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8/3/2019 Bar-Yosef 1998The Natufian Culture in the Levant, Threshold to the Origins of Agriculture.evolAnthr
1/19
ARTICLES
The Na tufia n Culture in the Leva nt,Threshold to the Origins of AgricultureOFER BAR-YOSEF
As with other crucial thresholds in
cultural evolution, the im pact of the
Neolithic Revolution, as it was la-
beled by V. G. Childe, 5 or t he incip ien t
cultivation and dom es tication as i t
w a s d e fin e d b y R . B r a i d wo o d ,6
ca nonly be evaluated on the bas is of i ts
outcome. I begin with a brief descrip-
t io n o f t h e c u lt u r a l s e qu e n c e o f t h e
late hu nter-gatherers w ho inhabited
the Near East u ntil about 13,000 B.P.7
Thes e foragers , w ho had a variety of
subsistence strategies and types of an-
n u a l s ch e d u le s, r a n g ed fr o m s em i -
s ed e n t a r y g r o u p s t o s m a ll m o b i le
band s. The establishment of sedentary
Natufian hamlets in the Levant (Fig. 1)
marked a major organizational depar-
tur e from th e old ways of life. This was
fo llo w ed b y a s ec o n d m a j or s oc io -
economic threshold, characterized ar-
cheologically by Early Neolithic culti-
vators. This sequence of changes canonly be understood within th e context
of the entire region and the s hifting
paleobotanical conditions of the Le-
vant during this period.
I therefore begin with a b rief descrip-
t io n o f t h e L eva n t a n d i ts n a t u ra l
res ources during the term inal P leis -
tocene and early Holocene (18,000 to
9,000 B.P.: uncalibrated radio carbon
years8) . D uring this period, the land-
s ca p e o f t h e N e a r E a s t w a s n o t d r y,
barren , and thorn y as it appear s today.
Using palynological, pa leobotanical,
a n d g eo m o r p h o lo gi ca l d a t a , w e a r e
able to propos e ins tead a reconstruc-
tion of the s patial dis tribution of an
o a k-d o m i n a te d p a r k la n d a n d w o od -
la n d t h a t p r o vi d ed t h e h i gh e st b i o-
mass of foods exploitable by humans.
This vegetational belt m ostly covered
the M editerranean coas tal plains an d
hilly ranges , as w ell as a few oas es .
Recently publis hed reports from the
excavated Late P aleolithic (or Epi-
P aleolithic), N atufi an, and N eolithic
s ites , together w ith this recons truc-
tion of na tural res ources, allow u s to
a n sw er t h e q u es ti on s o f w h e n a n d
w here the N eolithic Revolution oc-
curred. H owever, we a re still far from
providing a defi nitive ans w er to the
question of why it occurred.
Within the large region of the NearEas t, recent archeological w ork has
d e m o n s t r a t e d t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f t h e
area know n as the M editerranean Le-
vant. Today it is one of the m os t re-
searched parts of the Near East.14,918
It is therefore possible that th e picture
I will draw is somewhat biased due to
the limited n um ber of excavations else-
where, such as in western Iran, north-
ern Ir aq, or sou theast Turkey.1922 How-
ever, n o fi eld p roject outs ide of the
Levant has yet exposed any ind ication
of a prehis toric entity that res em bles
the Natufian. As will become clear in
the following pages, such a n ent ity can
be recognized th rough its com bined
a r c h e o l o gi c a l a t t r i b u t e s , i n c lu d i n g
dwellings, graves, lithic and bone in-
dustries, ground stone tools, ornam en-
tation, and art objects, as w ell as the
e a rly a ge o f i ts s ed e n ta r y h a m le ts
a m o n g a ll fo r a ge r s s o ci et ie s i n t h e
Near East.
THE REGIO N: RESOURCES AND
POTENTIAL FORAG ING PATTERNS
T h e M e di te r r a n ea n L eva n t , a b o u t
1, 100 km long and about 250 to 350
k m w id e , i n c o r po r a t es a va r ie t y o f
lands capes , from the s outhern fl anks
of the Taurus Mountains in Turkey to
the Sinai peninsula (Fig. 1). The vari-
able topography com pris es a narrow
coastal plain, two parallel continuous
m ountain ranges w ith a r ift valley in
between, and an eastward sloping pla-
teau dis s ected by m any eas tw ard run -
ning w adis . The region is character-
The aim of this paper is to provide the reader with an updated description of the
archeological evidence for the origins of agriculture in the Near East. Specifically, I
will address the question of why the emergence of farming communities in the Near
East was an inevitable outcome of a series of social and economic circumstances
that caused the Natufian culture to be considered the threshold for this major
evolutionary change.14 The importance of such an understanding has global
implications. Currently, updated archeological information points to two other
centers of early cultivation, central Mexico and the middle Yangtze River in China,that led to the emergence of complex civilizations.4 However, the best-recorded
sequence from foraging to farming is found in the Near East. Its presence warns
against the approach of viewing all three evolutionary sequences as identical in
terms of primary conditions, economic and social motivations and activities, and the
resulting cultural, social, and ideological changes.
Ofer Bar-Yosef studies Middle and UpperPaleolithic sequences in the Near East, aswell as the origins of agriculture as ex-pressed in the archaeology of Epi-Paleo-lithic Neolithic sites. He has published pa-pers and co-edited volumes on variousprehistoric sites of Pleistocene and Holoceneagein theLevant.He isthe MacCurdy Profes-sor of Prehistoric Archaeology in the De-partment of Anthropology, Harvard Univer-sity. E-mail: [email protected]
Key words: origins of agriculture; Levant; Natu-fian; Early Neolithic
Evolutiona ry Anthropolog y 159
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ized by m arked s easonality: w inters
are cold and rainy, s um m ers are hot
and dr y. Mediterranean woodland and
o p e n p a r k la n d ve ge t a ti o n d e ve lo p
w h e r e a n n u a l p r e ci p it a t io n r e a ch e s
400 to 1, 200 m m a year. S hrub land,
steppic vegetation (Irano-Tura nian),
and arid plant as s ociations (S aharo-
Arabian ) cover the areas wh ere annu al
precipitation is less than 400 mm (forthe curren t situation see Zohary23).
Today, tw o annual patterns of w in-
ter s torm tracks prevail. O ne carries
humidity from the Mediterranean Sea
t o t h e s ou t h e r n L eva n t ; t h e s ec o n d
a r r ive s fr o m n o r th e r n E u r o pe a n d
turns to the northern Levant, leaving
t h e s o u th e r n p o r t io n d r y. Ch e m i ca l
s tudies of the b eds of Lake Lis an, an
U pper P leis tocene lake in the J ordan
Valley, and the early Holocene distribu-
tion of C3 and C4 plants in the Negev
dem ons trate that the geographic pat-
tern of an nual rainfall during the late
P le is t oc en e a n d t h e e a r ly H o lo c en e
was sim ilar to toda ys.24 D ecadal an d
centennial fl uctuations of precipita-
tion, m ore than tem perature changes,
w ere res pons ible for the expans ion
a n d c o n tr a c ti on o f t h e ve ge t a ti on a l
belts as reflected in the palynological
sequences.16,25
F loral res ources in the Levant are
s easonal, w ith s eeds m os t abun dant
fr o m Ap r il t o J u n e a n d fr u i ts fr o m
S eptem ber to N ovem ber. Tubers are
r a r e . Am o n g t h e t h r e e ve ge t a ti on a l
zones, the M editerranean is the r ich-
e st , w it h m o r e t h a n o n e h u n d r e d e d -
ible fruits, seeds, leaves, an d tubers.23
Th e fa u n al b io m a ss gr a du a lly
d w in d le s a w a y fr o m t h e M e di te r r a -
n e a n c o r e a r e a . D en s e o a k fo r es t s,
where precipitation surpasses 800 mm,
m a i nt a in a lo we r b io m a ss t h a n d o
open par klands. Thus the m osaic asso-
ciations of Mediterranean vegetation,
bordering the Irano-Turanian s hrub
land, are the m os t optim al in term s of
carrying capacity.26,27 I t i s a l o n g t h e
prehistoric pos ition of this belt that
. . . no field project
outside of the Leva nt has
yet exposed a nyindica tion of a
prehistoric entity that
resemblesthe Natufian.
Figure 1. A ma p of the Near East indica ting the t erritorieso f the Early Natufian ho meland , the e xpansion of the Late Natufian c ulture, and the
area o f the Harifian c ulture, a de sertic a da pta tion of the Late Na tufian to the c old, dry cond itionso f the Younge r Dryas.
