Natufian Culture in the Levant, Threshold to the Origins Of

Home , Burin (lithic flake), HaYonim Cave, Kebaran culture, Levant, Levantine corridor, Microburin

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The Natuﬁan Culture in the Levant, Threshold to the Origins of Agriculture

OFER BAR-YOSEF

The aim of this paper is to provide the reader with an updated description of the sites, together with this reconstruc- archeological evidence for the origins of agriculture in the Near East. Specifically, I tion of natural resources, allow us to will address the question of why the emergence of farming communities in the Near answer the questions of when and East was an inevitable outcome of a series of social and economic circumstances where the Neolithic Revolution oc- that caused the Natufian culture to be considered the threshold for this major curred. However, we are still far from evolutionary change.1–4 The importance of such an understanding has global providing a definitive answer to the implications. Currently, updated archeological information points to two other question of why it occurred. centers of early cultivation, central Mexico and the middle Yangtze River in China, Within the large region of the Near that led to the emergence of complex civilizations.4 However, the best-recorded East, recent archeological work has sequence from foraging to farming is found in the Near East. Its presence warns demonstrated the importance of the against the approach of viewing all three evolutionary sequences as identical in area known as the Mediterranean Le- terms of primary conditions, economic and social motivations and activities, and the vant. Today it is one of the most re- resulting cultural, social, and ideological changes. searched parts of the Near East.1–4,9–18 It is therefore possible that the picture I will draw is somewhat biased due to As with other crucial thresholds in marked a major organizational depar- the limited number of excavations else- cultural evolution, the impact of the ture from the old ways of life. This was where, such as in western Iran, north- 19–22 ‘‘Neolithic Revolution,’’ as it was la- followed by a second major socio- ern Iraq, or southeast Turkey. How- ever, no field project outside of the beled by V. G. Childe,5 or the ‘‘incipient economic threshold, characterized ar- Levant has yet exposed any indication cultivation and domestication’’ as it cheologically by Early Neolithic culti- of a prehistoric entity that resembles was defined by R. Braidwood,6 can vators. This sequence of changes can the Natufian. As will become clear in only be evaluated on the basis of its only be understood within the context the following pages, such an entity can of the entire region and the shifting outcome. I begin with a brief descrip- be recognized through its combined paleobotanical conditions of the Le- tion of the cultural sequence of the archeological attributes, including vant during this period. late hunter-gatherers who inhabited dwellings, graves, lithic and bone in- 7 the Near East until about 13,000 B.P. I therefore begin with a brief descrip- dustries, ground stone tools, ornamen- These foragers, who had a variety of tion of the Levant and its natural tation, and art objects, as well as the subsistence strategies and types of an- resources during the terminal Pleis- early age of its sedentary hamlets nual schedules, ranged from semi- tocene and early Holocene (18,000 to among all foragers societies in the sedentary groups to small mobile 9,000 B.P.: uncalibrated radio carbon Near East. bands. The establishment of sedentary years8). During this period, the land- Natufian hamlets in the Levant (Fig. 1) scape of the Near East was not dry, barren, and thorny as it appears today. THE REGION: RESOURCES AND Using palynological, paleobotanical, POTENTIAL FORAGING PATTERNS and geomorphological data, we are Ofer Bar-Yosef studies Middle and Upper The Mediterranean Levant, about Paleolithic sequences in the Near East, as able to propose instead a reconstruc- 1,100 km long and about 250 to 350 well as the origins of agriculture as ex- tion of the spatial distribution of an km wide, incorporates a variety of pressed in the archaeology of Epi-Paleo- oak-dominated parkland and wood- lithic Neolithic sites. He has published pa- landscapes, from the southern flanks pers and co-edited volumes on various land that provided the highest bio- of the Taurus Mountains in Turkey to prehistoric sites of Pleistocene and Holocene mass of foods exploitable by humans. the Sinai peninsula (Fig. 1). The vari- age in the Levant. He is the MacCurdy Profes- sor of Prehistoric Archaeology in the De- This vegetational belt mostly covered able topography comprises a narrow partment of Anthropology, Harvard Univer- the Mediterranean coastal plains and coastal plain, two parallel continuous sity. E-mail: [email protected] hilly ranges, as well as a few oases. mountain ranges with a rift valley in Recently published reports from the between, and an eastward sloping pla- Key words: origins of agriculture; Levant; Natu- excavated Late Paleolithic (or Epi- teau dissected by many eastward run- fian; Early Neolithic Paleolithic), Natufian, and Neolithic ning wadis. The region is character- 160 Evolutionary Anthropology ARTICLES

