Description : Abu Salem in the Central Negev of Israel is the type site for the newly recognized Harifian Industry. Abu Salem is a sizable village with substantial architecture dated by C-14 to the last quarter of the 9th millennium BC. The associated lithic industry is not directly related to the Natufian or the Pre-Pottery of Palestine but the inferred adaptive patterns parallel those of the Natufian. Presently known Harifian site distribution indicates that it is restricted to the semi-arid zone of the southern Levant and in spite of having the technological prerequisites the Harifian failed to become truly Neolithic. As such it represents an example of a late Levantine Epi-Paleolithic cultural development outside the core Mediterranean zone . Abu Salem was occupied in both the EpiPaleolithic Harifian Culture and also the PPNB The oldest dated site in the Negev with early Neolithic affinities is Abu Salem from which three determinations have been obtained of (1) 8020 +/- 150 BC I-5498 (2) 8280 +/- 150 BC I-5499 and (3) 8280 +/- 150 BC I-5500
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