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t h e m a j o r c u l ti va t i n g c o m m u n i t ie s
emerged.28
G am e anim als included the m oun-
tain gazelle (Gazella gazella), a station-
ary antelope w ith a s m all hom e range
that varies from a few to as man y as 25
s quare kilom eters .29 A l a r ge r h o m e
range can be inferred for Gazella sub-gutturosa, the dominant species in the
Syro-Arabian desert. Other mammals
included wild cattle (Bos primigeniu s ),
fallow deer ( Dam a m esopotmaica), roe
d e e r (Capreolus capreolus ) , and w ild
b o a r (Su s scrofa) . The rare w ild goat
(Capra aegagru s) o c cu p i ed p a r k la n d
area s while the ibex (Cabra ibex) inhab -
ited the cliffy, drier lands capes .27,30
The optim al foraging pattern of late
Pleistocene hu nter-gatherers, one th at
combined both r esidential and logisti-
cal movements, was probably the most
e ffi c ie n t . To p o g r a p h y m a d e a n t i c i-
p a t ed m o ve s o f s o ci a l u n i t s o r t a sk
forces along east-west transects easier,
fo r t h i s r o u t e t o o k a d va n t a ge o f t h e
north-south layout of mou ntain ran ges
and vegetational belts. The optim um
territory for a band of hun ter-gather-
ers w ithin the M editerranean vegeta-
tional belt is estimated to be abou t 300
to 500 square kilometers.2 In contrast,
foragers in s teppe or des ert regions
w e r e r e q u i r e d t o m o n i t o r a n a r e a o f
500 to 2, 000 s quare kilom eters as a
buffer against annual fluctuations.I n t h is s ys t em , d e cr e a si n g a n n u a l
precipitation and shifts in th e distribu-
tion of rains that diminished yields of
w ild fruits , s eeds , and gam e anim als
would place stress ma inly on the steppe
a n d d e se r t b e lt s .31 I n c o n t ra s t , r e -
s ou r c es i n t h e M ed i te r r an e a n b e lt
would have been more stable. Levan-
t in e f or a ge r s w o u ld h a ve h a d m a n y
w a ys t o a lle vi at e s h or t - a n d lo n g-
term stresses: population aggregation
in the M editerranean core areas ; s o-
cial and techno-economic reorganiza-
tion w ithin the s am e territories that
w ould affect the core area; im m igra-
tion to a djacent regions northw ard or
southwar d along the coastal ran ges; or
the use of warfare to take over territo-
ries , es pecially w here bands did not
belong to the same alliance.28 Each of
thes e s trategies or a com bination of
s eve r a l w o u ld h a ve r e su l te d i n t h e
emergence of new spatial alignm ent of
the popu lation, which would have been
expressed in adjusted ideologies.
THE PALEOCLIM ATIC RECORD
P aleoclim atic inform ation is often
derived from the records of oxygen
isotope fl uctuations regis tered in ice
cores , deep s ea cores , and terres trial
vegetational reconstructions ba sed on
pollen cores from lakes. The following
sequence emerges when such data sets
a r e s u p p le m e n t ed w it h i n fo r m a t io n
f r o m g e o m o r p h o l o gi c a l s e q u e n c es ,
bio-geograph ic interpretations of fluc-
tuating faunal spectra, incomplete ar-
c h e o -b o t a n i ca l r e c or d s , a n d p o ll en
from archeological sites:24,16,17,32,33
1 . D u ri n g t h e L a te G la c ia l M a xi -
m um , dated to ca. 20, 000 to 14, 500
B.P. the en tire region was cold a nd d ry,
b u t t h e h i ll y c o a s ta l a r e a s e n jo ye d
winter precipitation an d were covered
by forests.
2. P recipitation over the entire re-
gion slowly increased beginning about
14,500 B. P. and m ore rapidly from
13,500 to 13,000 B.P. The rate of pre-
cipitation peaked around 11,500 B.P.
in the southern Levant.
3 . R a i n f a ll d e c re a s ed d u r i n g t h e
Younger Dryas period (ca. 11,000 to
10,000 B.P.).
4 . P lu vi al c on d it io n s r e tu r n e d
around 10,300 B.P., indicating a very
w e t e a r l y H o lo c en e i n t h e n o r t h er n
Levant a nd Anatolia, but did n ot reach
the previous peak in the central and
southern Levant.16,25
5. Agrad ua l rise in sea level after th e
Late G lacial M axim um until the m id-
H o lo ce n e r e du c ed t h e fl at , s a n dy
coastal plain of the Levant by a stretch
5 t o 2 0 k m w id e a n d 5 00 k m lo n g.
G iven the poor aqua tic res ources in
this section of the Mediterranean sea,
the r ise in sea level main ly affected the
s iz e o f fo r a gi n g t e r ri to r ie s a n d t h e
collection of m arine shells often u sed
for decoration.
FROM MOBILE
HUNTER-GATHERERS TO
SEDENTARY FORAGERS
T h e a r c h eo lo gy o f t h e la t e P a le o -
l it h i c fo r a ge r s i s r e la t i ve ly w e ll -
know n.1,34,35 S o ci a l u n i t s h a ve b e en
identified based on selective analysis
of stone artifacts comb ined with other
attr ibutes s uch as s ite s ize and s truc-
ture, the distribution of s ettlem ents ,
and the recons tructed pattern of s ea-
s onal m obility.14,11,28,34,3641 F o r i n -
s t an c e , t h e K eb a r a n ( ca . 1 8, 00 0 t o
14,500 B.P.) sites were limited geo-
graphically to the coas tal Levant and
isolated oases due the prevailing cold,
dry climate. Geometric Kebaran forag-
e r s t o o k a d va n t a ge o f t h e c li m a t ic
amelioration around 14,500 to 13,000
B.P., expanding into the formerly deser-
t i c b e l t , w h i c h h a d b e c a m e a l u s h e r
s teppe.3941 G r ou n d s to n e m o r t a r s,
bow ls , and cupholes , w hich fi rs t ap-
peared in the U pper P aleolithic, are
cons idered to indicate vegetal food
processing.42 The invention of thes e
tools marks a revolutionary departure
from M iddle P aleolithic m ethods of
p la n t f oo d p r e p a ra t io n . I t n o t o n ly
her alds the broa d-spectru m exploita-
tionth at was conceived as a prerequ i-
site for th e agricultural revolution, bu t
also is supported by th e recent d iscov-
ery of carbonized plant rem ains in a
water-logged site, Ohallo II, dated to
19,000 B.P.43 The assemblage contains
a rich suite of seeds and fruits, already
k n o wn t o s ci en t i st s fr o m t h e b a s al
layers of Abu Hureira.44 Both collec-
tions refl ect intens ified gathering of
r-res ources from a variety of habitats
and plant as s ociations . F allow deer,
gazelle, and wild boar were hunted in
the central Levant, w hereas gazelle,
ibex, and hare were the common gam e
i n t h e s t ep p ic b e lt . W il d g oa t a n d
sheep were comm on in the Tauru s and
Zagros mountains.
T h e c li m a t ic i m p r o ve m e n t a f te r
14,500 B.P. seems to h ave been r espon-
s ible for the pres ence of m ore s table
. . . the mosaic
a ssociations of
Mediterranean
vegetation, borde ring
the Ira no-Tura nia n shrub
land, are the most
optimal in terms of
ca rrying c a pa city. It is
along the prehistoricposition of this belt that
the ma jor cultivating
communitiesemerged.
ARTICLES Evolutiona ry Anthropolog y 161
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hum an occupations in the s teppic and
desertic belts. Groups moved into ar-
eas that were previously uninhabited,
fr o m t h e M e di t er r a n e a n s t ep p e i n t o
the m argins of the S yro-A rabian de-
sert. Others came from the Nile valley,c r ea t in g a n i n te r es ti n g s o ci a l m o -
saic.1,11,35,40,45
THE EMERGENCE OF THE
NATUFIAN CULTURE
The em ergence of the N atufi an cul-
ture around 13,000 or 12,800 B.P. was
a major turning point in the history of
the Near East.1,28 Originally defined by
G arrod and N euville on the bas is of
t h e li th ic , b o ne , a n d g ro u n d s to n e
indus tries , as w ell as burials uncov-
ered in their excavations in caves in
M o u n t C a r m e l a n d t h e J u d ea n h i lls ,
the N atufi an culture has continued to
a t tr a ct t h e a t t en t io n o f a r ch e olo -
gists.5,4648 E x ca va t i on s d u r i n g t h e1950s in Ain Mallaha (Eynan), which
exposed semi-subterranean houses, re-
ferred to as pit-houses in the American
terminology, led J. Perrot to interpret
t h e s i t e a s t h e r e m a i n s o f a v i l l a g e .