Figure 1. A map of the Near East indicating the territories of the Early Natufian homeland, the expansion of the Late Natufian culture, and the area of the Harifian culture, a desertic adaptation of the Late Natufian to the cold, dry conditions of the Younger Dryas. ized by marked seasonality: winters demonstrate that the geographic pat- belts as reflected in the palynological are cold and rainy, summers are hot tern of annual rainfall during the late sequences.16,25 and dry. Mediterranean woodland and Pleistocene and the early Holocene Floral resources in the Levant are open parkland vegetation develop was similar to today’s.24 Decadal and seasonal, with seeds most abundant where annual precipitation reaches from April to June and fruits from 400 to 1,200 mm a year. Shrub land, September to November. Tubers are steppic vegetation (Irano-Turanian), ...nofield project rare. Among the three vegetational and arid plant associations (Saharo- zones, the Mediterranean is the rich- Arabian) cover the areas where annual outside of the Levant has est, with more than one hundred ed- precipitation is less than 400 mm (for ible fruits, seeds, leaves, and tubers.23 the current situation see Zohary23). yet exposed any The faunal biomass gradually Today, two annual patterns of win- indication of a dwindles away from the Mediterra- ter storm tracks prevail. One carries prehistoric entity that nean core area. Dense oak forests, humidity from the Mediterranean Sea where precipitation surpasses 800 mm, to the southern Levant; the second resembles the Natufian. arrives from northern Europe and maintain a lower biomass than do turns to the northern Levant, leaving open parklands. Thus the mosaic asso- the southern portion dry. Chemical ciations of Mediterranean vegetation, studies of the beds of Lake Lisan, an centennial fluctuations of precipita- bordering the Irano-Turanian shrub Upper Pleistocene lake in the Jordan tion, more than temperature changes, land, are the most optimal in terms of Valley, and the early Holocene distribu- were responsible for the expansion carrying capacity.26,27 It is along the tion of C3 and C4 plants in the Negev and contraction of the vegetational prehistoric position of this belt that ARTICLES Evolutionary Anthropology 161 the major cultivating communities THE PALEOCLIMATIC RECORD coastal plain of the Levant by a stretch emerged.28 5 to 20 km wide and 500 km long. Paleoclimatic information is often Given the poor aquatic resources in Game animals included the moun- derived from the records of oxygen this section of the Mediterranean sea, tain gazelle (Gazella gazella), a station- isotope fluctuations registered in ice the rise in sea level mainly affected the ary antelope with a small home range cores, deep sea cores, and terrestrial size of foraging territories and the that varies from a few to as many as 25 vegetational reconstructions based on 29 collection of marine shells often used square kilometers. A larger home pollen cores from lakes. The following for decoration. range can be inferred for Gazella sub- sequence emerges when such data sets gutturosa, the dominant species in the are supplemented with information Syro-Arabian desert. Other mammals from geomorphological sequences, FROM MOBILE included wild cattle (Bos primigenius), bio-geographic interpretations of fluc- HUNTER-GATHERERS TO fallow deer (Dama mesopotmaica), roe tuating faunal spectra, incomplete ar- deer (Capreolus capreolus), and wild cheo-botanical records, and pollen SEDENTARY FORAGERS boar (Sus scrofa). The rare wild goat from archeological sites:2–4,16,17,32,33 The archeology of the late Paleo- (Capra aegagrus) occupied parkland 1. During the Late Glacial Maxi- lithic foragers is relatively well- areas while the ibex (Cabra ibex) inhab- mum, dated to ca. 20,000 to 14,500 known.1,34,35 Social units have been ited the cliffy, drier landscapes.27,30 B.P. the entire region was cold and dry, identified based on selective analysis The optimal foraging pattern of late but the hilly coastal areas enjoyed of stone artifacts combined with other Pleistocene hunter-gatherers, one that winter precipitation and were covered attributes such as site size and struc- combined both residential and logisti- by forests. ture, the distribution of settlements, cal movements, was probably the most and the reconstructed pattern of sea- efficient. Topography made antici- sonal mobility.1–4,11,28,34,36–41 For in- pated moves of social units or task stance, the Kebaran (ca. 18,000 to forces along east-west transects easier, . . . the mosaic 14,500 B.P.) sites were limited geo- for this route took advantage of the associations of graphically to the coastal Levant and north-south layout of mountain ranges Mediterranean isolated oases due the prevailing cold, and vegetational belts. The optimum dry climate. Geometric Kebaran forag- territory for a band of hunter-gather- vegetation, bordering ers took advantage of the climatic ers within the Mediterranean vegeta- the Irano-Turanian shrub amelioration around 14,500 to 13,000 tional belt is estimated to be about 300 B.P.,expanding into the formerly deser- to 500 square kilometers.2 In contrast, land, are the most tic belt, which had became a lusher 39–41 foragers in steppe or desert regions optimal in terms of steppe. Ground stone mortars, were required to monitor an area of bowls, and cupholes, which first ap- peared in the Upper Paleolithic, are 500 to 2,000 square kilometers as a carrying capacity. It is considered to indicate vegetal food buffer against annual fluctuations. along the prehistoric processing.42 The invention of these In this system, decreasing annual position of this belt that tools marks a revolutionary departure precipitation and shifts in the distribu- from Middle Paleolithic methods of tion of rains that diminished yields of the major cultivating plant food preparation. It not only wild fruits, seeds, and game animals communities emerged. heralds the ‘‘broad-spectrum exploita- would place stress mainly on the steppe tion’’ that was conceived as a prerequi- 31 and desert belts. In contrast, re- site for the agricultural revolution, but sources in the Mediterranean belt also is supported by the recent discov- would have been more stable. Levan- 2. Precipitation over the entire re- ery of carbonized plant remains in a tine foragers would have had many gion slowly increased beginning about water-logged site, Ohallo II, dated to ways to alleviate short- and long- 14,500 B.P. and more rapidly from 19,000 B.P.43 The assemblage contains term stresses: population aggregation 13,500 to 13,000 B.P. The rate of pre- a rich suite of seeds and fruits, already in the Mediterranean core areas; so- cipitation peaked around 11,500 B.P. known to scientists from the basal cial and techno-economic reorganiza- in the southern Levant. layers of Abu Hureira.44 Both collection within the same territories that 3. Rainfall decreased during the tions reflect intensified gathering of would affect the core area; immigra- Younger Dryas period (ca. 11,000 to r-resources from a variety of habitats tion to adjacent regions northward or 10,000 B.P.). and plant associations. Fallow deer, southward along the coastal ranges; or 4. Pluvial conditions returned gazelle, and wild boar were hunted in the use of warfare to take over territo- around 10,300 B.P., indicating a very the central Levant, whereas gazelle, ries, especially where bands did not wet early Holocene in the northern ibex, and hare were the common game belong to the same alliance.28 Each of Levant and Anatolia, but did not reach in the steppic belt. Wild goat and these strategies or a combination of the previous peak in the central and sheep were common in the Taurus and several would have resulted in the southern Levant.16,25 Zagros mountains. emergence of new spatial alignment of 5. A gradual rise in sea level after the The climatic improvement after the population, which would have been Late Glacial Maximum until the mid- 14,500 B.P. seems to have been respon- expressed in adjusted ideologies. Holocene reduced the flat, sandy sible for the presence of more stable 162 Evolutionary Anthropology ARTICLES

data have led to the recognition that a Natufian ‘‘homeland’’ existed in the central Levant (Fig. 1) and that the Natufians were secondary foragers and, perhaps, the earliest farmers. This information led to the recognition that the Natufian culture played a major role in the emergence of the early Neolithic farming communities, or what is known as the Agricultural Revolution.1–4,12,28,58 The main attraction of the Natufian cultural remains is the wealth of information uncovered in every site. Aside from settlement size, the dwelling structures, graves, and art objects in more than one site resemble the remains of Neolithic villages. In addition, lithics, elaborate bone industry, pounding and grinding tools, large quantities of marine shells, and ani-

. . . the Natuﬁans were secondary foragers and, perhaps, the earliest farmers.

mal bones have furnished the required information for a better reconstruction of past lifeways. Each of these aspects provide the basis for the various interpretations of the socio-economic system of the Natuﬁan culture.

