Eshtamoa: a new Harifian occuption in the Yatir region and its implications for the Harifian settlement pattern

A new Harifian occupation was documented on a terrace (536 m asl), overlooking Nahal Eshtamoa in the Yatir region, northern Negev, Israel. This site is the most northern Harifian habitation documented to date and, together with other Harifian sites known from this region (e.g. Ira 25 and Lehavim 4) expands our understanding of the Harifian settlement pattern.
The chipped stone assemblage displays a variety of dominant tool types (endscrapers, retouched flakes, microliths and truncations); however, minute backed lunates and Harif points, which are typical of the Harifian industry, are
also documented. Within this assemblage cores were extensively exploited and microburin technique was habitually practiced. However, geometric microliths (minute backed lunates) are rare, suggesting that some of the lunates were taken off-site for further use.
The diversity of the dominant tool types at the site is similar to other Harifian sites in the Negev, while the site’s size (~750 m2) and artifact density (1094 per m3) indicate that Eshtamoa was probably an intermediate site within the Harifian
settlement pattern, located between short-term, task-specific sites of the western Negev and the residential camps of the Negev Highlands.