A dditional excavations w ere done at
N ahal O ren,49 Hayonim Cave and Ter-
race,5053 Rosh Zin 54 and Ros h H ore-
s ha,55 Wa d i H a m m e h 2 7,56 W adi J u-
dayid,1 and the lower layers at Beidha,5
providing a wealth of new da ta. These
data have led to the recognition that a
Natufian hom eland existed in the
c en t r a l L e va n t ( Fi g. 1 ) a n d t h a t t h e
N a t u fi a n s w e r e s e co n d a r y f or a g er s
and, perhaps, the earliest farmers. This
information led to the recognition that
t h e N a t u fi a n c u l t u r e p l a y e d a m a j o r
r o le i n t h e e m er ge n ce o f t h e e a rlyN e ol it h i c f a r m in g c o m m u n i t i es , o r
w h a t i s k n o w n a s t h e Ag r ic u lt u r a l
Revolution. 14,12,28,58
The m ain attraction of the N atufi an
cultural rem ains is the wealth of infor-
ma tion u ncovered in every site. Aside
f r om s e tt le m e n t s iz e , t h e d w e ll in g
s tructures , graves , and art objects in
m o r e t h a n o n e s i t e r e s e m b l e t h e r e -
m ains of N eolithic villages . In addi-
tion, lithics, elaborate bone industry,
p o u n d in g a n d g r in d i n g t o ol s, l ar g e
quantities of m arine s hells , and ani-
ma l bones have furnished the required
inform ation for a better recons truc-
tion of pas t l ifew ays. E ach of thes e
aspects provide the basis for the vari-ous interpretations of the s ocio-eco-
nomic system of the Natufian culture.
Site Size a nd Settlem ent Pa ttern
All N a tu fia n b a se c a m p s i n t h e
hom eland area were located in the
w oodland belt, w here oak and pis ta-
chio w ere th e dom inant s pecies (F ig.
2).1,25 The undergrow th of this open
forest was grass with high frequencies
o f c er e als . T h e h i gh m o u n t ai ns o f
Lebanon an d the Anti-Lebanon, the
s teppic a reas of the N egev and S inai,
a n d t h e S yr o -Ar a b ia n d e se r t i n t h e
eas t accom m odated only sm all N atu-
fia n o cc u pa t io n s d u e t o b o th t h ei r
lower carrying capacity and the pres-
ence of other groups of foragers w ho
exploited this vast region. In general,
N atufi an s ites fall into three s ize cat-
egories: small (15 to 100 m 2), medium
( 40 0 t o 5 00 m 2) , and large (greater
than 1,000 m 2) . O nly during the Late
Natufian were several larger sites es-
. . . the Natufianswere
sec ondary fora ge rs a nd,
perhaps, the earliest
farmers.
Figure 2. A ma p o f the Levant with the loca tion of most of the sitesof the Na tufian culture (after
Bar-Yosef and M ea do w 4).
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tablished within th e steppic belt. Even
so, none of the larger sites ever reach ed
t h e s iz e o f a l ar g e E a r ly N e oli th i c
village.
N atufi an bas e cam ps are character-
ized by semi-subterr anean dwellings
(pit-hous es ). The foundations w ere
built of s tone and the upper s tructure
w as probably brus h and w ood. There
is no evidence of the u se of mud bricks
or w attle and daub. F ine exam ples of
N a t u fia n h o u s es w e re u n c o ve r ed i n
Ain Mallaha (Fig. 3), Wadi Hammeh
27, and H ayonim Cave and Terrace.
Every base camp suggests the reb uild-
ing of hous es, indicating tem porary
abandonm ent of the s ettlem ent.
Domestic structures were about 3 to
6 m in diam eter, w ith either roun ded
or s quarish fi replaces. Although the
fi lls of the dw ellings contained rich
assemb lages, identifying specific floors
was not easy. A rare case is the semi-
c ir c u la r h o u s e 1 31 i n Ai n M a lla h a
( Fi g. 4 ), w h i c h i s 9 m i n d i a m et e r,
w here a s eries of pos t holes w as pre-
s erved. In certain areas of the fl oor,
clus ters of artifacts w ere uncovered.
Worth n oting is a sma ll building in Ain
M a lla h a i n w h i c h a r o u n d ed b e n ch
c o ve r ed w it h l im e p la s te r w a s p r e -
s erved. This hous e is different from
the domestic one and could have been
used for ritual purposes by the leader
or s ham an of the group.
In Ha yonim Cave, there is a series of
small adjoining oval rooms inside the
cave, each 2.5 to 3.5 m in dia met er an d
built of undr essed stones. There was a
h e a r th o r t w o i n e a ch r o o m e x ce p t
one. Finds from the lower fill of every
room indicated its dom es tic u s e, al-
t h o u gh t h i s f u n ct i on s ee m s t o h a ve
changed s ubs equently: one room w asfi rst a kiln for burning lim es tone an d
later was the site of bone tool produc-
tion.
Late N atufi an s ites have produced
i n co m p l et e i n fo r m a t i on . At N a h a l
O r e n Te r r a c e , e l o n g a t ed e n c lo s u r e
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 O ne room had
a s la b p a ve m en t a n d a lim e st on e
m onolith 1m tall erected at i ts edge.
This could just h ave been a dom es ticstructure, bu t it is also possible that it
served specific ritual pu rposes. At Jebel
S aade, a Late N atufi an s ite in the
Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, t he r emain s
of collapsed walls were identified, de-
spite 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 H ayonim Terrace61 an d
Figure 3. A: The Early Natufian ha bitations, primary and sec ond ary burials, of the upp er layersat
Ain Mallaha . Note the spe cial pit-house in the left upp er co rner. B: A crosssec tion along the A-B
line demonstrating the entire stratigraphy of Ain Mallaha. Note the dug-out pits (after Perrot
and Lad iray 157).
Figure 4. The la rge Na tufian house in Ain Ma l-
laha w ith a proposed reco nstruction of its
upp er structure. Note the series of po stholes
and the numb er of hearthsthat seem to have
been used for com munal a ct ivit ies (after
Valla 59).
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several plastered pits at Ain Mallaha,
w h ic h c o u ld h a ve s er ve d a s u n d e r-
ground storage facilities.62 I t i s p o s -
sible tha t baskets were used for above-
ground storage. Indirect evidence for
basketry comes from the special bone
tools know n from ethnographic s tud-
ies to have been u sed in such activity.63
Gravesand Burials
The N atufi an population has been
identified as being of Proto-Mediterra-
nean s tock.64 Graves were uncovered
in all base camps in the Natufian heart-
l an d a s w e ll a s i n s m a lle r s it e s.65,66
S tratigraphic indications from H ay-
onim Cave an d Ain M allaha dem on-
strate tha t graves were dug in d eserted
dw ellings an d outs ide of hous es , but
not under the fl oors of active hous e-
holds. Graves were in pits, either shal-
l o w o r d e e p , a n d w e r e r a r e l y p a v e d
w ith s tones or plas ter. In s everal in-
s tances lim es tone s labs covered the
graves, but gra ves generally were filled
in w ith s edim ent from the s ite i ts elf .
That sediment contained cobb les, lith-
ics, broken mortar s, and anim al bones.
S ealed graves w ere m arked at N ahal
O r en b y d e e p m o r t a r s c a ll ed s to n e
p i pe s. I n N a h a l O r e n a n d H a yo n i m
Cave, small cupholes pecked in rocks
m a r k e d t h e lo c a ti on o f g r ave s.67 In
N a h a l O r en , a n e xc e pt io n a ll y l ar g e
fi replace, 1.2m in diam eter and s ur-
roun ded by limestone slabs, was placed
in the center of a clus ter of inhum a-
tions.49
The burials demonstrate variability
in m ortuary practices . The pa ttern of
body disposition in primary burials is
supin e, semiflexed, or flexed, with vari-
ous orientations of the head. The num-
ber of inhum ations p er grave varies
from single to multiple. Collective buri-
a ls a r e m o r e c om m o n i n t h e E a r ly
Natufian. Several cases of skull remov-
als were observed in the Late Natufian
context at Hayonim Cave, Nahal Oren,
and Ain Mallaha,12,67 heralding a Neo-
lithic pra ctice. Secondary bu rials were
either isolated or mixed with primary
burials. Secondary burials, which oc-
cur m ore often in the Late than E arly
N atufi an, are interpreted a s evidence
of increased group mob ility. Scattered
hum an bones occur within the occupa-
t io n a l d e p os it s , i n d i ca t i n g t h a t t h e
N a t u fia n s d i st u r b ed b u r ia ls o f t h e ir
own people. Children comprise about
o n e -t h i rd o f t h e d e a d , i n d ic a t in g a
relatively high mortality among those
aged 5 to 7 years.68 This is interpreted
as evidence of grow ing s tress w ithin
sedentary communities.12
A special type of mortuary practice
i s i n d i c a t e d b y t h e j o i n t h u m a n a n d
dog burials in two graves, one in AinMallaha69 a n d t h e o t h e r a t H a y o n i m
Terrace.70 B ot h a r e i n te r pr e te d a s
m arking a departure from the P aleo-
lithic vision of the natural world as a
dichotomy between humans and wild-
life.