Figure 2. A map of the Levant with the location of most of the sites of the Natufian culture (after Site Size and Settlement Pattern Bar-Yosef and Meadow4). All Natufian base camps in the ‘‘homeland’’ area were located in the human occupations in the steppic and industries, as well as burials uncov- woodland belt, where oak and pista- desertic belts. Groups moved into ar- ered in their excavations in caves in chio were the dominant species (Fig. 1,25 eas that were previously uninhabited, Mount Carmel and the Judean hills, 2). The undergrowth of this open forest was grass with high frequencies from the Mediterranean steppe into the Natufian culture has continued to of cereals. The high mountains of the margins of the Syro-Arabian de- attract the attention of archeolo- Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon, the sert. Others came from the Nile valley, gists.5,46–48 Excavations during the steppic areas of the Negev and Sinai, creating an interesting social mo- 1950s in Ain Mallaha (Eynan), which saic.1,11,35,40,45 and the Syro-Arabian desert in the exposed semi-subterranean houses, re- east accommodated only small Natu- ferred to as pit-houses in the American THE EMERGENCE OF THE fian occupations due to both their terminology, led J. Perrot to interpret lower carrying capacity and the pres- NATUFIAN CULTURE the site as the remains of a village. ence of other groups of foragers who The emergence of the Natufian cul- Additional excavations were done at exploited this vast region. In general, ture around 13,000 or 12,800 B.P. was Nahal Oren,49 Hayonim Cave and Ter- Natufian sites fall into three size cat- a major turning point in the history of race,50–53 Rosh Zin54 and Rosh Hore- egories: small (15 to 100 m2), medium the Near East.1,28 Originally defined by sha,55 Wadi Hammeh 27,56 Wadi Ju- (400 to 500 m2), and large (greater Garrod and Neuville on the basis of dayid,1 and the lower layers at Beidha,5 than 1,000 m2). Only during the Late the lithic, bone, and ground stone providing a wealth of new data. These Natufian were several larger sites es- ARTICLES Evolutionary Anthropology 163

small adjoining oval rooms inside the cave, each 2.5 to 3.5 m in diameter and built of undressed stones. There was a hearth or two in each room except one. Finds from the lower fill of every room indicated its domestic use, although this function seems to have changed subsequently: one room was first a kiln for burning limestone and later was the site of bone tool production. Late Natufian sites have produced incomplete information. At Nahal Oren Terrace, elongated enclosure walls were uncovered. In a lower level of this site, a series of postholes sur- rounded a large fireplace amid a cem- etery area.49 Circular structures were exposed in Rosh Zin.54 One room had a slab pavement and a limestone monolith 1m tall erected at its edge. This could just have been a domestic structure, but it is also possible that it served specific ritual purposes. At Jebel Saaıˆde´, a Late Natufian site in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, the remains of collapsed walls were identified, despite much destruction caused by mod- ern terracing.60 Despite expectations to the contrary, storage installations are rare in Natu- fian sites. The few examples include a paved bin in Hayonim Terrace61 and

Figure 3. A: The Early Natufian habitations, primary and secondary burials, of the upper layers at Ain Mallaha. Note the special pit-house in the left upper corner. B: A cross section along the A-B line demonstrating the entire stratigraphy of Ain Mallaha. Note the dug-out pits (after Perrot and Ladiray157). tablished within the steppic belt. Even 6 m in diameter, with either rounded so, none of the larger sites ever reached or squarish fireplaces. Although the the size of a large Early Neolithic fills of the dwellings contained rich village. assemblages, identifying specific floors Natufian base camps are character- was not easy. A rare case is the semi- ized by semi-subterranean dwellings circular house 131 in Ain Mallaha (pit-houses). The foundations were (Fig. 4), which is9mindiameter, built of stone and the upper structure where a series of post holes was pre- was probably brush and wood. There served. In certain areas of the floor, is no evidence of the use of mud bricks clusters of artifacts were uncovered. or wattle and daub. Fine examples of Worth noting is a small building in Ain Natufian houses were uncovered in Mallaha in which a rounded bench Ain Mallaha (Fig. 3), Wadi Hammeh covered with lime plaster was pre- 27, and Hayonim Cave and Terrace. served. This house is different from Figure 4. The large Natufian house in Ain Mal- Every base camp suggests the rebuild- the domestic one and could have been laha with a proposed reconstruction of its upper structure. Note the series of postholes ing of houses, indicating temporary used for ritual purposes by the leader and the number of hearths that seem to have abandonment of the settlement. or shaman of the group. been used for communal activities (after Domestic structures were about 3 to In Hayonim Cave, there is a series of Valla59). 164 Evolutionary Anthropology ARTICLES several plastered pits at Ain Mallaha, one-third of the dead, indicating a sites has demonstrated that it is al- which could have served as under- relatively high mortality among those most impossible to relate changes in ground storage facilities.62 It is pos- aged 5 to 7 years.68 This is interpreted lithic technology and the morphology sible that baskets were used for above- as evidence of growing stress within of artifacts to environmental changes. ground storage. Indirect evidence for sedentary communities.12 Therefore, specific characteristics of basketry comes from the special bone A special type of mortuary practice knapping techniques, ways of snap- tools known from ethnographic stud- is indicated by the joint human and ping bladelets, and types of retouch ies to have been used in such activity.63 dog burials in two graves, one in Ain among assemblages of Terminal Pleis- Mallaha69 and the other at Hayonim tocene and Early Holocene age in the Terrace.70 Both are interpreted as Near East are employed in the search Graves and Burials marking a departure from the Paleo- for identifiable social entities.1,28 The lithic vision of the natural world as a The Natufian population has been Natufian has thus been subdivided dichotomy between humans and wild- identified as being of Proto-Mediterra- into phases and regional groups based life. nean stock.64 Graves were uncovered on the presence or absence of prod- Given the Natufians’ habit of plac- in all base camps in the Natufian heart- ucts of ‘‘microburin technique,’’ a spe- ing graves within their own sites and land as well as in smaller sites.65,66 cialized blade-snapping method, and then refilling them with material from Stratigraphic indications from Hay- the size and type of retouch of lunates the pit and surrounding areas, only onim Cave and Ain Mallaha demon- (backing versus Helwan). The average objects found attached to skeletons strate that graves were dug in deserted length of lunates, which has also been can be securely identified as grave 73 dwellings and outside of houses, but used as a chronological marker, has goods. Common grave goods included not under the floors of active house- recently been refined to include the head decorations, necklaces, brace- holds. Graves were in pits, either shal- regional-ecological location of the lets, belts, earrings, and pendants made 74 low or deep, and were rarely paved sites. of marine shells, bone, teeth, and with stones or plaster. In several in- The Natufian lithic industry is char- beads. A few objects such as a bone stances limestone slabs covered the acterized by extensively used cores dagger (Hayonim cave), a bone figu- graves, but graves generally were filled and the production of small, short, rine of a young gazelle (Nahal Oren), in with sediment from the site itself. wide bladelets and flakes. Among the and a small model of a human head in That sediment contained cobbles, lith- retouched pieces, frequencies of end limestone (El-Wad) were related by ics, broken mortars, and animal bones. scrapers and burins fluctuate consider- Sealed graves were marked at Nahal ably. Backed blades grade into the Oren by deep mortars called stone retouched and backed bladelets, de- pipes. In Nahal Oren and Hayonim Research on Upper fined as microliths. Microliths and geo- Cave, small cupholes pecked in rocks metrics reach 40% or more in every marked the location of graves.67 In Pleistocene sites has assemblage. In the Early Natufian, geo- Nahal Oren, an exceptionally large demonstrated that it is metrics include Helwan and backed fireplace, 1.2m in diameter and sur- lunates, trapeze-rectangles, and tri- rounded by limestone slabs, was placed almost impossible to angles, but in the Late Natufian backed in the center of a cluster of inhuma- relate changes in lithic lunates generally dominate.12,34,73–76 tions.49 technology and the Special tools that occur for the first The burials demonstrate variability time in the Natufian are picks and in mortuary practices. The pattern of morphology of artifacts sickle blades. The first, considered the body disposition in primary burials is to environmental forerunner of the axe-adzes group of supine, semiflexed, or flexed, with vari- the Neolithic period, are 8 to 10 cm ous orientations of the head. The num- changes. long and bifacially or trifacially flaked. ber of inhumations per grave varies The second, the sickle blades or glossy from single to multiple. Collective buri- pieces as they are known today, are als are more common in the Early abundant in sites within the Natufian Natufian. Several cases of skull remov- excavators to the buried individuals. It homeland (Fig. 6). These blades bear a als were observed in the Late Natufian should be stressed that decorated buri- gloss that covers a relatively wide area context at Hayonim Cave, Nahal Oren, als particularly characterize the Early on both faces. Experimental and mi- 12,67 and Ain Mallaha, heralding a Neo- Natufian. Finally, the suggestion that croscopic studies demonstrated that lithic practice. Secondary burials were differences in mortuary practices these were used for harvesting cere- 77,78 either isolated or mixed with primary should be viewed as reflecting social als. The blades were hafted in bone burials. Secondary burials, which oc- hierarchy have recently been found to or, probably more often, wooden cur more often in the Late than Early be untenable.71,72 handles. It is quite possible that they Natufian, are interpreted as evidence can be interpreted as tools used in of increased group mobility. Scattered early experiments in cereal cultiva- human bones occur within the occupa- Lithic Assemblages tion. The use of sickles instead of tional deposits, indicating that the The production of stone tools is one beaters and baskets has the advantage Natufians disturbed burials of their of the most conservative human activi- of maximizing the yield harvested from own people. Children comprise about ties. Research on Upper Pleistocene a limited area.79–82 It seems that the ARTICLES Evolutionary Anthropology 165

