The shift from mobile hunting-gathering lifeways to sedentism has been frequently studied, and the Natufian culture is commonly recognized as the earliest sedentary society in the Levant. Historically, the remarkably rich Natufian material remains, combined with certain research biases, turned it into a “scene-stealer” in the Levantine Epipaleolithic sequence. However, data from earlier Epipaleolithic sites suggest a more complex scenario. Accordingly, we hypothesize an increase in occupation intensity even before the Natufian. The new excavations at Neve David (ND), a key site of the Middle Epipaleolithic Geometric Kebaran entity, located in Mount Carmel, enables us to test this by tracing variations in the lithic assemblage from a 185 cm deep section. Drawing upon the models of cultural transmission and technological organization, we employed six proxies: lithic volumetric density, burnt artifacts volumetric density, lithic fragmentation rate, microlith shape variation, relative frequency of bladelet cores, and tool/blank ratio. The first five proxies suggest that the settlement dynamics at ND are characterized by increasing occupation intensity through time. Overall, this case study sheds new light on the tempo and mode of evolution in land use strategies during the Middle Epipaleolithic, which is pivotal to better understanding the Neolithization processes in the Levant.

人们经常研究从流动的狩猎采集生活方式向久坐不动的转变，并且纳塔菲文化被普遍认为是黎凡特最早的久坐社会。从历史上看，非常丰富的Natufian材料残留物，加上某些研究偏见，使其成为黎凡特旧石器时代的“场景窃贼”。但是，来自旧石器时代遗址的数据表明情况更为复杂。因此，我们假设甚至在纳图夫之前就已经增加了职业强度。Neve David（ND）的新发掘是位于卡梅尔山的中古旧石器时代几何Kebaran实体的关键地点，使我们能够通过追踪185 cm深的剖面中的石器组合变化来测试这一点。借鉴文化传播和技术组织的模式，我们采用了六个代理：岩屑体积密度，烧成的工件体积密度，岩屑碎裂率，微岩体形状变化，小叶片核的相对频率以及工具/空白比。前五个代理表明，北达科他州北部的沉降动态特征是随着时间的推移增加了占领强度。总体而言，本案例研究为中石器时代中期的土地利用策略的发展速度和模式提供了新的思路，这对于更好地了解黎凡特的新石器时代进程至关重要。前五个代理表明，北达科他州北部的沉降动态特征是随着时间的推移增加了占领强度。总体而言，本案例研究为新石器时代中期的土地利用策略的发展速度和模式提供了新的思路，这对于更好地了解黎凡特的新石器时代进程至关重要。前五个代理表明，北达科他州北部的沉降动态特征是随着时间的推移增加了占领强度。总体而言，本案例研究为新石器时代中期的土地利用策略的发展速度和模式提供了新的思路，这对于更好地了解黎凡特的新石器时代进程至关重要。