G iven the N atufi ans habit of plac-
ing graves within their own sites and
then r efilling them with m aterial from
t h e p i t a n d s u r r ou n d i n g a r e a s, o n l y
objects found attached to s keletons
c a n b e s ec u r el y i d e n ti fie d a s g r a ve
goods. Comm on grave goods included
head decorations , necklaces, brace-lets, belts, earrings, and pend ants m ade
o f m a r in e s h ell s, b o n e, t e et h , a n d
beads . A few objects s uch as a bone
dagger (H ayonim cave), a bone fi gu-
rine of a young gazelle (Nahal Oren),
and a s m all m odel of a hum an head in
lim es tone (El-Wad) w ere related by
excavators to the buried individuals. It
should be stressed that decorated bur i-als particularly characterize the Early
Natufian. Finally, the suggestion that
d i ffe r e n ce s i n m o r t u a r y p r a c t ic e s
should be viewed as reflecting social
hierarchy have recently been found to
be untenable.71,72
Lithic Assemblages
The produ ction of stone tools is one
of the m ost conservative hu ma n a ctivi-
ties . Res earch on U pper P leistocene
s i t e s h a s d e m o n s t r a t e d t h a t i t i s a l -
m os t im pos s ible to relate changes in
lithic technology and the morphology
of artifacts to environm ental chan ges.
Therefore, specific chara cteristics of
knapping techniques , w ays of s nap-
ping bladelets , and types of retouch
am ong a ssemblages of Termina l Pleis-tocene an d E arly H olocene age in the
N ear Eas t are em ployed in the s earch
for identifiable social entities.1,28 Th e
N a t u fia n h a s t h u s b e en s u b d ivi d ed
into pha ses and regional groups based
o n t h e p r e s e n c e o r a b s e n c e o f p r o d -
ucts o f micr obu rin t echn ique, a spe-
cialized blade-s napping m ethod, and
the size and type of retouch of lunates
(backing versus Helwan). The average
length of lunates, which has a lso been
used as a chronological marker,73 h a s
recently been refi ned to include the
r e g io n a l -e c o lo g ic a l l o ca t i o n o f t h esites.74
The Natufian lithic indu stry is char-
acterized by extens ively us ed cores
a n d t h e p r o d u ct io n o f s m a l l, s h o r t ,
wide bladelets and flakes. Among the
retouched pieces , frequencies of end
scrapers and b urins fluctuate consider-
a b ly. B a ck ed b la d e s g r ad e i n to t h e
retouched and backed bladelets , de-
fined as m icroliths. Microliths and geo-
m etrics reach 40% or m ore in every
assemb lage. In the Ea rly Natu fian, geo-
m etrics include H elw an and backed
lunates, trapeze-rectangles , and tr i-
angles, but in the Late Natufian backed
lunates generally domin ate.12,34,7376
Special tools that occur for the first
t im e i n t h e N a t u fia n a r e p i ck s a n d
sickle blades. The first, considered the
forerunner of the axe-adzes group of
the N eolithic period, are 8 to 10 cm
long and bifacially or trifacially flaked.
The second, the sickle blades or glossy
pieces as they are know n today, are
abundan t in s ites w ithin the N atufi an
homeland (Fig. 6). These blades bear a
gloss that covers a relatively wide area
on both faces . Experim ental and m i-
cros copic s tudies dem ons trated that
thes e w ere us ed for harves ting cere-
als.77,78 The blades were hafted in bon e
o r, p r o b a b ly m o r e o ft e n , w o od e n
handles . I t is quite pos s ible that they
c a n b e i n t er p r e te d a s t o o ls u s ed i n
early experim ents in cereal cultiva-
t io n . T h e u s e o f s i ck le s i n st e a d o f
beaters and baskets has the advantage
of maximizing th e yield ha rvested from
a lim ited area.7982 I t s e e m s t h a t t h e
Resea rch on Uppe r
Pleistocene sites has
de monstra ted that it isa lmost impossible to
relate change s in lithic
technology and the
morphology of a rtifa cts
to e nvironmenta l
changes.
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N atufi ans adopted the us e of s ickles
for harvesting because of their need to
m a x im i z e yi el d a n d m i n im i z e t im e ,
the reason being the limited availabil-
ity of fields of wild stan ds.3,82
Ground Stone Tools
Such tools, including bedrock mor-
tars , portable m ortars , bow ls of vari-
o u s t yp e s, c u p h o le s, m u l le r s, a n d
p e st le s, o c cu r i n la r g e n u m b e r s i n
bas e-cam p s ites , but are not as abun -
d a n t i n t h e m o r e e p h e m e r a l l y o c c u -
p ie d c a m p s. T h e b o u ld e r m o r t a r s,
s om etim es called s tone pipes, w eigh
as mu ch as 100 to 150 kg and are 70 to
8 0 c m d e ep . W h e n b r o k en i n t h e i r
l ow e rm o s t p a r t , t h e se o b je ct s w e re
p l a ce d i n g r a ve s. An a r c h e o m e tr i c
study has indicated that b asalt objects
in t h e M ou n t Ca r m el s it es w er e
b r o u gh t fr o m t h e G ol a n H e ig h t s,83
abou t 100 km away. Microscopic obser-
vations have demonstrated that ground
stone ut ensils were em ployed for food
p r o ce ss in g a s w e ll a s fo r c r u sh i n g
burned limestone and red ochre.41,84
Amon g the grooved stones are whet-
stones mad e of sandston e, which were
us ed for s haping bone objects . S haft
s traighteners, identified on the bas is
of ethnographic com paris ons , have a
deep, parallel-sided groove and bearburning m arks . Thes e m arks , w hich
res ulted from s traightening w ooden
shafts, indicate th e use of bows by the
Natufians.
Bone and Horncore Industry
T h e N a t u fi a n i s m a r k e d b y a b o n e
indus try that is far r icher in quantity
and contains m ore elaborate, varied
morp hologies than d oes any earlier or
l a te r L eva n t i n e a r c h e ol og ic a l e n -
tity.8587 O b j e c t s w e r e m a d e o f b o n e
s h a ft s a n d o f t e e th a n d h o r n -c o re s
from gazelles, wolves, fallow deer, roe
deer, an d bird s. Use-wear an alysis indi-
c a t e s t h a t b o n e t o o l s w e r e u s e d f o r
hidew orking and bas ketry.63 Barbed
items have been reconstructed as parts
of hun ting devices (spears or arr ows),h o o ks a n d g or g et s fo r fi sh i n g, a n d
hafts for sickle blades. Bone beads and
penda nts were shaped by grinding and
drilling.63 Many objects bear specific
d e co r a t io n s . Am o n g t h e se a r e t h e
carved hafts from El-Wad a nd Kebar a
Ca ve w it h yo u n g r u m i n a n ts a t t h e
e d ge a n d t h e p i ec es fr o m H a yo n i m
Cave bearing net pa tterns.47,58,88
Ornamentation and Art Objects
B o dy d e co r a t io n s a n d o r n a m e n t a -
tions dem onstrate variability between
a n d w it h i n s it e s, a s w e ll a s c h a n ge
over t im e. A variety of m arine m ol-
luscs, bone, greenston e, limeston e pen-
d a n ts , a n d b e ad s w er e u se d b y t h e
Natu fians in h eadgear, necklaces, belts,
bracelets, and earrings (Fig. 6).
M arine s hells for N atufi an jew elry
were collected from the shores of the
M editerranean S ea or, m ore rarely,
w ere brought from the Red S ea. A inM allaha s tands out for having a tus k
s hell from the A tlantic ocean and a
f re sh w a t e r b i va l ve fr o m t h e N il e
river.41,89 G r ee n st o n e a n d m a l a ch i t e
b e a d s w er e b r o u g h t f r om a s y e t u n -
identified localities in the Levant. Other
rare items include pieces of Anatolian
o b si d ia n fo u n d a t Ai n M a ll ah a i n a
Late Natufian context. The noticeable
differences in jewelry between t he sites
is considered to indicate th e existence
The Natufia n is ma rked
by a bone industry tha t is
fa r richer in quantity and
containsmore
elaborate, varied
morphologies than does
any ea rlier or later
Levantine archeologicalentity.Figure 5. An Early Natufian dec orated skull from El-Wad, exca vate d by D. Ga rrod (photo graphby S. Burger, Pea bo dy Museum ).