tity.85–87 Objects were made of bone shafts and of teeth and horn-cores from gazelles, wolves, fallow deer, roe deer, and birds. Use-wear analysis indicates that bone tools were used for hideworking and basketry.63 Barbed items have been reconstructed as parts of hunting devices (spears or arrows), hooks and gorgets for ﬁshing, and hafts for sickle blades. Bone beads and pendants were shaped by grinding and drilling.63 Many objects bear speciﬁc decorations. Among these are the carved hafts from El-Wad and Kebara Cave with young ruminants at the edge and the pieces from Hayonim Cave bearing net patterns.47,58,88

Ornamentation and Art Objects Body decorations and ornamenta- tions demonstrate variability between

The Natuﬁan is marked by a bone industry that is far richer in quantity and contains more elaborate, varied morphologies than does any earlier or later Levantine archeological Figure 5. An Early Natuﬁan decorated skull from El-Wad, excavated by D. Garrod (photograph by S. Burger, Peabody Museum). entity.

Natufians adopted the use of sickles about 100 km away. Microscopic obser- for harvesting because of their need to vations have demonstrated that ground and within sites, as well as change maximize yield and minimize time, stone utensils were employed for food over time. A variety of marine mol- the reason being the limited availabil- processing as well as for crushing luscs, bone, greenstone, limestone pen- 3,82 41,84 ity of fields of wild stands. burned limestone and red ochre. dants, and beads were used by the Among the grooved stones are whet- Natufians in headgear, necklaces, belts, Ground Stone Tools stones made of sandstone, which were bracelets, and earrings (Fig. 6). used for shaping bone objects. Shaft Marine shells for Natufian jewelry Such tools, including bedrock mor- straighteners, identified on the basis tars, portable mortars, bowls of vari- were collected from the shores of the of ethnographic comparisons, have a Mediterranean Sea or, more rarely, ous types, cupholes, mullers, and deep, parallel-sided groove and bear were brought from the Red Sea. Ain pestles, occur in large numbers in burning marks. These marks, which Mallaha stands out for having a tusk base-camp sites, but are not as abun- resulted from straightening wooden shell from the Atlantic ocean and a dant in the more ephemerally occu- shafts, indicate the use of bows by the freshwater bivalve from the Nile pied camps. The boulder mortars, Natufians. sometimes called stone pipes, weigh river.41,89 Greenstone and malachite as much as 100 to 150 kg and are 70 to beads were brought from as yet un- 80 cm deep. When broken in their Bone and Horncore Industry identified localities in the Levant. Other lowermost part, these objects were The Natufian is marked by a bone rare items include pieces of Anatolian placed in graves. An archeometric industry that is far richer in quantity obsidian found at Ain Mallaha in a study has indicated that basalt objects and contains more elaborate, varied Late Natufian context. The noticeable in the Mount Carmel sites were morphologies than does any earlier or differences in jewelry between the sites brought from the Golan Heights,83 later Levantine archeological en- is considered to indicate the existence 166 Evolutionary Anthropology ARTICLES

figurine from the Nahal Oren site has an owl at one end and a dog’s head at the other. An additional item is a horn core with a man’s head at one end and a bovid’s head at the other end. This combination of human and animal might have emerged from similar ideological changes that led to the joint dog and human burials.70 Figurines that represent the human body or face are rare; only a few, made of limestone, have been found.92 The exception is the Ain Sakkhri limestone figurine, interpreted as representing a mating couple. Zoomorphic figurines include a tortoise, a kneeling gazelle, and possibly a baboon.88 The attention given to young ruminants93 and their appearance as decoration on sickles is rather curious, but perhaps represents a totemic group idol. Particular decorative patterns found on both bone and stone objects include the net, chevron (or zigzag), and meander patterns. Most appear on spatulas, stone bowls, shaft-straighteners, and the rare ostrich-egg shell con- tainers found as broken pieces in the Negev sites.54 Because these differ from site to site, they may further our iden- tification of different Natufian groups. For the time being, we know that their frequencies are highest within the Natufian homeland in the central Le- vant.94

