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"Recent Discoveries from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B of Yiftahel, Lower Galilee, Israel"Jeudi 29 novembre à 15 hMAE, 4e étage, salle du conseilExtensive salvage excavations were conducted at the site of Yiftahel, Lower Galilee, during 2007-2008. These excavations exposed remains of the mid-late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period (8000-7000 BCE cal.) site covering an estimated area of ca. 4 hectares. Four excavation areas were opened: Area I in the northern part of the site, Areas F and H in the center, and Area G along the southern fringe. In Area I, an impressive building complex with plastered floors, including several phases were exposed. This complex consisted of two superimposed buildings with a rectangular plan, covering an area of 100 m2. The walls were built of stone and brick, with several installations integrated and dug into the plaster floors. The buildings, labeled 500 and 501, also include various human burials beneath the floors, as well as cultic interments of aurochs. Notably, a cache of three plastered skulls was recovered adjacent to Building 501. One of the striking phenomena, aside from plentiful lithic assemblages related to the “naviform” industry, is the caching and depositing of lithics in various locations above and beneath the floors and a hoard of eight votive green axes was found above the floor of Building 501.On the basis of the recent discoveries, the estimated size of site during the PPNB is over than 4 hectares. Yiftahel must considered as a central site in the Lower Galilee located in one of the PPNB core areas in the Southern LevantIt is also suggested that building complex in Area I at PPNB Yiftahel was functioned as communal locales and not residential ones. Their discovery at the PPNB site of Yiftahel indicates an intricate social and economic system at the community level.