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of distinct group identities.67 Several
lim es tone s labs recovered from the
r o u n d ed s t ru c t u r es i n si d e H a yo n i m
Cave are incised, mostly with the lad-
der-pattern m otif interpreted as th e
a c c u m u la t e d e ff ec t s o f n o t a t io n a l
marks.90,91 On one large slab, the rou gh
form of a fish is deeply incised. Large
carved limestone slabs with the mea n-
der pattern, als o know n from carved
basalt bowls, were uncovered in one of
the houses of Wadi Hammeh.27,56,88
Portable naturalistic and schematic
fi gurines m ade of bone and lim es tone
include carvings on s ickle hafts and
isolated bone pieces (Fig. 7). Several
of these figurines depict young ungu-
lates, possibly gazelles.88 A limestone
fi gurine from the N ahal O ren s ite has
an ow l at on e end an d a dogs head at
the oth er. An a dditional item is a h orn
core with a ma ns head at on e end an d
a bovids h ead a t th e other end. This
c om b in a t io n o f h u m a n a n d a n im a l
might have emerged from similar ideo-
logical changes that led to the jointdog and hum an burials.70
F igurines that repres ent the hu m an
body or face are rare; only a few, mad e
of lim estone, have been found.92 Th e
exception is the Ain Sakkhri limestone
figurine, interpreted as representing a
m ating couple. Zoom orphic fi gurines
include a tortoise, a kneeling gazelle,
and p ossibly a baboon. 88 The attention
given to young rum inants93 and their
appear ance as decorat ion on sickles is
rather curious, but perhaps represents
a totem ic group idol.
Particular decorative patterns foundo n b o t h b o n e a n d s to n e o b j ec t s i n -
clude the net, chevron (or zigzag), and
m e a n de r p a tt er n s. M os t a p p ea r o n
spatu las, stone bowls, shaft-straighten -
ers, and the r are ostrich-egg shell con-
tainers found as broken pieces in the
Negevsites.54 Because these differ from
site to site, they may further ou r iden-
tification of different Natufian groups.
For the time being, we know tha t their
f r eq u e n c ie s a r e h i gh e s t w i t h i n t h e
N atufi an hom eland in the central Le-
vant.94
Subsistence
Most Natufian sites were excavated
b e fo r e t h e i n t ro d u c ti on , i n t h e l a te
1960s, of recovery techniques such as
systematic dry sieving and floatation.
However, even in recent excavations
w ater fl otation has failed to retrieve
sufficient quan tities of floral remains.
In s om e cas es , the few grains found
w ere later dated by accelerator m as s
s pectrom etry to recent t im es .95,96 Th e
poor pres ervation of vegetal rem ains
in Natufian sites within the Mediterra-
nean w oodland res ulted from the na-
ture of the prevailing terra rossa soil.
Occupational deposits in open-air sites
are s oaked each w inter, then dry up
and crack in s um m er. In the process ,
plant rem ains are destroyed; charcoal,
small bones, and even lithics are sub-
jected to both dow nw ard and upw ard
movements. Better char coal preserva-
tion is noted in the desertic loess in the
Negev and drier deep deposits of sites
Figure 6. Natufian lithic, bo ne, a nd ground stone assemb lage: 1, Helwan lunate; 2, lunate ; 3,
triangle; 4 a nd 5, microburins (produc ts of a spec ial snapp ing technique); 6, truncated
bladelet;7, borer; 8,burin; 9,Helwan sickle blade ; 10, abruptly retouched sickle blade ; 11, pick;
12 and 13, bone points; 14, decorated broken sickle haft; 1519, bone pendants; 20, deco-
rated bone spa tula; 21, pestle; 22, mortar; 23, deep mortarma de of ba salt;24,Harif point.Notethat the ground stone toolshave different scalesthan do the lithicsand bone objects.
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in the Lower Jordan Valley. However,
s am ples are s til l too s m all due to the
l im i t ed n u m b e r a n d s iz e o f e x ca va -
tions. The pa ucity of carbon ized mate-
rial is also expres sed in the relative
scarcity of charcoal radiocarbon dates.
Tools for food acquisition, such as
sickles, and food processors, such as
mortars, bowls, and pestles, are inter-
preted as evidence for harvesting and
processing wild cereals and legumes.
The few available s eeds s upport the
c o n t en t i o n t h a t p u l se s , c e r e a ls , a l -
m onds , acorns , and other fruits w ere
gathered. 18 T h e l is t o f s p ec ie s c o l-
lected w as probably even longer, as
can be deduced from the lis t of plant
rema ins from Oha lo II, the Late Paleo-
lithic site mentioned earlier. Similar
information comes from Tell Murey-
bet 97 and the Epi-Paleolithic layers of
Abu H ureyra,44 w h ic h a r e d a t e d t o
Late Natufian age.
The idea that the Natufians were the
earliest agriculturalists was first sug-
g es te d b y G a r r od i n 1 93 2. D es p it e
later criticism, that idea was revived
b y o t h er s80 a n d s up p or te d in p a rt
b y e xp e r im e n t a l s t u d ie s o f s ic k le
blades.77,78 It was also established th at
s ys t e m a t i c c u l t iv a t io n w o u l d h a v e
caus ed the unintentional dom es tica-
tion of wheat and barley.98,99 However,
even the degree of dom es tication of
cereals in the earliest Neolithic sites is
s till ques tionable on the bas is of the
morphological characteristics of car-
bonized seeds and rach is fragmen ts.100
Am ore cautious interpretation of these
findings is that Natufian communities
practiced inten sive an d extensive har-
ves ting of w ild cereals as part of ananticipated s um m er m obility pattern.
Good bone preservation in m ost sites
has m ade faunal evidence the s ubject
of num erous s tudies .101106 N atufi ans
h u n t e d g a ze lle a n d o t h er g a m e, d e -
pending on the geographical location
o f e a c h s it e ( Fi g. 8 ). I n t h e c o a st a l
ran ges, deer, cattle, and wild boa r were
c o m m o n , w h i le i n t h e s t ep p ic b e lt
equids an d ibex were typical prey. The
attempt to explain the Natufian faunal
assemblages as the result of net hunt-
in g107 has not been w ell accepted,108
a n d d o e s n o t c o n f o r m t o t h e e t h n o -graphic evidence, which indicates tha t
s u ch a t e ch n i qu e i s b e s t s u i t ed fo r
fo r e st e d a r e a s w h e r e t h e d e gr e e o f
visibility is rath er low.109
Water fowl undou btedly formed part
of the Natufian diet, especially in sites
along the J ordan Valley, w here both
m i gr a t or y a n d n e st in g d u c ks w er e
gathered during th e s tress s easons .110
Freshwater species of fish were cau ght
s eas onally in the H ula Lake, as indi-
cated by thous ands of fi s h vertebrae
retrieved at Ain M allaha.111 Fishing
s ee m s t o h a ve b e en l es s i m p o r t a n talong the M editerranean coas t. H ow -
ever, fish remains, though scarce, to-
gether with the presence of bone gor-
g et s a n d h o ok s, i nd ic a te t h a t o ld
excavation techniques often yield in-
complete information.
THE NATUFIAN AND THE
EMERGENCE OF NEOLITHIC
FARMER-HUNTER COMMUNITIES
The em ergence of the N atufi an en-
tity from a world of Levantine hu nter-
g a th e r er s i s s ee n a s r e su l ti n g fr o m
b o th e co n o m ic a n d s oc ia l c ir c u m -
s t an c e s. O n t h e o n e h a n d , c l im a t i c
improvements around 13,000 B.P. pro-
vided a wealth of food resources. On
t h e o t h er h a n d , c on t em p o r a n eo u s
population growth in both the steppic
and desertic regions made any abrupt,
short-term climatic fluctua tion a moti-
vation for hum an groups to achieve
control over resources. The establish-
m e n t o f a s er i es o f s e d en t a r y E a r l y
Figure 7. Natufian art objects: 1, decorated sickle haft (Kebara); 2, limestone human head
(El-Wad); 3 and 4, sche ma tic hum an hea ds (Ain Mallaha); 5, dec orated sickle ha ft (El-Wad); 6,
limestone figurines with two head s, a do g and a n owl (Nahal Oren); 7, limestone animal head ,
possibly a bab oon (Nahal Oren); 8, dec orated limestone slab (Wad i Hammeh 27) (a fter
Bar-Yosef58 and Noy88).
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Natufian hamlets in a delineated home-
land is seen as a reaction to an abrupt
e n vi r on m e n t a l c h a n ge t h a t n e c es si -
tated a s hift of res ource s cheduling.
P revious patterns of s em i-s edentis m
am ong Late Pleistocene foragers gave
way to the acquisition of a firmer hold
over territories.
T h e c ir c u m st a n ce s s u rr o u n d in g
Natufian sedentism are interpreted in
various w ays . S om e res earchers con-
tend that s edentism w as enhanced by
the need to intens ify cereal exploita-
tion.14,112 Others suggest that sedent-
ism itself increased the propa gation of
s u ch a n n u a l s a s c er e a ls .13 Unfortu-
nately, as mentioned earlier, the stor-
a ge p r a ct ic es o f t h e N a tu fi an s a r e
poorly known.