Subsistence Most Natufian sites were excavated before the introduction, in the late 1960s, of recovery techniques such as systematic dry sieving and floatation. However, even in recent excavations water flotation has failed to retrieve sufficient quantities of floral remains. Figure 6. Natufian lithic, bone, and ground stone assemblage: 1, Helwan lunate; 2, lunate; 3, In some cases, the few grains found triangle; 4 and 5, microburins (products of a special snapping technique); 6, truncated were later dated by accelerator mass bladelet; 7, borer; 8, burin; 9, Helwan sickle blade; 10, abruptly retouched sickle blade; 11, pick; spectrometry to recent times.95,96 The 12 and 13, bone points; 14, decorated broken sickle haft; 15–19, bone pendants; 20, deco- poor preservation of vegetal remains rated bone spatula; 21, pestle; 22, mortar; 23, deep mortar made of basalt; 24, Harif point. Note that the ground stone tools have different scales than do the lithics and bone objects. in Natufian sites within the Mediterra- nean woodland resulted from the nature of the prevailing terra rossa soil. of distinct group identities.67 Several der pattern, also known from carved Occupational deposits in open-air sites limestone slabs recovered from the basalt bowls, were uncovered in one of are soaked each winter, then dry up rounded structures inside Hayonim the houses of Wadi Hammeh.27,56,88 and crack in summer. In the process, Cave are incised, mostly with the lad- Portable naturalistic and schematic plant remains are destroyed; charcoal, der-pattern motif interpreted as the figurines made of bone and limestone small bones, and even lithics are sub- accumulated effects of notational include carvings on sickle hafts and jected to both downward and upward marks.90,91 On one large slab, the rough isolated bone pieces (Fig. 7). Several movements. Better charcoal preserva- form of a fish is deeply incised. Large of these figurines depict young ungu- tion is noted in the desertic loess in the carved limestone slabs with the mean- lates, possibly gazelles.88 A limestone Negev and drier deep deposits of sites ARTICLES Evolutionary Anthropology 167

cereals in the earliest Neolithic sites is still questionable on the basis of the morphological characteristics of carbonized seeds and rachis fragments.100 A more cautious interpretation of these findings is that Natufian communities practiced intensive and extensive harvesting of wild cereals as part of an anticipated summer mobility pattern. Good bone preservation in most sites has made faunal evidence the subject of numerous studies.101–106 Natufians hunted gazelle and other game, de- pending on the geographical location of each site (Fig. 8). In the coastal ranges, deer, cattle, and wild boar were common, while in the steppic belt equids and ibex were typical prey. The attempt to explain the Natufian faunal assemblages as the result of net hunt- ing107 has not been well accepted,108 and does not conform to the ethnographic evidence, which indicates that such a technique is best suited for forested areas where the degree of visibility is rather low.109 Water fowl undoubtedly formed part of the Natufian diet, especially in sites along the Jordan Valley, where both migratory and nesting ducks were gathered during the stress seasons.110 Freshwater species of fish were caught seasonally in the Hula Lake, as indicated by thousands of fish vertebrae retrieved at Ain Mallaha.111 Fishing seems to have been less important along the Mediterranean coast. How- ever, fish remains, though scarce, to- Figure 7. Natufian art objects: 1, decorated sickle haft (Kebara); 2, limestone human head gether with the presence of bone gor- (El-Wad); 3 and 4, schematic human heads (Ain Mallaha); 5, decorated sickle haft (El-Wad); 6, gets and hooks, indicate that old limestone figurines with two heads, a dog and an owl (Nahal Oren); 7, limestone animal head, excavation techniques often yield in- possibly a baboon (Nahal Oren); 8, decorated limestone slab (Wadi Hammeh 27) (after Bar-Yosef58 and Noy88). complete information.

THE NATUFIAN AND THE in the Lower Jordan Valley. However, remains from Ohalo II, the Late Paleo- EMERGENCE OF NEOLITHIC samples are still too small due to the lithic site mentioned earlier. Similar limited number and size of excava- information comes from Tell Murey- FARMER-HUNTER COMMUNITIES tions. The paucity of carbonized mate- bet97 and the Epi-Paleolithic layers of The emergence of the Natufian en- rial is also expressed in the relative Abu Hureyra,44 which are dated to tity from a world of Levantine hunter- scarcity of charcoal radiocarbon dates. Late Natufian age. gatherers is seen as resulting from Tools for food acquisition, such as The idea that the Natufians were the both economic and social circum- sickles, and food processors, such as earliest agriculturalists was first sug- stances. On the one hand, climatic mortars, bowls, and pestles, are inter- gested by Garrod in 1932. Despite improvements around 13,000 B.P. pro- preted as evidence for harvesting and later criticism, that idea was revived vided a wealth of food resources. On processing wild cereals and legumes. by others80 and supported in part the other hand, contemporaneous The few available seeds support the by experimental studies of sickle population growth in both the steppic contention that pulses, cereals, al- blades.77,78 It was also established that and desertic regions made any abrupt, monds, acorns, and other fruits were systematic cultivation would have short-term climatic fluctuation a moti- gathered.18 The list of species col- caused the unintentional domestica- vation for human groups to achieve lected was probably even longer, as tion of wheat and barley.98,99 However, control over resources. The establish- can be deduced from the list of plant even the degree of domestication of ment of a series of sedentary Early 168 Evolutionary Anthropology ARTICLES

techniques with the invention of the Harif point, an arrowhead that probably was more efficient.36 Whereas the lithic and bone industries of Harifian sites are Late Natufian in nature, only the existence of the Harif point (Fig. 5) demonstrates the uniqueness of this entity. Animal bones represent the hunting of local fauna: gazelle, ibex, hare, and perhaps wild sheep. Grind- ing tools, mortars, and cup-holes indicate the processing of unknown plant food elements. Large collections of marine shells demonstrate tight relationships with both the Red Sea and Mediterranean shores.41 The overall territory of the Harifian, as estimated from surveys, is about 8,000 km, but could have been as large as 30,000 to 50,000 km2. However, given their archeological disappearance within two to three hundred years and the fact

Figure 8. Frequencies of large and medium size mammals in Natufian and Neolithic sites. Note the dominance of gazelle in Natufian and PPNA sites and the shift to caprovines during the The establishment of a Pre-Pottery Neolithic B. series of sedentary Early Natufian hamlets in a Natufian hamlets in a delineated home- in leveling slopes for building pur- delineated homeland is land is seen as a reaction to an abrupt poses, the construction of houses, the environmental change that necessi- production of plaster, and the trans- seen as a reaction to an tated a shift of resource scheduling. port of heavy undressed stones into abrupt environmental Previous patterns of semi-sedentism cave sites. Finally, the digging of graves among Late Pleistocene foragers gave and rare underground storage pits, as change that way to the acquisition of a firmer hold well as the shaping of large, heavy necessitated a shift of over territories. mortars were activities that took place resource scheduling. The circumstances surrounding in such base camps, but generally not Natufian sedentism are interpreted in in locations that were exploited on a various ways. Some researchers con- short-term, seasonal basis. tend that sedentism was enhanced by The climatic crisis of the Younger that this area remained essentially un- the need to intensify cereal exploita- Dryas (ca. 11,000 to 10,300 B.P.) re- inhabited for about one thousand ra- tion.1–4,112 Others suggest that sedent- sulted in environmental deterioration. diocarbon years, the Harifian is inter- ism itself increased the propagation of This climatic change, now recognized preted as the unsuccessful effort of the such annuals as cereals.13 Unfortu- globally, had an impact on the Natu- local Late Natufian population to adapt nately, as mentioned earlier, the stor- fian population. It is suggested that age practices of the Natufians are the two major outcomes of the cold to the prevailing Younger Dryas condi- poorly known. and dry conditions were a decrease in tions in their territory (Fig. 9). Archeologically, the criteria for rec- the natural production of C3 plants, In other areas, Natufian communi- ognizing sedentism include the pres- such as the cereals,4 and a reduction in ties responded to the climatic changes ence of human commensals, such as the geographic distribution of natural by becoming more mobile, probably house mice, rats, and sparrows, at stands of wild cereals to the western returning to a more flexible schedul- higher frequencies among microfau- wing of the Fertile Crescent (Fig. 9). ing of resources. Several communities nal assemblages than in forager Environmental exploitation by seden- maintained social relationships with sites.113–115 Another biological marker tary Late Natufian communities as their original hamlets and returned is the study of cementum increments well as by their neighboring foragers there to bury their dead, as shown by on gazelle teeth, which indicate that further depleted plant and animal re- the large number of secondary buri- hunting by the inhabitants of Natufian sources.115 Social reactions to these als.53,72 The first experiments in system- base hamlets took place in both winter new conditions differed within the atic cultivation most likely occurred and summer. In addition, semi-perma- Near East (Fig. 9). during the Younger Dryas. The first nent hamlets can be noted by energy In the Negev and northern Sinai, the Neolithic large villages, up to 2.5 hect- expenditure, reflected in investments Late Natufian improved their hunting ares in size, seem to have relied, if not ARTICLES Evolutionary Anthropology 169

