeological analysis of the assemblage from that courtyard building, which support this suggestion , and may indicate that the rituals conducted in the building were seasonal celebrations. Archaeological and anthropological parallels are suggested.

Some 180 desert kites were reported from Armenia, with puzzling aspects regarding the typological variability and distribution patterns. Although the study of kites in southwest Asia has made many recent advances, their dating and cultural context remain uncertain due to apparent limitations. A division of them includes two major categories, v-shaped hunting kites, and enclosure kites. The latter have two subgroups: those with and those lacking guiding walls. Here, we analyze the architectural characteristics and geographical settings of v-shaped and enclosure kites in order to shed new light on their past function. It appears that the rare v-shaped kites are limited to the topographical lower end of the kites' phenomenon in Armenia. On the other hand, the enclosure kites are found across the topographical range of the phenomenon, between about 900 and 1500 m above msl. Furthermore, the typical Arme-nian enclosure kite has a heart-like morphology, with trapping pits located upwards and 'behind' the main entrance of the enclosure. Such a layout is uncommon further south in the deserts of the Near East, but documented for game traps on the Ustyurt Plateau, and similar structures were used for hunting and herding in Scandinavia. We thus suggest that the two Armenian enclosure kite types were used for hunting wild game, most likely Red Deer (with guiding walls); and for keeping livestock (without guiding walls). We also suggest that the hunters and/or herders that constructed the kites practiced seasonal vertical movement between winter and summer grazing lands.

‫רשות העתיקות ובמימון הקרן הלאומית למדע‬ ‫)ארכאוזואולוגיה(וט' אריקסון­גיני)כלי חרס(, בסיוע ר' שחק­גרוס)גאוארכאולוגיה(, א' וויס‬ ‫)ארכאובוטניקה(ומ' כהן)מדידות(. בחפירה השתתפו מתנדבים מבתי ספר שדה שדה בוקר, הר הנגב‬ '‫וניצנה וסטודנטים מהתכנית הבינלאומית של החוג לציוויליזציות ימיות באוניברסיטת חיפה. כן סייעו ז‬ '‫שרצר וא' זברצ'יק מבית ספר שדה שדה בוקר, א' יסעור­לנדאו וא' רצלף מהחוג לציוויליזציות ימיות ור‬ .(‫הירש מחולות מקמן)אירוח ותשתיות להקמת מעבדת שדה‬ ‫' ביוונית, המזוהים‬Elusa' ,‫החפירה התמקדה בכמה תלים מחוץ לשולי העיר הביזנטית חלוצה‬ Saidel ‫עם האשפות של העיר העתיקה)איורים 1, 2: מיקום ריבועי החפירה על תכנית מתוך‬ ‫(, במטרה לאפיין את כלכלת העיר, תנאי הסביבה ופרק הזמן‬and Christopherson 2005 ‫שבהם התקיימה. תלי האשפה של חלוצה הביזנטית זוהו לראשונה על ידי ל' וולי ות' לורנס‬ .(Saidel and Christopherson 2005) 1914 ‫במסגרת סקר ארכאולוגי של הנגב בשנת‬ ‫משלחת של ד' קולט ערכה סקר של פני השטח וחפירת בדיקה באחד התלים בצפון­מערב האתר‬ ‫(. סקרים נוספים וחפירות נערכו באתר בשנות ה­07 ובראשית שנות‬Negev 1993) 1938 ‫בשנת‬ ‫(, ובמהלכם נערכה חפירה בתל‬Negev 1976 ;‫ה­08 של המאה הכ' לסה"נ)נגב תשמ"ב‬ .‫האשפה הגדול שבצפון­מערב האתר, כנראה במורדות הצפוניים שלו‬ ‫(ושניים בגבולו‬A ‫נחפרו ארבעה ריבועים)2 מ"ר כל אחד(: שניים בגבולו הצפוני של האתר)שטח‬ ‫(. בחפירה הוקפד על הפרדה ובקרה-כל ריבוע חולק לארבעה ריבועים של‬B ‫הדרומי)שטח‬ ‫מטר רבוע כל אחד ובכל תת­ריבוע נקבע סל נפרד לכל יחידה של 01 ס"מ עומק. החפירה לוותה‬ ‫בניפוי של כל החומר שנחפר ברשת)5.0 ס"מ(, נערך ניפוי דק)רשת 1 מ"מ(של כרבע מן החומר‬ ‫החפור והצפה של דגימות קרקע)01 ליטר לכל 01 ס"מ עומק(לצורך איסוף ממצא ארכאוזואולוגי‬ ‫ובוטני זעיר, מטבעות וממצא חומרי זעיר אחר. מן החתכים שנחשפו בשטחי החפירה נאספו‬ ‫דגימות של סדימנטים וחומר בוטני מפוחם לבדיקות מעבדה הכוללות איסוף נתונים‬ ‫גיאוארכיאולוגיים על אופן היווצרות האשפות ותיארוך בשיטת פחמן 41 בשילוב עם מודל‬ .‫(. העבודה על הדגימות נמשכת‬Bayesian modeling) ‫סטטיסטי‬ ‫. החפירה התמקדה בעיקר בשטח זה, הסמוך לבית המרחץ של העיר חלוצה ונחפרו בו‬A ‫שטח‬ ‫שני ריבועים)1, 4; 3.1 מ' עומק(. ריבוע 1 נחפר בפסגת תל האשפה הגדול, בשוליים‬ ‫הצפוניים­מערביים של האתר)56.032 מ' גובה מעל פני הים(, הבולט בנוף החולש על חורבות‬ ‫העיר חלוצה בשל גובהו ונפחו. החפירה בריבוע 1 הניבה כמויות גדולות של חרסים, פריטי‬ ‫זכוכית, מטבעות, שרידים מן הצומח ועצמות בעלי חיים. על פי טיפוסי הפריטים אפשר לתארך‬ ‫את האשפה ברום התל לתקופה הביזנטית המאוחרת, המאות הה'-הו' לסה"נ. חתך עומק חשף‬ (4 ,3 ‫(של עדשות דקות)כ­5 ס"מ עובי כל אחת; איורים‬Micro­stratigraphy) ‫רצף דינמי‬ ‫והופעה לסירוגין של עדשות חוליות בהירות ועדשות כהות עם תכולה גבוהה של אפר וממצא‬ ,‫בוטני מפוחם. בחתכים הצפוני והדרומי של ריבוע 1 העדשות נוטות למערב, בנטיית מדרון התל‬

