Natufian Culture

Dating				the British Museum, is the oldest known depiction of a
Radiocarbon dating places this culture just before the				couple making love. It was found in the Ain Sakhri
end of the Pleistocene, in the period 12,500 to 9,500				cave in the Judean desert. It was included in the BBC
BC.				series A History of the World in 100 Objects.View
The period is commonly split into two subperiods: Early				image
Natufian (12,50010,800 BC) and Late Natufian				Burials
(10,8009500 BC). The Late Natufian most likely				Burials are located in the settlements, commonly in pits
occurred in tandem with the Younger Dryas (10,800 to				in abandoned houses but also in caves in Mount
9500 BC). In the Levant, there are more than a				Carmel and the Judean Hills. The pits were backfilled
hundred kinds of cereals, fruits, nuts and other edible				with settlement refuse, which sometimes makes the
parts of plants, and the flora of the Levant during the				identification of grave-goods difficult. Sometimes the
Natufian period was not the dry, barren, and thorny				graves were covered with limestone slabs. The bodies
landscape of today, but parkland and woodland.				are stretched on their backs or flexed, there is no
Precursors and associated cultures				predominant orientation. There are both single and
The Natufian developed in the same region as the				multiple burials, especially in the early Natufian, and
earlier Kebaran complex, and is generally seen as a				scattered human remains in the settlements that point
successor which developed from at least elements				to disturbed earlier graves. The rate of child mortality
within that earlier culture. There were also other				was rather highbout one-third of the dead were
cultures in the region, such as the Mushabian culture of				between ages five and seven.
the Negev and Sinai, which are sometimes				Skull removal was practiced in Hayonim cave, Nahal
distinguished from the Kebaran, and sometimes also				Oren and Ain Mallaha. Sometimes the skulls were
seen as having played a role in the development of				decorated with shell beads (El-Wad).
the Natufian.				Grave goods consist mainly of personal ornaments,
More generally there has been discussion of the				like beads made of shell, teeth (of red deer), bones
similarities of these cultures with those found in				and stone. There are pendants, bracelets, necklaces,
Mediterranean Africa. Graeme Barker notes "the				earrings and belt-ornaments as well.
similarities in the respective archaeological records of				In 2008, the grave of a Natufian 'priestess' was
the Natufian culture of the Levant and of				discovered (in most media reports referred to as a
contemporary foragers in coastal North Africa across				shaman or witch doctor). The burial contained
the late Pleistocene and early Holocene boundary".				complete shells of 50 tortoises, which are thought to
Ofer Bar-Yosef has argued that there are signs of				have been brought to the site and eaten during the
influences coming from Africa to the Levant, citing the				funeral feast.
microburin technique and icrolithic forms such as				Long distance exchange
arched backed bladelets and La Mouillah points.5]				At Ain Mallaha (in Israel), Anatolian obsidian and shellfish
There has also been evidence that parthenocarpic figs,				from the Nile-valley have been found. The source of
were brought by humans from the direction of Sudan				malachite-beads is still unknown.
in this period.				Archaeogenetics
Authors such as Christopher Ehret have built upon the				According to an analysis of a sample of human
little evidence available to develop scenarios of				remains from Natufian sites, the inhabitants of the
intensive usage of plants building up first in Africa, and				region appeared to have some Sub-Saharan
was a precursor to the development of true farming in				influences. Ricaut et al. associate these Sub-Saharan
the Fertile Crescent, but such suggestions are				influences with the dispersal of haplogroup E1b1b
considered speculative until more African				lineages from Africa. The material culture of the
archaeological evidence can be gathered.				Natufian also leaves open the possibility of some
Settlements				African influences.
Settlements occur in the woodland belt where oak and				Sites
Pistacia species dominated. The underbrush of this				Natufian sites include:
open woodland was grass with high frequencies of				Syria: Tell Abu Hureyra, Mureybat, Yabrud III
grain. The high mountains of Lebanon and the				Israel: Ain Mallaha (Eynan), El-Wad, Ein Gev, Hayonim,
Anti-Lebanon, the steppe areas of the Negev desert in				Nahal Oren, Salibiya I
Israel and Sinai, and the Syro-Arabian desert in the				West Bank: Jericho, Shuqba
east were much less favoured for Natufian settlement,				Jordan: Beidha
presumably due to both their lower carrying capacity				Lebanon: Jiita III, Borj el-Barajn, Saaid, Aamiq II
and the company of other groups of foragers who				See also
exploited this region.				Synoptic table of the principal old world prehistoric
The habitations of the Natufian are semi-subterranean,				cultures
often with a dry-stone foundation. The superstructure				References
was probably made of brushwood. No traces of				^ Kottak, Conrad P. (2005). Window on Humanity: A
mudbrick have been found, which became common in				Concise Introduction to Anthropology. Boston:
the following Pre-Pottery Neolithic A, abbreviated PPN				McGraw-Hill. pp. 155156. ISBN 0072890282.
