Kfar HaHoresh
כפר החורש · Kfar HaKhoresh · Kefar HaHoresh
Middle PPNB·PPNB cult complex·🇮🇱 Northern District / Lower Galilee, Israel
About
About Kfar HaHoresh
PPNB cult and mortuary center (7500–6650 BCE) in the Nazareth hills, not a normal village but a regional feasting and secondary-burial site serving surrounding settlements. Nigel Goring-Morris excavations uncovered plastered skull burial pits, lime-kilns for mass plaster production, human and gazelle burials, and a T-shaped pillar reminiscent of Göbekli Tepe, indicating shared PPNB ritual koine across 700 km.
Why it mattersPPNB cult parallel to Göbekli; lime-industry scale; secondary burial innovation.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why plaster and display skulls then re-bury?
- 02Connection to Jericho plastered skull tradition
Theories
- 01Regional aggregation site for dispersed foragers
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.7500–6650 BCE
- Period
- Middle PPNB
- Culture
- PPNB cult complex
- Builders
- Galilee PPNB ritualists
- Purpose
- Mortuary/feasting cult center and lime production
- Abandoned
- c.6650 BCE
- Rediscovered
- 1990s Goring-Morris excavations
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
1991
Excavations begin
c.7000 BCE
Plastered skull pit
On the ground
Structures & features
32.7025° N · 35.2719° E · 240 m · 3 mapped features
Lime kiln field
kilnMass plaster production kilns
32.7026° N · 35.2721° EPlastered skull pit Locus 1001
burialSecondary skull burial
32.7024° N · 35.2717° ET-shaped pillar
pillarGöbekli-style T-pillar fragment
32.7025° N · 35.2719° E
Gallery