Here we use data from two excavation trenches of equal volume in mound M1 (5 cu. m each). Counts of specimens were averaged across arbitrary 10 cm-thick excavation levels in each trench, showing limited change between the two assemblages, with considerable overlap in the ranges of variation in specimen numbers for all five find categories (Fig. S5). Arid-adapted economic species of livestock and wood (sheep/goats and Negev species of wood and shrub) outnumber more water-dependent ones (pigs and imported Mediterranean wood) in both periods, as can be expected in the dry environment of the Negev. Over time, the ratios of arid-to humid-adapted species generally remain stable (Fig. S5a-b). Some decrease in the use of Arabian boxthorn (Lycium shawii) (25 vs. 10%)-a high-quality local fuel source-is indicated in comparison to tamarisk (25 vs. 70%)-a lower-quality one-from counts of individual wood species (Fig. S6). This may be a potential indicator of increasing anthropogenic pressure on local resources. Still, quantities of fish and mollusks from different terrestrial, freshwater or more distant marine sources remain almost the same between the two periods (Fig. S5c-e), and only a slight decrease is seen in drought-resistant barley in the middle Byzantine assemblage (Fig. S5e; Fig. S7). Bioarchaeological Analysis Methods Charcoal analysis. Taxonomic identification of charcoal samples was made on the basis of anatomical tissue structure (e.g. vessels and their arrangements, size and arrangement of rays, and abundance and nature of parenchyma) and aided by comparison to the wood and charcoal reference collection of the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv University. Specimens were cut and examined along three observational axes (transverse, tangential longitudinal, and radial longitudinal) using a stereoscopic Carl Zeiss SteREO Discovery.V20 microscope with magnifications of up to 360x under oblique angled top-lighting. On occasion, samples were further examined with a Hitachi TM3030 Tabletop scanning electron microscope for more precise identification of micro-surface anatomical structures. Seed analysis. Seeds were studied from sediment samples of each locus, which were processed either by dry-sifting through 5mm sieves, wet-sifting through 1mm mesh, or dry-sifting in stacked sieves of 4mm, 2mm, 1mm, 0.5mm and 0.3mm mesh. The data presented www.pnas.org/cgi/

Identification of petrosal bones to taxon is important due to the exceptionally well preserved quantity of endogenous DNA found in them. Here we present practical descriptive criteria to allow reliable differentiation of the petrosal bones of some of the most common domestic and wild mammalian taxa of the Old World. is should simplify the identification and documentation of the bone during initial sorting for analysis and help separately curate specimens for taxon-specific ancient DNA studies.

