Editing Epipalaeolithic Near East (section)

====Artistic expression in the Kebaran culture====
[[File:Engraved Plaquette with bird image from Ein Qashish South, Jezreel Valley, Israel, Kebaran and Geometric Kebaran deposits (ca. 23ka and ca. 16.5ka BP).jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|Engraved plaquette with bird image from Ein Qashish South, [[Jezreel Valley]], [[Northern District (Israel)|Northern District of Israel]], Kebaran and Geometric Kebaran ca. 23,000-16,500 BP.<ref name="AUA" />]]
Evidence for symbolic behavior of Late Pleistocene foragers in the Levant has been found in engraved limestone plaquettes from the Epipalaeolithic open-air site Ein Qashish South in the [[Jezreel Valley]] of the [[Northern District (Israel)|Northern District of Israel]].<ref name="AUA" /> The engravings were uncovered in Kebaran and Geometric Kebaran deposits (ca. 23,000 and ca. 16,500 BP), and include the image of a bird, the first figurative representation known so far from a pre-Natufian Epipalaeolithic site, together with geometric motifs such as chevrons, cross-hatchings, and ladders.<ref name="AUA" /> Some of the engravings closely resemble roughly contemporary European finds and may be interpreted as "systems of notations" or "artificial memory systems" related to the timing of seasonal resources and related important events for nomadic groups.<ref name="AUA" />

Similar-looking signs and patterns are well known from the context of the local Natufian, a final Epipalaeolithic period when sedentary or semi-sedentary foragers started practicing agriculture.<ref name="AUA">[[File:CC-BY icon.svg|50px]] Material was adapted from this source, which is available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License] {{Cite journal |last1=Roskin |first1=Joel |last2=Porat |first2=Naomi |last3=Greenbaum |first3=Noam |last4=Caracuta |first4=Valentina |last5=Boaretto |first5=Elisabeta |last6=Bar-Yosef |first6=Ofer |last7=Yaroshevich |first7=Alla |date=24 August 2016 |title=A Unique Assemblage of Engraved Plaquettes from Ein Qashish South, Jezreel Valley, Israel: Figurative and Non-Figurative Symbols of Late Pleistocene Hunters-Gatherers in the Levant |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=11 |issue=8 |pages=e0160687 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0160687 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=4996494 |pmid=27557110 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2016PLoSO..1160687Y }}</ref>