ample evidence for the continuation of old life ways and the adoption of specific projectile tools from the neighboring farmers. The first manifestation of the cultural change that heralded the ‘‘Neo- lithic Revolution’’ is known in the Le- vant as the Khiamian. This entity is still poorly defined, in part because the time span of its existence is hardly a few centuries of radiocarbon years, perhaps ca. 10,500 to 10,300/10,100 B.P. In addition, the available information on the Khiamian was obtained from very limited soundings and sites where mixing with earlier layers is likely to have occurred.123–126 The lithic industry of the Khiamian comprises the aerodynamically shaped el-Khiam projectile points, asphalt-hafted sickle blades, some microliths, and high frequencies of perforators, a typical Neo- lithic feature (Fig. 11). Bifacial or polished celts, considered to be Neolithic ‘‘markers,’’ are absent from the Khi- Figure 9. A reconstructed vegetational map of the Younger Dryas period. The hatched area amian contexts. delineates the belt in which wild cereals were present. Note the location of a few selected Late Natufian and Early Neolithic sites. Data are based on Hillman.31 The location of lake pollen cores is also shown. The first manifestation of on domesticated barley and wheat,18 interpretation; e.g., ‘‘level of incipient then on planting their wild progeni- cultivation and domestication’’ and the cultural change that tors.100 No one claims today that these ‘‘level of primary village-farming com- heralded the ‘‘Neolithic early farmers were new people. In munities.’’117,118 Finally, the French Revolution’’ is known in fact, ample evidence demonstrates that school from Lyon adopted a subdivi- they were the descendants of the local sion by time horizons.119,120 the Levant as the Natufian population, which had under- Early Neolithic farming communi- Khiamian. gone changes in material culture, so- ties in the Levant were geographically cial organization, and daily life ways. distributed along today’s boundary between the Mediterranean and the THE EARLY NEOLITHIC ENTITIES Irano-Turanian steppic vegetational- THE SULTANIAN ENTITY belts. However, the environmental con- ‘‘Neolithic,’’ meaning ‘‘new stone We identify between 10,300 and age,’’ was first used with respect to the ditions during the early Holocene were entirely different from those of today. 9,300 B.P. a few geographically delin- Near East in the twentieth century. eated entities. The Sultanian, the one Jericho was a key site: it was there that Hence, these sites were located within the Mediterranean woodland, which in the Jordan Valley, which includes the excavations of K. Kenyon exposed the neighboring hilly ranges on both a Neolithic sequence without pottery, was, at that time, the richest in vegetal sides, is better known than those which led to new terminology. Be- and animal resources (Fig. 10). Recog- farther north. The main sites (Fig. 11) cause all the other components, and nition that the early farming commu- are Jericho,127 Gilgal,128 Netiv Hag- especially the stone industry, re- nities were actually stretched along a dud,129,130 Gesher,131 Dra,65 and several sembled the European assemblages rather narrow north-to-south belt led from which the designation ‘‘Neo- us to identify the Levantine Corridor in the hilly region, including Hat- 125 65 lithic’’ had originated, Kenyon sug- as the locus of the origins of agricul- oula, Iraq ed-Dubb, and Nahal 49 gested the taxon Pre-Pottery Neolithic. ture.28 On both sides of that corridor, Oren. In the northern Levant, some- She further subdivided it on the basis in the coastal range on the west and what similar contexts represent other of the Jericho stratigraphy into Pre- the steppic region in the east and cultural entities. The main sites are Pottery Neolithic A and B.116 At the south, small bands of foragers contin- Mureybet and Jerf el Ahmar same time, R. Braidwood suggested ued to survive (Fig. 10). Sites of these (Syria),97,120 Qermez Dereh (Iraq),132 an anthropologically oriented termi- hunter-gatherers were excavated in the and the lower level at Ç ayo¨nu¨(Tur- nology, which incorporated excavated Anti-Lebanon mountains121 and in key).133 The following brief overview is assemblages within a socio-economic southern Sinai.122 Both areas provide therefore based mainly on the Sulta- 170 Evolutionary Anthropology ARTICLES

rapid accumulation of deposits in Neo- lithic mounds. Therefore, Neolithic deposits generally have low frequencies of artifacts per volume-unit when com- pared to the previous Natufian sites. Domestic hearths were small and oval with cobble floors. The use of heated rocks in cooking resulted in abundant fire-cracked rocks, which were uncommon in Natufian sites. Si- los, either small stone-built bins or larger built-up mud-brick structures, were found in every site. The best example as yet of communal building efforts are the walls and tower of Jericho. Kenyon116 interpreted these as parts of a defense system against raids. However, Kenyon ignored the fact that a tower that is part of a defense system is usually built on the outer face of the walls to enable the protectors to shoot side- ways at the climbing attackers. An alternative interpretation suggests that the walls were erected mainly on the western side of the site to protect the settlement against mud flows and flash floods135 (Fig. 12). In addition, a topo- graphic cross section through the entire tell indicates that there was probably only one tower. Although its function is unknown, it could have accommodated a small mud-brick shrine on the top. Although unequivo- cal evidence for public ritual is miss- ing, the open space north of the tower may have been similar to the ‘‘plaza’’ in Ç ayo¨nu¨ (Turkey), which served as a place for public gatherings.133

Figure 10. A map of the Levant showing the distribution of known Pre-Pottery Neolithic A sites, the area of the Levantine Corridor, and the presence of other socio-economic entities. Sultanian Tool Kits Lithic technology exhibits cultural nian sites, with additional informa- hold is probably made of two rooms. continuity from the Khiamian.136 tion from settlements elsewhere in the There are open spaces between the Blades were manufactured essentially Near East. houses where some of the domestic for sickles and other cutting objects. activities took place.129,134 Similar ob- Projectiles included el-Khiam points with additional varieties; perforators Site Size, Intrasite Variability, and servations can be made for Jericho and Mureybet. Nahal Oren, however, are frequent. Axes-adzes with a work- Settlement Pattern represents a small site where the ing edge formed by a transversal blow The largest Neolithic sites, among rounded houses are clustered together and polished celts made their first them Mureybet, Jericho, Netiv Hag- like a compound of an extended fam- appearance during this time (Fig. 11). dud, Gilgal, and Dra, are at least three ily. A shift from the Natufian is evident to eight times larger than the largest Sultanian and other PPNA houses in the abundant pounding tools, in- Natufian sites.2,4 Intrasite variabil- are pit-houses, with stone foundations cluding slabs with cupholes, hand ity indicates that there are clear dif- and superstructures of unbaked mud stones, and rounded, shallow grinding ferences between the large villages bricks, often with a plano-convex cross bowls. Only the rare mortar or deep and the small hamlets. For example, section (Fig. 12). The use of mud bricks bowl continued the previous tradition in Netiv Hagdud the dwellings are along with considerable amounts of of heavy-duty kitchen equipment (Fig. large and oval, and each house- organic substances resulted in the 11). ARTICLES Evolutionary Anthropology 171

society. It is assumed that this major shift brought about the cult of the ‘‘mother goddess’’ in later centuries.

Subsistence Flotation procedures at sites in the Levantine Corridor have produced high frequencies of carbonized seeds of barley, wheat, legumes, and other plants.18,97–100,139,140 Unfortunately, there is no agreement on the methods humans used to acquire the seeds, whether by intensive collection in the

Flotation procedures at sites in the Levantine Corridor have produced high frequencies of carbonized seeds of barley, wheat, legumes, and other plants. Unfortunately, there is no agreement on the methods humans used to acquire the seeds, whether by intensive collection in the wild, cultivation, or gathering animal dung as fuel.

Figure 11. A typical assemblage from a Pre-Pottery Neolithic A site in the southern Levant: 1 and 2, Khiam points; 3 and 4, Hagdud truncations; 5, awl on blade; 6, a tranchet bifacial axe; 7, a wild, cultivation, or gathering animal sickle blade (type Beit Ta’amir); 8, grooved stone or a ‘‘shaft straightener’’; 9, limestone slab dung as fuel.18,99,100,141 The debate fo- 129 with cup holes; 10, a limestone celt (after Bar-Yosef and Gopher ). cuses on the frequencies of certain morphological features that are con- Mortuary Practices and Art within the Early Neolithic society, and sidered to be signs of domesticated perhaps is evidence for the veneration species and whether these are, in fact, Objects the results of parching harvested wild of ancestors.120 In sum, it seems that a Most burials are single with no grave cereals when still green. Regardless of long-term social value was attributed goods. Skull removal, a practice begun whether they were cultivators or har- to adults, as shown by the conserva- during the Late Natufian, was per- vesters, the geographic shift in settle- tion of their skulls, but not to children. formed only on adults; child burials ment pattern and the increasing site were left intact. The separated crania Additional changes in society are size during the Early Neolithic are were sometimes found in domestic expressed by the shaping of human sound indicators of a major socio- locales or special-purpose buildings. A figurines from either limestone or clay economic departure from the Natu- current interpretation views these skull along gender lines (Fig. 13). Several fian way of life. caches as having been formed through depict a kneeling female, while others Early Neolithic village inhabitants public ritual aimed at negotiating are of the ‘‘seated woman’’ type.138 continued to gather wild fruits and equality among the inhabitants of Common interpretation views this seeds and to hunt. Gazelle, equids, and these villages.137 The differentiation specification of gender, not evident in cattle were hunted in the middle Eu- along age lines probably reflects the Natufian, as indicating the emerg- phrates area (Fig. 8); gazelle, fox, a few changes in attitudes toward the dead ing role of women in a cultivating fallow deer, wild boar, and wild cattle 172 Evolutionary Anthropology ARTICLES

domestication and cultivation.141 Rob- ert Braidwood and his associates shifted their focus from the river valleys to what today is the nuclear zone in which wild cereals and legumes grow,18,142 often referred to as the ‘‘hilly flanks.’’ They excavated sites in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey. Braidwood proposed that within the evolving cultural contexts, technological progress led to village life and the ensuing domestication of plants and animals. The climatic factor was omit- ted from Braidwood’s model as a result of field observations made by H. E. Wright. Wright, a palynologist and limnologist, recently conceded that these observations were errone- ous and agreed that a greater role should be attributed to climatic fluctuations.143 At the time, however, Braidwood accepted the notion that climatic fluctuations played only a mi- nor role, and therefore suggested that food production did not begin at an earlier period because ‘‘culture was not ready.’’144 The role of increasing human populations at the end of the Pleistocene and the reaction of groups surviving in marginal areas to climatic fluctuations were prime stimuli in the writings of Binford,145 Flannery,146 Co- hen,147 Smith and Young,148 Hassan,149 and others. The idea of demographic pressure, which had originated in Figure 12. PPNA pit houses excavated in Netiv Hagdud. The darker circular building in the Childe’s writings, was explicitly ex- center was built of mud bricks and could have been a large silo. pressed within a cultural ecological model. Evidence to support the impor- were the main game animals in the DISCUSSION tance of this relative increase in hu- Jordan Valley. Large numbers of birds, man population densities was derived Most readers are familiar with the especially ducks, were trapped by occu- from new surveys and excavations ac- different hypotheses that have been pants of all sites.130 Lizards and tor- complished in the 1950s and 1960s offered as explanations for the emer- toises were gathered as well. The over- across the Near East. gence of agriculture in the Near East. all picture is that of a ‘‘broad-spectrum’’ Other scholars have attempted more The following is a brief summary. One subsistence strategy similar to that of general explanations. Thus, D. Rin- the Natufians. of the first proposals was made by dos150 viewed the emergence of agricul- Long-distance exchange is demon- Raphael Pumpelly, an American geolo- ture and the domestication of plants strated by the central Anatolian obsid- gist who hypothesized that the warm- as a long process of mutualism that ian found in Jericho and in smaller ing climate of the Holocene forced began with incidental domestication quantities in Netiv Hagdud, Nahal people to settle near drying lakes. This and terminated with a fully developed Oren, and Hatoula. No obsidian was idea led him to initiate excavations at agricultural system. However, if this found in Gilgal or Gesher. Marine the site of Anau in Turkmenistan, Cen- process were truly a basic pattern of shells were brought from the Mediter- tral Asia.3,141 The same idea was picked behavior for all foragers, then agricul- ranean coast and fewer from the Red up by V. G. Childe, who proposed what ture would have emerged indepen- Sea. There is a clear shift in the types today is called the ‘‘oasis hypothesis.’’ dently in every region of the world. selected for exchange. Glycymeris and Childe asserted that the Holocene post- The evidence does not support this cowries become important, but Den- glacial warming resulted in increasing hypothesis. Another approach pro- talium shells, where excavated depos- densities of humans and animals in posed by Hayden,151 termed the ‘‘com- its were sieved, are still common, as in river valleys, thereby motivating a new petitive feasting’’ model, emerged from Natufian sites. subsistence strategy based on animal a growing interest in social factors. ARTICLES Evolutionary Anthropology 173

