Mujahia or Nab‘a el-Mjảḥiyye is an archaeological site in the southern

Golan Heights The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...

,Gopher, A.
Mujahia - An early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B site in the Golan Heights
''Tel Aviv'', Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. vol. 17(2):115-143. north of Bnei Yehuda. It was first excavated by

Avi Gopher Avi Gopher is an Israeli archaeologist. He is a professor at the University of Tel Aviv. Biography Avraham (Avi) Gopher completed his B.A. at Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1978, M.A. in 1981 and PhD in 1986. He specialises in prehistoric Israe ...

in 1985 who examined

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock (geology), rock layers (Stratum, strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary rock, sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigrap ...

made up of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

and

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

. Upon further excavation, three levels of circular walled dwellings were found using stone

construction. Archaeological materials recovered included arrowheads, chisels, knives and scrapers along with use of

obsidian Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements s ...

, bones an shellfish. Relatively few arrowheads were found, mostly consisting of Helwan points. Local

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

included

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

and

gazelle A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . This article also deals with the seven species included in two further genera, ''Eudorcas'' and ''Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third f ...

. No radiometric dating was available, but it has been suggested to date to the

Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) is part of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, a Neolithic culture centered in upper Mesopotamia and the Levant, dating to years ago, that is, 8800–6500 BC. It was typed by British archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon during h ...

(PPNB) around the middle of the

8th millennium BC 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

References

External links

* {{Portal, History, Asia 1985 archaeological discoveries Neolithic settlements Prehistoric sites on the Golan Heights Pre-Pottery Neolithic B