Quaternary International 624 (2022) 148–167 Available online 17 April 2021 1040-6182/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. The early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B site at Nesher-Ramla Quarry, Israel Micka Ullman a, b, * , Lena Brailovsky c , Heeli C. Schechter a , Lior Weissbrod c, d , Roni Zuckerman-Cooper d, l , Michael B. Toffolo e, f , Valentina Caracuta g , Elisabetta Boaretto h , Steve Weiner i , Julia Abramov j , Daniella E. Bar-Yosef Mayer k , Vladimir Wolff Avrutis d , Shlomo Kol-Ya’kov d , Amos Frumkin b a Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Ph.D. honors program of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, Hebrew University of Jerusalem – Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, 9190501, Israel b Cave Research Center, Fredy and Nadine Herrman Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 9190401, Israel c Israel Antiquities Authority, Rockefeller Archeological Museum 586, Jerusalem, Israel d Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, 199 Abba Hushi Avenue, Haifa, 3498838, Israel e Institut für Naturwissenschaftliche Arch¨ aologie, Eberhard Karls Universit¨ at Tübingen, Rümelinstraße 23, Tübingen, 72070, Germany f Institut de Recherche sur les Arch´ eomat´ eriaux-Centre de Recherche en Physique Appliqu´ ee ` a l’Arch´ eologie (IRAMAT-CRP2A), UMR 5060 CNRS, Universit´ e Bordeaux Montaigne, 8 Esplanade des Antilles, Pessac, 33607, France g Institute of Evolution Sciences of Montpellier (ISEM). University of Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, 34090, France h D-REAMS Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory, Scientifc Archaeology Unit, Weizmann Institute of Science, 234 Herzl Street, Rehovot, 7610001, Israel i Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science, Scientifc Archaeology Unit, Weizmann Institute of Science, 234 Herzl St., Rehovot, 7610001, Israel j Dan David Center for Human Evolution and Biohistory, The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History and National Research Center, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, 6997801, Israel k The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History and Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978, Israel l Department of Maritime Civilizations, School of Marine Sciences, University of Haifa, 199 Abba Hushi Avenue, Haifa, 3498838, Israel A R T I C L E INFO Keywords: EPPNB Southern levant Sinkhole Site formation processes Paleoenvironment ABSTRACT Routine quarrying activity at the Nesher-Ramla Quarry, in the Judean Lowlands, Israel, has recently exposed a new Early Holocene archaeological site located in a small natural sinkhole, one of many dolines scattered in the area, dated to the Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (EPPNB). It is the frst site of this period to be uncovered in the narrow strip of land between the Judean Mts. and the coastal plain. This site, dubbed NRQN, contains lithic artifacts, groundstone tools, shells and beads as well as botanical and faunal remains. Here we combine data from a series of studies on the site’s stratigraphy and radiometric dating, paleoenvironment, sediments and material culture, with the aim of understanding the role of the site in the EPPNB sphere. Various human activities took place in or immediately adjacent to the sinkhole, predominantly domestic in nature, including stone-tool making and food consumption. However, some of the sediments deep within the sinkhole underwent intense in situ combustion, possibly associated with episodes of lime-plaster production. The flling of the sinkhole appears to have occurred rapidly, not exceeding a few hundred years (ca. 10,500–10,300 cal. BP) and was driven by both geogenic and anthropogenic sedimentation processes. Good preservation of microvertebrate, macrovertebrae, short-lived plants and wood remains at the site, provides a unique opportunity to study the environmental characteristics of this geographical area during the Early Holocene, which appears to have been of an open grassy landscape with patchy Mediterranean forest, resembling the current environmental conditions. Studying the characteristics of Early Holocene human activity at the site, its paleoenvironment, and the site formation mechanisms, also provides useful comparisons with the nearby NRQ Middle Paleolithic site (this issue). 1. Introduction Continued expansion of the modern quarry of Nesher-Ramla, in the Judean Lowlands of Israel, during the last 70 years, currently encom- passing an area of 1.3 km 2 , has revealed tens of karstic sinkholes of various sizes. Two sinkholes were intensely used by humans in * Corresponding author. Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, 9190501, Israel. E-mail address: mickaullman@mail.huji.ac.il (M. Ullman). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Quaternary International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quaint https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2021.04.019 Received 27 October 2020; Received in revised form 7 April 2021; Accepted 10 April 2021