Gesher (archaeological site)
# Gesher (archaeological site)

Gesher is an archaeological site located on the southern bank of Nahal Tavor, near kibbutz Gesher in the central Jordan Valley of Israel. It bears signs of occupation from two periods, the very early Neolithic and the Middle Bronze Age. The site was first excavated between 1986 and 1987 by Yosef Garfinkel of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and between 2002 and 2004 by Susan Cohen of Montana State University. The average of 4 radiocarbon dating results suggested inhabitation of the settlement around 8000 BC.

During the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A the site was a small village composed of a few rounded structures. Typical flint finds included a high number of el-Khiam points which Garfinkel argued, along with the relatively early date could class Gesher as a Khiamian site. One outstanding discovery, unknown from any other Neolithic site of the period in the Near East, is a workshop for the production of basalt artifacts. The workshop produced basalt axes and various other tools which were then sent to other early Neolithic centers, such as Jericho and Netiv Hagdud. According to radiometric dates, Gesher is one of the earliest Neolithic sites in the Near East. During this period the first villages were established and the transition to agriculture occurred. A final excavation report on the Neolithic site was published in 2006.

During the Middle Bronze Age IIA, Gesher served as a cemetery. Some 20 graves have been uncovered. These are shaft graves, dug into the local sediment, used for individual burials and never reopened. This facilitates the study of burial customs, including body position, the quantity of grave goods and their relation to the deceased. Bronze spearheads and axes (including three duck-bill axes) were found in four of the graves. A final excavation report on the Middle Bronze cemetery was published in 2007.

* Calibrated Carbon 14 dates for Gesher as of 2013.
* Gesher Pre-Pottery Neolithic A rounded building.
* Gesher Pre-Pottery Neolithic A flint arrowheads.

## Comparative chronology

vteChronology of the Neolithic period :

Pre-Pottery Neolithic   Pottery Neolithic :

BC

Europe

Egypt

Syria Levant

Anatolia

Khabur

Sinjar Mountains Assyria

Middle Tigris

Low Mesopotamia

Iran (Khuzistan)

Iran

Indus/ India

China

11000

Early Pottery (18,000 BC)

10000

Pre-Pottery Neolithic A Gesher Mureybet (10,500 BC)

9000

Jericho Tell Abu Hureyra

8000

Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Jericho Tell Aswad

Göbekli Tepe Çayönü Aşıklı Höyük

Initial Neolithic (Pottery) Nanzhuangtou (8500–8000 BC)

7000

Egyptian Neolithic Nabta Playa (7500 BC)

Çatalhöyük (7500–5500) Hacilar (7000 BC)

Tell Sabi Abyad Bouqras

Jarmo

Ganj Dareh Chia Jani Ali Kosh

Mehrgarh I

6500

Neolithic Europe Franchthi Sesklo

Pre-Pottery Neolithic C ('Ain Ghazal)

Pottery Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad Bouqras

Pottery Neolithic Jarmo

Chogha Bonut

Teppe Zagheh

Pottery Neolithic Peiligang (7000–5000 BC)

6000

Pottery Neolithic Sesklo Dimini

Pottery Neolithic Yarmukian (Sha'ar HaGolan)

Pottery Neolithic Ubaid 0 (Tell el-'Oueili)

Pottery Neolithic Chogha Mish

Pottery Neolithic Sang-i Chakmak

Pottery Neolithic Lahuradewa Mehrgarh II Mehrgarh III

5600

Faiyum A

Amuq A

Halaf Halaf-Ubaid

Umm Dabaghiya

Samarra (6000–4800 BC)

Tepe Muhammad Djafar

Tepe Sialk

5200

Linear Pottery culture (5500–4500 BC)

Amuq B

Hacilar Mersin 24–22  

Hassuna

Ubaid 1 (Eridu 19–15) Ubaid 2 (Hadji Muhammed) (Eridu 14–12)

Susiana A

Yarim Tepe Hajji Firuz Tepe

4800

Pottery Neolithic Merimde

Amuq C

Hacilar Mersin 22–20

Hassuna Late Gawra 20

Tepe Sabz

Kul Tepe Jolfa

4500

Amuq D

Gian Hasan Mersin 19–17

Ubaid 3

Ubaid 3 (Gawra) 19–18

Ubaid 3

Khazineh Susiana B

3800

Badarian Naqada

Ubaid 4

Succeeded by: Historical Ancient Near East :