Archeologically, the criteria for rec-
ognizing s edentis m include the pres -
ence of hum an com m ens als , s uch as
h o u s e m i ce , r a t s , a n d s p a rr o w s, a t
higher frequencies am ong m icrofau-
n a l a s se m b la ge s t h a n i n fo r ag er
sites.113115 Another biological ma rker
is the s tudy of cem entum increm ents
on gazelle teeth, w hich indicate that
hun ting by the inhab itants of Natufian
base ham lets took place in both winter
and sum mer. In addition, semi-perm a-
nent ham lets can be noted by energy
expenditure, reflected in investments
in leveling s lopes for building pur-
poses, the construction of houses, the
production of plas ter, and the trans -
port of heavy undres s ed s tones into
cave sites. Fin ally, the d igging of graves
and rare un derground s torage pits , as
w e ll a s t h e s h a p in g o f l a r ge , h e a vy
mort ars were activities that took place
in such base camps, but generally not
in locations that w ere exploited on a
short-term, seasonal ba sis.
The clim atic crisis of the Younger
Dryas (ca. 11,000 to 10,300 B.P.) re-
sulted in environm ental deterioration.
This climat ic change, now r ecognized
globally, had an im pact on the N atu-
fi an population. I t is s ugges ted that
t h e t w o m a j o r o u t c o m e s o f t h e c o l d
and dry conditions were a decrease in
the natural production of C3 plants ,
such as th e cereals,4 and a redu ction in
the geographic distribution of natural
s tands of w ild cereals to the w estern
wing of the Fertile Crescent (Fig. 9).
Environmental exploitation by seden-
t a r y L a t e N a t u fi a n c o m m u n i t ie s a s
well as by their neighboring foragers
further depleted plant and anim al re-
sources.115 S ocial reactions to thes e
n e w c o n d it i on s d i ffe r ed w it h in t h e
Near East (Fig. 9).
In the Negev and n orthern Sina i, the
Late N atufi an im proved their hunting
techniques w ith the invention of the
H arif point, an arrow head that prob-
ably was more efficient.36 Whereas the
lithic and bone indus tries of H arifi an
sites are Late Natufian in nature, only
the existence of the Harif point (Fig. 5)
dem ons trates the uniquenes s of this
e n t it y. An i m a l b o n e s r e p r es en t t h ehunting of local fauna: gazelle, ibex,
hare, and perhaps w ild s heep. Grind-
ing tools, mor tars, and cup-holes indi-
cate the process ing of un know n plant
food elem ents . Large collections of
m arine s hells dem ons trate t ight rela-
tions hips w ith both the Red S ea and
M editerranean s hores.41 The overall
territory of the H arifi an, as es tim ated
from surveys, is about 8,000 km, but
could have been as large as 30,000 to
50,000 km 2. However, given their ar-
cheological disappearance within two
t o t h r e e h u n d r e d y e a r s a n d t h e f a c t
that th is area remained essentially un-
inhabited for about one thous and ra-
diocarbon years, the Harifian is inter-
preted a s the u nsuccessful effort of the
local Late Natufian population to adapt
to the prevailing Younger Dryas condi-
tions in their territory (Fig. 9).
In other areas , N atufi an com m uni-
ties responded to the climatic chan ges
by becom ing m ore m obile, probablyreturning to a m ore fl exible s chedul-
ing of resources. Several comm unities
m aintained s ocial r elations hips w ith
t h e ir o r ig in a l h a m l et s a n d r e t u rn e d
there to bury their dead, as s how n by
the large num ber of s econdary buri-
als.53,72 The first experim ents in system-
atic cultivation m ost likely occurred
during the Younger D ryas . The fi rst
Neolithic large villages, up to 2.5 hect-
ares in size, seem to have relied, if not
The establishment of a
series of sede nta ry Ea rly
Natufian hamlets in a
delineated homeland is
seen as a rea ction to an
a brupt environmenta l
change that
nec essita ted a shift ofresource scheduling.
Figure 8. Frequenciesof large and medium size mammalsin Natufian and Neolithic sites. Note
the dominance of gazelle in Natufian and PPNA sites and the shift to caprovines during the
Pre-Pottery Neolithic B.
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on dom es ticated barley and w heat,18
then on planting their w ild progeni-
tors.100 No one claims today that th ese
e a r ly fa r m e r s w e re n e w p e op le . I n
fact, ample evidence demonstrates that
they were the descendan ts of the localNatufian popu lation, which had u nder-
gone changes in m aterial culture, s o-
cial organization, and daily life ways.
THE EARLY NEOLITHIC ENTITIES
Neolithic, mea nin g new stone
age,wa s first used with respec t to the
N e ar E a s t i n t h e t w en t ie t h c en t u r y.
Jericho wa s a key site: it was ther e that
the excavations of K. Kenyon exposed
a Neolithic sequence without pottery,
w h ic h l ed t o n e w t e rm i n o lo gy. B e-
caus e all the other com ponents , and
e sp e c ia l ly t h e s t on e i n d u st r y, r e -
s em b l ed t h e E u r o p e an a s se m b la g es
f r om w h i ch t h e d e s ig n a t io n N e o -
lithic had originated, K enyon s ug-
gested the taxon Pre-Pottery Neolithic.
She further subdivided it on the basis
of the J ericho s tratigraphy into P re-
P ottery N eolithic A and B.116 A t the
s am e tim e, R. Braidw ood s ugges ted
an anthropologically oriented term i-
nology, wh ich incorporated excavated
assemblages within a socio-economic
inter pret ation ; e.g., level of incipien t
cultivation and dom es tication and
level of prim ar y village-farm ing com -
m un ities.117,118 F inally, the F rench
school from Lyon adopted a subdivi-
sion by time horizons.119,120
Early N eolithic farm ing com m uni-
ties in th e Levant were geograph ically
distributed a long todays bou nda ry be-
t w ee n t h e M ed it er r a n ea n a n d t h e
Irano-Turan ian steppic vegetational-
belts. However, the environm enta l con-
ditions during the early Holocene were
entirely different from those of today.
Hence, these sites were located within
the M editerranean w oodland, w hich
was, at that time, the richest in vegetal
and anim al resources (Fig. 10). Recog-
nition that the early farm ing com m u-
nities were actually stretched along a
rather narrow north-to-s outh belt led
us to identify the Levantine Corridor
as th e locus of the origins of agricul-
ture.28 On both sides of that corridor,
i n t h e c o as t al r a n g e o n t h e w e st a n d
t h e s te pp ic r e gi on i n t h e e as t a n d
south, sma ll band s of foragers contin-
ued to survive (Fig. 10). Sites of these
hunter-gatherers were excavated in the
An t i -L e b a n o n m o u n t a i n s 12 1 a n d in
s outhern S inai.122 Both areas provide
am ple evidence for the continuation
of old life w ays and the adoption of
specific projectile tools from th e neigh-
boring farmers.
The fi rs t m anifes tation of the cul-
tural ch ange th at h eralded th e Neo-
lithic Revolution is known in th e Le-
vant as the K hiam ian. This entity isstill poorly defined, in p art because th e
tim e s pan of i ts existence is hard ly a
few centuries of radiocarbon years ,
perhap s ca. 10,500 to 10,300/10,100
B.P. In addition , the available inform a-
t io n o n t h e K h i a m ia n w a s o b t a in e d
from very limited soun dings and sites
w here m ixing w ith earlier layers is
likely to have occurred .123126 The lithic
indus try of the K hiam ian com pris es
the a erodynam ically shaped el-Khiam
projectile points, asphalt-hafted sickle
blades, some m icroliths, and h igh fre-
quencies of perforators, a typical Neo-lithic feature (Fig. 11). Bifacial or pol-
ished celts, considered to be Neolithic
ma rkers, are absent from the Khi-
amian contexts.
THE SULTANIAN ENTITY
We i d en t i fy b e t we e n 1 0, 30 0 a n d
9,300 B.P. a few geographically delin-
eated entities . The S ultanian, the one
in th e Jord an Valley, which includes
the neighboring hilly ranges on both
s id e s, i s b e t t er k n o wn t h a n t h o se
farther n orth. The m ain sites (Fig. 11)
are J ericho,127 Gilgal,128 N etiv H ag-d u d ,129,130 Gesher,131 Dra,65 and several
i n t h e h i ll y r e g io n , i n clu d i n g H a t -
oula,12 5 Iraq ed-D ubb,65 a n d N a h al
Oren.49 In the northern Levant, s om e-
what similar contexts represent other
cultural entities. The m ain s ites are
M u reyb et a nd J er f el Ah m a r
(Syria),97,120 Q erm ez D ereh (Iraq),132
an d th e lower level a t Cayon u (Tur-
key).133 The following br ief overview is
therefore bas ed m ainly on the S ulta-
The first ma nifestation of
the cultura l cha nge that
heralded the Neolithic
Revolution isknown in
the Leva nt a s theKhiamian.
