Animals and ritual during the Levantine PPNB : a case study from the site of Kfar Hahoresh, Israel

Excavations at the site of Kfar Hahoresh (Lower Galilee, Israel), have revealed what appears to be the first PPNB cemetery in the southern Levant. It contains primary and secondary human burials and evidence of a wide range of ritual activities including plastered skulls and special arrangements of isolated bones. Analysis of the grave contexts points to the existence of a unique set of ritual activities involving animals that has until now not been identified in this period.