The open-air Epipalaeolithic (Geometric Kebaran) site of Neve David (Mount Carmel, Israel) has played an important role in reconstructing scenarios of sedentarization in the Levant since its initial excavation in the 1980s, and has been seen as heralding later Natufian socioeconomic adaptations. However, little was known about the site’s formation processes and spatial organization, hindering the testing of this view. Employing new field data from Neve David, we present a combined macro- and microscopic analyses of the spatial and temporal distribution of lithics, faunal remains, phytoliths and wood ash, interpreted with the aid of ethnoarchaeological data and comparison to other Palaeolithic sites in the region. Post-depositional disturbance seems to be minimal at Neve David and we therefore suggest that the spatial distribution of the finds mostly represents human use of space. Throughout the thick sequence of occupation episodes, distinct division of space and well-preserved trampled occupation surfaces are generally lacking. We suggest that this pattern represents reduced mobility, as prolonged human activity blurs the primary depositional signal of the activity remains. The density of the finds generally increases in the upper layers of the site. Accordingly, we hypothesize that at the beginning of activity, the duration of occupation was longer and only later in the sequence of events was there an increase in group size. Our findings further highlight the position of the Geometric Kebaran as a pivotal stage in understanding the gap between the preceding highly mobile societies and the succeeding sedentary and demographically-larger Natufian societies.

尼夫大卫（以色列卡梅尔山）的露天古石器时代（几何凯巴兰）遗址自 20 世纪 80 年代首次发掘以来，在重建黎凡特定居场景中发挥了重要作用，并被视为预示着后来纳图夫社会经济适应。然而，人们对该遗址的形成过程和空间组织知之甚少，阻碍了这一观点的检验。利用 Neve David 的新实地数据，我们对石器、动物遗骸、植硅体和木灰的时空分布进行了宏观和微观的综合分析，并借助民族考古数据和与该地区其他旧石器时代遗址的比较进行了解释。内夫大卫的沉积后扰动似乎很小，因此我们认为这些发现的空间分布主要代表了人类对空间的使用。在整个占领事件的序列中，通常缺乏明显的空间划分和保存完好的被践踏的占领表面。我们认为这种模式代表了流动性的降低，因为长期的人类活动模糊了活动残留的主要沉积信号。遗址上层的发现物密度通常会增加。因此，我们假设在活动开始时，占用的持续时间较长，并且只有在事件序列的后期，群体规模才会增加。我们的研究结果进一步强调了几何克巴兰作为理解先前的高度流动性社会与随后的久坐和人口规模更大的纳图夫社会之间差距的关键阶段的地位。