I t is increasingly apparent that admixture among closely related mammalian species may have occurred frequently over the course of their evolution 1. Many extant Holarctic mammals existed in widespread sympatry with now-extinct megafauna species during the Pleistocene, providing the opportunity for admixture. Palaeogenomic studies have shown evidence of gene flow from two archaic hominins into modern humans 2,3 , but it remains debated whether these represent distinct species, or early archaic populations within the broader human radiation 4. Thus, a genetic contribution of ecologically and morphologically divergent Pleistocene megafauna to living mammal populations represents a plausible hypothesis that is largely untested by empirical evidence. Cave bears are an iconic component of the Pleistocene mega-fauna. Cave bears went extinct around 25,000 years ago 5 , following a protracted period of population decline, with interactions with humans being a likely contributing factor 6,7. Admixture between brown bears (Ursus arctos) and polar bears (Ursus mari-timus), which form the sister clade to cave bears 8,9 , is well documented 10-12 , and recent studies suggest that interspecies admixture may be widespread among representatives of the Ursidae 13. However, the genetic contribution, if any, of extinct bear species to their living congeners is largely unknown. Specifically, it is unknown whether admixture occurred between brown bears and cave bears, which coexisted in widespread sympatry and local syntopy in Eurasia for hundreds of thousands of years 14,15 before extinction of the cave bear. Results Sampling of bear genomes. To investigate whether brown and cave bears admixed during the Pleistocene, we extracted and sequenced nuclear genomic DNA from the petrous bones of four Late Pleistocene cave bears. These samples were assigned to recognized cave bear taxa based on morphology and geographic location, and subsequently verified by analysis of mitochondrial sequences 16. Although we refrain from forming any taxonomic conclusions based on our genomic datasets, we retain these assigned names for consistency with the published cave bear literature. Three of the cave bear samples are from Europe: an individual from the Gamssulzen cave, Austria, which is assigned to the taxon ingressus and has been 14 C dated to 35,062 ± 966 yr bp 7 ; an individual from the Eirós cave, Spain, which is assigned to the taxon spelaeus and has been 14 C dated to 34,806 ± 931 yr bp 7 ; and a third individual from the Windischkopf cave, Austria, assigned to the taxon eremus, which has been 14 C dated to > 49,000 yr bp and dated by phylogenetic tip dating analysis to 71,992 yr bp (95% credibility interval 54,640-91,860 yr bp) 7. The fourth cave bear is from the Hovk-1 cave in the southern Caucasus (Armenia), and is assigned to the taxon kudarensis. Although many large mammal species went extinct at the end of the Pleistocene epoch, their DNA may persist due to past episodes of interspecies admixture. However, direct empirical evidence of the persistence of ancient alleles remains scarce. Here, we present multifold coverage genomic data from four Late Pleistocene cave bears (Ursus spelaeus complex) and show that cave bears hybridized with brown bears (Ursus arctos) during the Pleistocene. We develop an approach to assess both the directionality and relative timing of gene flow. We find that segments of cave bear DNA still persist in the genomes of living brown bears, with cave bears contributing 0.9 to 2.4% of the genomes of all brown bears investigated. Our results show that even though extinction is typically considered as absolute, following admixture, fragments of the gene pool of extinct species can survive for tens of thousands of years in the genomes of extant recipient species.

The issues of exactly when, where and how many times were farm animals (goat, sheep, pigs and cattle) domesticated in the Near East have been addressed for decades, using archaeological data, the frequencies of hunted and managed ungulates, bone measurements and DNA studies. In most Neolithic sites in the southern Levant, a stratified PPNB-PN sequence representing the relevant time period and direct evidence for the management and domestication phases of goats, sheep, pigs and cattle was not found or studied. The site of Tel Roʻim West (TRW) in the northern Jordan Valley encompasses such a sequence and is used here as a case study for characterizing the local trajectory leading from hunting to livestock husbandry. Our results indicate that the spatial spread and diffusion of sheep husbandry from the north to the southern Levant was via the Levantine corridor through settled land, rather than through the more arid zones to the east. In the PPNC most of the goats at the site were domesticated or at least were at a high level of cultural control. Cattle underwent a slow process of diminution. The pigs from PPNC and PN TRW were already about the size of domesticated pigs. Thus, the faunal composition of TRW reflects both change and continuity in the exploitation patterns over time. The change is apparent in the transition from the PPNB to the PPNC, when hunting became a secondary component in the subsistence economy. Continuity is evident in the gradual and long process of domesticating cattle and pigs during the PPNC and the PN. Continuity is also evident in the livestock composition at the nearby Hula valley sites, which remained largely unchanged from the Neolithic times onward.