Figure 9. A rec onstructed vege tational ma p o f the Younge r Dryas period. The hat che d a rea
de lineat esthe b elt in which wild c erealswere present. Note the loca tion of a few selecte d Late
Natufian and Early Neolithic sites. Data are based on Hillman.31 The loc ation o f lake p ollen
co resisalso shown.
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nian s ites , w ith additional inform a-
tion from settlements elsewhere in the
Near East.
Site Size, Intrasite Variability, andSettlem ent Pa ttern
The larges t N eolithic s ites , am ong
them M ureybet, J ericho, N etiv H ag-
dud, Gilgal, and Dra, are at least three
to eight t im es larger than the larges t
N a t u fi a n s i te s .2, 4 Intras ite variabil-
ity indicates that there are clear dif-
ferences betw een the large villages
and the s m all ham lets . F or exam ple,
i n N e ti v H a g d u d t h e d w ell in g s a r e
la r ge a n d o va l, a n d e ac h h o use -
hold is probably m ade of tw o room s .
T h er e a r e o p en s p a ce s b e t w ee n t h e
h o u s e s w h e r e s o m e o f t h e d o m e s t i c
activities took place.129,134 Similar ob-
s er va t io n s c a n b e m a d e fo r J e ri ch o
and M ureybet. N ahal O ren, how ever,
r ep r es en t s a s m a ll s it e w h er e t h e
roun ded houses are clustered together
like a com poun d of an extended fam -
ily.
S ultanian and other P P N A hous es
are pit-houses, with stone foun dations
and s upers tructures of unbaked m ud
bricks, often with a p lano-convex cross
section (Fig. 12). The u se of mud bricks
along w ith cons iderable am ounts of
o r ga n i c s u b st a n c e s r e s u lt e d i n t h e
rapid accum ulation of deposits in Neo-
lithic moun ds. Therefore, Neolithic de-
posits generally have low frequencies
of artifacts per volume-unit when com-
pared to t he previous Natufian sites.
D om e s ti c h e a r t h s w e r e s m a ll a n d
o va l w it h c o bb le fl oo r s. T h e u s e o f
heated rocks in cooking res ulted inabundan t fi re-cracked rocks , w hich
were uncommon in Natufian sites. Si-
los, either s m all s tone-built bins or
larger built-up mud-brick structures,
were found in every site.
The bes t exam ple as yet of com m u-
nal bu ilding efforts are the w alls a nd
t o we r o f J e ri ch o . K en y on 11 6 inter-
p r et ed t h es e a s p a r ts o f a d efe n se
system again st ra ids. However, Kenyon
i g n o r e d t h e f a c t t h a t a t o w e r t h a t i s
p a r t o f a d e fe n se s ys te m i s u s u a l ly
built on the outer face of the w alls to
e n a b l e t h e p r o t e c t o r s t o s h o o t s i d e -
w a ys a t t h e c li m b in g a t t a ck er s . An
alternative interpretation suggests that
the w alls w ere erected m ainly on the
w estern s ide of the s ite to protect the
settlement against mud flows and flash
floods135 (Fig. 12). In add ition, a top o-
graphic cross s ection through the en-
tire tell indicates that there was prob-
a b ly o n ly o n e t o we r. Alt h o u gh i ts
fu n c t io n i s u n k n o w n , i t c o u ld h a ve
a c co m m o d a t e d a s m a ll m u d - b r ic k
shrine on the top. Although u nequivo-
cal evidence for public ritual is miss-
ing, the open space north of the tower
m ay ha ve been sim ilar to th e pla zain
Cayon u (Tur key), wh ich served as a
place for pub lic gatherings.133
Sulta nian Tool Kits
Lithic technology exhibits cultural
c on t in u it y fr o m t h e K h ia m i a n .13 6
Blades were manufactured essentially
for s ickles a nd other cutting objects .
Projectiles included el-Khiam points
with additional varieties; perforators
are frequent. Axes-adzes with a work-
ing edge formed by a tr ansversal blow
a n d p o li sh e d c e lt s m a d e t h e ir fi rs t
appearance during this time (Fig. 11).
A shift from th e Natu fian is evident
i n t h e a b u n d a n t p o u n d i n g t o o l s , i n -
c lu d i n g s la b s w i th c u p h o le s , h a n d
stones, and roun ded, shallow grinding
bow ls . O nly the rare m ortar or deep
bowl continued the previous tradition
of heavy-duty kitchen equipmen t (Fig.
11).
Figure 10. A map of the Levant showing the distribution of known Pre-Pottery Neolithic A sites,
the a rea of the Levantine Corridor, and t he presenc e of o ther soc io-econom ic entities.
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Mortuary Practicesand Art
Objects
Most bur ials are single with no grave
goods. Skull removal, a practice begun
d u r i n g t h e L a te N a t u fia n , w a s p e r -
form ed only on adults ; child burials
were left intact. The separated crania
w e re s om e t im e s fo u n d i n d o m e st ic
locales or special-purpose buildings. A
current interpretation views these skull
caches as having been formed thr ough
p u b li c r i tu a l a i m e d a t n e go t ia t in g
e qu a li ty a m o n g t h e i n h a bi ta n t s o f
these villages.137 The differentiation
a lo n g a ge li n es p r o ba b ly r e fle ct s
changes in attitudes tow ard the dead
within the Early Neolithic society, and
perhap s is evidence for the veneration
of ancestors.120 In sum , it seems that a
long-term social value was attributed
to adults , as s how n by the cons erva-tion of their skulls, but not t o children.
Additional changes in s ociety are
e x p r e s s e d b y t h e s h a p i n g o f h u m a n
figurines from either limestone or clay
along gender lines (Fig. 13). Several
depict a kneeling female, while others
are of the s eated w om an type.138
Co m m o n i n t er p r e ta t io n vi ew s t h i s
specification of gender, not evident in
the Natufian, as indicating the emerg-
i n g r o le o f w o m e n i n a c u lt iva t in g
s ociety. I t is as s um ed that this m a jor
s h ift b r ou gh t a b ou t t h e c u lt o f t h e
mo ther goddessin later centu ries.
Subsistence
F lotation procedures at s ites in the
L e va n t i n e C or r i d o r h a v e p r o d u c e d
high frequencies of carbonized seeds
of bar ley, w heat, legum es , and other
p l a n t s .18,97100,139,140 U nfortunately,
there is no agreem ent on the m ethods
h u m a n s u s ed t o a c qu ir e t h e s ee ds ,
whether by intensive collection in the
wild, cultivation, or gathering animal
dung as fuel.18,99,100,141 The debate fo-
c u se s o n t h e fr e q u en c ie s o f c e r t a in
m orphological features that are con-
s idered to be s igns of dom es ticated
species and whether these are, in fact,
the results of parching harvested wild
cereals when still green. Regardless of
w hether they w ere cultivators or har-
vesters, the geograph ic shift in settle-
m ent pattern and the increas ing s ite
s iz e d u r i n g t h e E a r ly N e ol it h i c a r e
s ou n d i n d ic a t or s o f a m a j o r s o c io -
e co n o m i c d e p a r t u r e f r om t h e N a t u -
fian way of life.
Ear ly Neolithic village inhab itants
c o n ti n u ed t o g a th e r w il d fr u i ts a n d
seeds and to hun t. Gazelle, equids, and
cattle w ere hunted in the m iddle Eu-
ph rat es area (Fig. 8); gazelle, fox, a few
fallow deer, wild boar, and wild cattle
Figure 11. A typic al assem bla ge from a Pre-Potte ry Neolithic A site in the southe rn Leva nt: 1 and
2, Khiam p oints; 3 and 4, Hag dud trunca tions; 5, awl on b lade; 6, a tranc het b ifacial axe; 7, a
sickle blad e (type Beit Ta am ir); 8, grooved stone or a shaft straightener; 9, limestone slab
with cu p ho les; 10, a limestone c elt (afte r Bar-Yosef and Go phe r129).
Flotation proce dures a t
sites in the Leva ntine
Corridor have produce d
high frequencies of
carbonized seedsof
ba rley, whea t, leg umes,
a nd other plants.
Unfortunate ly, there isno
agreement on the
methodshumansused to
acquire the seeds,
whether by intensive
collec tion in the wild,
cultivation, or ga theringanimal dung as fuel.
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w e r e t h e m a i n g a m e a n i m a l s i n t h e
Jord an Valley. Large num bers of bird s,
especiallydu cks, were trapped by occu-
pants of all s ites .130 Lizards and tor-
toises were gathered as well. The over-
all pictu re is tha t of a br oad -spectru m
subsistence strategy similar to that of
the N atufi ans .
