Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Levant

Herd animals were domesticated in the Levant during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B. Sheep and goats were domesticated for practical reasons, and much later cattle were domesticated (although for religious/sacrifice reasons). There was an intense adoration of cattle, evidenced by clay bucrania crowned with real horns found at Catal Huyuk in Anatolia.

Also, the PPNB begins the Neolithic distinction of shifting from circular/oval to rectilinear houses.This was likely due to space limitations, as rectilinear rooms can be efficiently crammed into a small space. Indeed, houses were built one room at a time as needed and rectilinear houses take up much less space than their increasingly rare circular/oval counterparts.

Also arriving in the PPNB is white ware. White ware refers to bowls, cups and footed bowls of lime and ash (giving the impression of soft limestone). Vessels of this type have been found through the ancient Near East.

Rollefson’s excavations in Jordan have suggested a 6,000-5,500 BC Pre-Pottery Neolithic C, based on the follow criteria: