Levantine Upper Palaeolithic - Early Epipalaeolithic burial customs : Ohalo II as a case study

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Abstract
The paper presents two kinds of evidence concerning the commonly held notion that the archaeological record of the Levantine Upper Palaeolithic/Early Epipalaeolithic period is the "poorest" in human skeletal remains. First, the details of the H2 grave at the well-dated site of Ohalo II (19,000 B.P.) point to a tradition of burying the dead in very shallow pits. This behaviour is probably a key factor in understanding the scarcity of preserved articulated skeletons. Second, a comparison of all prehistoric periods shows that when the relative numbers of sites (with skeletons) and skeletons are evaluated (by calculating them per time unit), the period in question is similar to the Middle Palaeolithic.