Long-distance exchange is dem on-
strated by th e central Anatolian obsid-
i a n f o u n d i n J e r i c h o a n d i n s m a l l e r
q u a n t it i es i n N e ti v H a g d u d , N a h a l
O ren, and H atoula. N o obs idian w as
fo u n d i n G ilg a l o r G es h er. M a r in e
shells were brought from th e Mediter-
ranean coas t and few er from th e Red
Sea. There is a clear shift in the types
selected for exchange. Glycym eris an d
cow ries becom e im portant, but D en-
talium shells, where excavated depos-
its were sieved, are still common, as in
Natufian sites.
DISCUSSION
M os t readers are fam iliar w ith the
different hypotheses th at have been
offered as explanations for the emer-
gence of agriculture in the Near East.
The following is a brief summary. One
o f t h e fir st p r op o sa ls w a s m a d e b y
Rap hael Pum pelly, an Amer ican geolo-
gist who hypothesized that the warm-
i n g c li m a t e o f t h e H o lo c en e fo r ce dpeople to settle near drying lakes. This
idea led him to initiate excavations at
the site of Anau in Turkmenistan, Cen-
tral Asia.3,141 The same idea was picked
up by V. G. Childe, who p ropo sed wh at
toda y is called t he oasis hypot hesis.
Childe asserted that the Holocene post-
glacial warming r esulted in increasing
d e n s i t i e s o f h u m a n s a n d a n i m a l s i n
river valleys, ther eby mot ivating a new
s ubs is tence s trategy bas ed on anim al
domestication an d cultivation.141 Rob-
e r t B r a id w o od a n d h i s a s s o ci a t es
shifted their focus from the river val-
leys to what today is the nuclear zone
i n w h ic h w ild c er e a ls a n d le gu m e s
grow,18,142 often r eferr ed to a s the hilly
flanks. They excavated sites in no rth -
e r n I r a q a n d s ou t h e as t er n Tu r k ey.Braidw ood propos ed that w ithin the
evolving cultural contexts, technologi-
cal progress led to village life and the
ens uing dom es tication of plants and
anim als. The climatic factor was omit-
ted from Braidwoods m odel as a re-
s u lt o f fi e ld o b se r va t io n s m a d e b y
H. E. Wright. Wright, a palynologist
a n d l im n o l o gi st , r e c en t l y c o n c ed e d
that thes e obs ervations w ere errone-
o u s a n d a gr ee d t h a t a gr e at er r o le
s hould be attr ibuted to clim atic fl uc-
t u a t i o n s .14 3 At t h e t i m e , h o w eve r,
Braidw ood accepted the notion thatclima tic fluctuations played only a mi-
nor role, and therefore suggested that
fo o d p r o d u c t io n d i d n o t b e gi n a t a n
earlier period becaus e culture w as
no t rea dy.144
The role of increasing human popu-
lations at the end of the P leis tocene
and the reaction of groups surviving in
m a r g in a l a r e a s t o c li m a t ic fl u ct u a -
tions w ere prim e s tim uli in the w rit-
i n gs o f B in f or d ,145 Flannery,146 Co-
hen,147 Sm ith and Youn g,148 H as s an,149
and others . The idea of dem ographic
p r e ss u r e, w h ic h h a d o r ig in a t e d i n
Childes writings, was explicitly ex-
pres sed w ithin a cultural ecological
model. Evidence to suppor t the imp or-
tance of this relative increas e in hu-
man population densities was derived
from n ew surveys and excavations ac-
c o m p li sh e d i n t h e 1 95 0s a n d 1 96 0s
across the Near East.
Other scholars have attemp ted more
general explanations . Thus , D . Rin-
dos 150 viewed the em ergence of agricul-
ture and the dom es tication of plants
a s a l on g p r o c e ss o f m u t u a l is m t h a t
began w ith incidental dom es tication
and termina ted with a fully developed
agricultural system. However, if this
proces s w ere truly a bas ic pattern of
behavior for all foragers, then agricul-
t u r e w o u ld h a ve e m e r ge d i n d ep e n -
dently in every region of the w orld.
T h e e vi d en c e d o es n o t s u p p or t t h is
h y p ot h e s is . An o t h e r a p p r o a c h p r o -
posed by Hayden,151 term ed th e com -
petitive feastingmo del, emer ged from
a growing interes t in s ocial factors.
Figure 12. PPNA p it houses excava ted in Netiv Hagd ud. The da rker c ircular b uilding in the
center was built of mud bricksand could have b een a large silo.
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Unfortunately, the archeological rec-
o r d o f t h e L e v a n t i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e
surplus offood and pr ecious commodi-
ties needed for potlatch com petition
was not available before the develop-
m ent of agriculture but w as , ins tead,
a n o u t co m e o f t h a t d e ve lo p m en t .
H aydens m odel w ould better fi t the
evidence for com petition from the fol-
lowing Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period
(ca. 9,300 to 7,800 B.P.) when large,
well-established villages occupied the
Fertile Crescent an d beyond.
The explanatory model used in this
p a p e r a n d o t h er s24,28,152 follows th e
histor ical na rra tive explanat ionp ro-
posed by Flannery.153 It not on ly takes
i n t o a c c o u n t t h e u n i qu e g eo gr a p h ic
conditions of the Levant, but also com-
bines th e a rcheological history of for-
agers, their reconstructed social struc-
ture, an d their s ubs is tence s trategies
w ith environm ental changes . The re-
s u lt in g s eq u e n ce m a k e s t h e e m e r-
gence of cultivation, under these given
conditions , the optim al s trategy for
s em i-s edentary and s edentary hunter
gatherers. The regional conditions dur-
ing the Late Pleistocene included the
availability, pred ictability, an d accessi-
bility of numerou s edible annua l seeds
s u ch a s c er ea ls a n d le gu m e s (r-re-
sources) and perenn ial plant resources,
essentially fruits, and the presence of
mostly stationary medium -sized ungu-
lates and cervids that did not require
the m onitoring of large territories. The
result was dense spatial distribution of
com bined res ources that enabled for-
agers to survive in biologically viable
populations in sm all territories.
The current trend to view clim aticfl uctuations as a m echanis m for tr ig-
gering cultural change is based on the
grow ing unders tanding that environ-
men tal im pacts are screened thr ough
a c u lt u r a l fi lt e r. I n e a ch r e gi on a t a
given time, societies of hunter-gather-
ers have had their own cultural filters
a s m u c h a s t h e y h a v e h a d t h e i r o w n
kinship systems, cosmologies, and eco-
nom ic and ideological adaptations to
particular features of their landscape.
Cultural filters are constructed through
par ticular grou p histories. Thus, differ-
ent hum an popu lations m a y react dif-ferently in the face of environm ental
cris es . There is no need to s eek one
single model to explain the origins of
agriculture.
S in c e t h e e n d o f t h e L a te G la c ia l
M axim um (ca. 14,500 B.P. ), people
o cc up ie d e ve ry e co -z on e i n t h e
N ear Eas t. The Levant w as the m os t
favorably inhab ited belt. Desert oases
c o n ti n u e d t o a c co m m o d a t e h u n t e r-
g a th e r er g r ou p s , b u t t h e se p o p u la -
tions w ere highly m obile and thinly
d i st r ib u t ed . I n t h e c o as ta l L eva n t ,
s em i-s edentis m or s everely reduced
m obility w as already an es tablished
s et t le m e n t p a t t er n a m o n g f or a g er s .
Hence a short, cold, and abrupt crisis
at ab out 13,000 B.P., which wa s imm e-
diately followed by an increase in p re-
cipitation and an expans ion of w ood-
la n d a n d p a rk la n d, h a d a m a jo r
i m p a ct . I t m a d e s ed e n t is m w it h in a
certa in hom eland t he mo st pract ical
s et t le m e n t p a t t er n , r e su l ti n g i n t h e
form ation of the Early N atufi an. The
technological innovations introduced
by the Natu fians, such a s sickles, picks,
and improved tools for archery, were
additions to a n a lready existing Upper
Paleolithic inventory of utensils that
included s im ple bow s , corded fi bers ,
and food processing tools such as m or-
tars and pes tles . D em ographic pres -
s ure w as therefore the outcom e w hen
certain groups of foragers became sed-
entary w hile others rem ained m obile.
This condition limited both groups in
their access to resources when further
c li m a t i c c r i se s c a u s e d d i m i n i sh i n g
Figure 13. Pre-pot tery Neolithic A fema le figurines from Mureyb et (13,5) and Ne tiv Hag dud (4).
Note that they are in two positions, sitting (2,4) and standing (1,3,5) (after Cauvin 158; Ba r-Yosef
and Gopher129).
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