Editing Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (section)

== Lifestyle ==
[[File:Jericho Statue.png|left|thumb|285x285px|Head of statue, [[Jericho]], from c. 9000 years ago. Displayed at the [[Rockefeller Archeological Museum]] in [[Jerusalem]].]]

Cultural tendencies of this period differ from that of the earlier [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic A]] (PPNA), in that people living during this phase began to depend more heavily upon [[domestication|domesticated animals]] to supplement their earlier mixed agrarian and [[hunter-gatherer]] diet. In addition, the [[flint]] tool kit of the period is new and quite disparate from that of the earlier period. One of its major elements is the [[wikt:naviform|naviform]] core. This is the first period in which architectural styles of the southern Levant became primarily [[rectilinear polygon|rectilinear]]; earlier typical dwellings were circular, elliptical and occasionally even octagonal. Pyrotechnology, the expanding capability to control fire, was highly developed in this period. During this period, one of the main features of houses is a thick layer of white clay plaster flooring, highly polished and made of lime produced from [[limestone]].
[[File:The three plastered skulls in situ at Yiftahel.jpg|thumb|left|[[Plastered skull]]s in situ at [[Yiftahel]]]]

It is believed that the use of clay plaster for floor and wall coverings during PPNB led to the discovery of [[pottery]].<ref name=Mazar>Amihai Mazar (1992). ''Archaeology of the Land of the Bible: 10,000 – 586 BC'', Doubleday: New York, p. 45.</ref> The earliest proto-pottery was [[White Ware]] vessels, made from lime and gray ash, built up around baskets before firing, for several centuries around 7000 BC at sites such as Tell [[Neba'a Faour]] ([[Beqaa Valley]]).<ref>Chris Scarre. ''Timeline of the Ancient World'', p. 77.</ref> Sites from this period found in the Levant utilizing rectangular floor plans and plastered floor techniques were found at [[Ayn Ghazal (archaeological site)|Ain Ghazal]], [[Yiftahel]] (western [[Galilee]]), and [[Abu Hureyra]] (Upper [[Euphrates]]).<ref name="Mazar" /> The period is dated to between c. 10,700 and c. 8,000 [[before present|BP]] or 8,700–6,000 BC.

[[Plastered human skulls]] were reconstructed human skulls that were made in the ancient [[Levant]] between 9000 and 6000 BC in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period. They represent some of the oldest forms of art in the [[Middle East]] and demonstrate that the prehistoric population took great care in burying their [[ancestors]] below their homes. The skulls denote some of the earliest sculptural examples of [[portrait]]ure in the [[history of art]].<ref>{{Cite book |last= Kleiner |first=Fred S. |title= Gardner's Art through the Ages: Backpack Edition |date=2012 |publisher= Cengage Learning |isbn= 978-0-8400-3054-2 |page=42 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=neEzEpyuZ3AC&pg=PT42}}</ref>