mostly stationary medium-sized ungu- lates and cervids that did not require the monitoring of large territories. The result was dense spatial distribution of combined resources that enabled foragers to survive in biologically viable populations in small territories. The current trend to view climatic fluctuations as a mechanism for trig- gering cultural change is based on the growing understanding that environmental impacts are ‘‘screened’’ through a cultural filter. In each region at a given time, societies of hunter-gatherers have had their own cultural filters as much as they have had their own kinship systems, cosmologies, and economic and ideological adaptations to particular features of their landscape. Cultural filters are constructed through particular group histories. Thus, different human populations may react dif- ferently in the face of environmental crises. There is no need to seek one single model to explain the origins of agriculture. Since the end of the Late Glacial Maximum (ca. 14,500 B.P.), people occupied every eco-zone in the Near East. The Levant was the most favorably inhabited belt. Desert oases continued to accommodate hunter- gatherer groups, but these populations were highly mobile and thinly distributed. In the coastal Levant, semi-sedentism or severely reduced mobility was already an established settlement pattern among foragers. Hence a short, cold, and abrupt crisis at about 13,000 B.P., which was imme- Figure 13. Pre-pottery Neolithic A female figurines from Mureybet (1–3,5) and Netiv Hagdud (4). Note that they are in two positions, sitting (2,4) and standing (1,3,5) (after Cauvin158; Bar-Yosef diately followed by an increase in pre- and Gopher129). cipitation and an expansion of woodland and parkland, had a major impact. It made sedentism within a Unfortunately, the archeological rec- into account the unique geographic certain ‘‘homeland’’ the most practical ord of the Levant indicates that the conditions of the Levant, but also com- settlement pattern, resulting in the surplus of food and precious commodi- bines the archeological history of for- formation of the Early Natufian. The ties needed for potlatch competition agers, their reconstructed social struc- technological innovations introduced was not available before the develop- ture, and their subsistence strategies by the Natufians, such as sickles, picks, ment of agriculture but was, instead, with environmental changes. The re- and improved tools for archery, were an outcome of that development. sulting sequence makes the emer- additions to an already existing Upper Hayden’s model would better fit the gence of cultivation, under these given Paleolithic inventory of utensils that evidence for competition from the fol- conditions, the optimal strategy for included simple bows, corded fibers, lowing Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period semi-sedentary and sedentary hunter and food processing tools such as mor- (ca. 9,300 to 7,800 B.P.) when large, gatherers. The regional conditions dur- tars and pestles. Demographic pres- well-established villages occupied the ing the Late Pleistocene included the sure was therefore the outcome when Fertile Crescent and beyond. availability, predictability, and accessi- certain groups of foragers became sed- The explanatory model used in this bility of numerous edible annual seeds entary while others remained mobile. paper and others2–4,28,152 follows the such as cereals and legumes (r-re- This condition limited both groups in ‘‘historical narrative explanation’’ pro- sources) and perennial plant resources, their access to resources when further posed by Flannery.153 It not only takes essentially fruits, and the presence of climatic crises caused diminishing 174 Evolutionary Anthropology ARTICLES yields in natural stands of cereals and creasing demands for precious com- shift in settlement pattern suggests fruits. The ‘‘packing of territories’’154 modities, and possibly the eventual that the primary consideration for site describes the Late Pleistocene archeo- appearance of competitive feasting. location choice was related to cereal logical situation, which is now well In conclusion, the ‘‘Neolithic Revolu- cultivation and permanant water known from numerous surveys and tion’’ cannot be understood without sources, and not necessarily to the excavations of sites across the Levant. research into its origins in the Natu- optimal foraging of vegetal and ani- Another major crisis was the ‘‘Youn- fian culture. The emergence of farm- mal resources. The success of the Neo- ger Dryas,’’ a period of cold, dry cli- ing communities is seen as a response lithic farming communities under the matic conditions that lasted for centu- to the effects of the Younger Dryas on favorable climatic conditions of the ries. Rapid reduction in the size of the the Late Natufian culture in the Levan- early Holocene enabled them to ex- lushest vegetation belts as well as re- tine Corridor. The beginning of inten- pand along the Levantine Corridor duction in the yields of natural stands tional widespread cultivation was the into Anatolia and neighboring re- of C3 plants such as cereals forced only solution for a population for gions. certain human groups to change their whom cereals had become a staple organizational strategies, including the food. Domestication of a suite of ways they obtained carbohydrate re- founder crops came as the uninten- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS sources. Experimental planting, shifts tional, unconscious result of this pro- I am grateful to A. Belfer-Cohen, N. in the location of settlements, and the cess. In retrospect, the stability of Early Goren-Inbar, N. Goring-Morris, E. clearing of land patches resulted in Hovers, and E. Tchernov, my col- establishment of the Early Neolithic leagues at the Hebrew University, Avi (commonly labelled PPNA) villages, Demographic pressure Gopher (Tel Aviv University), my co- first in the western part, or the Levan- was therefore the director for the excavations in Netiv tine wing, of the Fertile Crescent. Other Hagdud, F. Valla and R. Meadow (Har- groups in the steppic belt reacted to outcome when certain vard University), with whom I recently these conditions by increasing their groups of foragers co-authored a summary of the origins mobility. of agriculture in the Near East, for my The rapid return of wetter condi- became sedentary while many useful discussions with them. In tions around 10,000 B.P. triggered the others remained mobile. addition, I thank J. Fleagle, A. Belfer- expansion of numerous lakes and Cohen, D. Henry, M. Fleischman, N. ponds, which then facilitated the culti- This condition limited Ornstein, and three anonymous re- vation of various annuals along their both groups in their viewers for their comments. Needless shores, especially in the Levantine Cor- to say, I am the only one responsible ridor. From that time onward, large access to resources for any shortcomings of this paper. villages existed, with estimated popu- when further climatic lations of 300 to 500 individuals. Each crises caused of these villages was inhabited by an REFERENCES entire biologically viable population, diminishing yields in thereby reducing the need to maintain 1 Henry DO (1989) From Foraging to Agriculture: natural stands of cereals The Levant at the End of the Ice Age. Philadelphia: a mating network that stretched over University of Pennsylvania Press. long distances. 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