A. The round houses have a diameter between 3 and				^ Munro, Natalie D. (2003). "Small game, the Younger
6 meters, they contain a central round or				Dryas, and the transition to agriculture in the southern
subrectangular fireplace. In Ain Mallaha traces of				Levant". Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft fr Urgeschichte
postholes have been identified. "Villages" can cover				12: 4771.
over 1,000 square meters. Smaller settlements have				^ Bar-Yosef, Ofer (1998), "The Natufian Culture in the
been interpreted by some researchers as camps.				Levant, Threshold to the Origins of Agriculture",
Traces of rebuilding in almost all excavated				Evolutionary Anthropology 6 (5): 159177, doi:10.1002
settlements seem to point to a frequent relocation,				7,
indicating a temporary abandonment of the settlement.				^ Barker G (2002) Transitions to farming and
Settlements have been estimated to house 100150, but				pastoralism in North Africa, in Bellwood P, Renfrew C
there are three categories: small, median, and large,				(2002), Examining the Farming/Language Dispersal
ranging from 15 sq. m to 1,000 sq. m of people. There				Hypothesis, pp 151161.
are no definite indications of storage facilities.				^ Bar-Yosef O (1987) Pleistocene connections
Sedentism				between Africa and SouthWest Asia: an
A semi-sedentary life may have been made possible				archaeological perspective. The African Archaeological
by abundant resources due to a favourable climate at				Review; Chapter 5, pg 29-38
the time, with a culture living from hunting, fishing and				^ Kislev ME, Hartmann A, Bar-Yosef O (2006) Early
gathering, including the use of wild cereals. Tools were				domesticated fig in the Jordan Valley. Nature
available for making use of cereals: flint-bladed sickles				312:13721374.
for harvesting, and mortars, grinding stones, and				^ Ehret (2002) The Civilizations of Africa: A History to
storage pits.				1800. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia
Lithics				^ Bellwood P (2005) Blackwell, Oxford. Page 97
The Natufian had a microlithic industry, based on short				^ Ofer Bar-Yosef, The Natufian culture and the Early
blades and bladelets. The microburin-technique was				Neolithic: Social and economic trends in Southwestern
used. Geometric microliths include lunates, trapezes				Asia, chapter 10 in Peter Bellwood and Colin Renfrew
and triangles. There are backed blades as well. A				(eds.), Examining the Farming/Language Dispersal
special type of retouch (Helwan retouch) is				Hypothesis (2002), p.114.
characteristic for the early Natufian. In the late Natufian,				^ a b "Oldest Shaman Grave Found". National
the Harif-point, a typical arrowhead made from a				Geographic 04-Nov-2008
regular blade, became common in the Negev. Some				^ Balter, Michael (2010). "Archaeology: The Tangled
scholars use it to define a separate culture, the				Roots of Agriculture". Science 327: 404406. 10.1126
Harifian.				science.327.5964.404. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
Sickle blades appear for the first time. The				^ a b Clutton-Brock, Juliet (1995). "Origins of the dog:
characteristic sickle-gloss shows that they have been				domestication and early history". in Serpell, James. The
used to cut the silica-rich stems of cereals and form				domestic dog: its evolution, behaviour and interactions
an indirect proof for incipient agriculture. Shaft				with people. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
straighteners made of ground stone indicate the				ISBN 0521415292.
practice of archery. There are heavy ground-stone				^ BBC. A History of the World. Ain Sakhri Lovers
bowl mortars as well.				^ "Archaeologists discover 12,000 year-old grave of
Other finds				witch doctor". Daily Mail 04-Nov-2008
There was a rich bone industry, including harpoons and				^ "Hebrew U. unearths 12,000-year-old skeleton of
fish hooks. Stone and bone was worked into pendants				'petite' Natufian priestess". By Bradley Burston. Haaretz,
and other ornaments. There are a few human				05-Nov-2008
figurines made of limestone (El-Wad, Ain Mallaha, Ain				^ Brace et al. (2005). The questionable contribution of
Sakhri), but the favourite subject of representative art				the Neolithic and the Bronze Age to European
seems to have been animals. Ostrich-shell containers				craniofacial form. doi:10.1073/pnas.0509801102.
have been found in the Negev.				^ Ricaut et al. (2008), "Cranial Discrete Traits in a
Subsistence				Byzantine Population and Eastern Mediterranean
The Natufian people lived by hunting and gathering. The				Population Movements", Human Biology 80(5):535-564.,
preservation of plant remains is poor because of the				doi:10.3378/1534-6617-80.5.535,
soil conditions, but wild cereals, legumes, almonds,				^ Lancaster, Andrew (2009). "Y Haplogroups,
acorns and pistachios may have been collected.				Archaeological Cultures and Language Families: a
Animal bones show that gazelle (Gazella gazella and				Review of the Multidisciplinary Comparisons using the
Gazella subgutturosa) were the main prey. Additionally				case of E-M35". Journal of Genetic Genealogy 5 (1).
deer, aurochs and wild boar were hunted in the steppe				Further reading
zone, as well as onagers and caprids (Ibex). Water				Balter, Michael (2005), The Goddess and the Bull, New
fowl and freshwater fish formed part of the diet in the				York: Free Press, ISBN 0-7432-4360-9
Jordan River valley. Animal bones from Salibiya I				Bar-Yosef, Ofer (1998), "The Natufian Culture in the
(12,300 10,800 BP) have been interpreted as evidence				Levant, Threshold to the Origins of Agriculture",
for communal hunts with nets.				Evolutionary Anthropology 6 (5): 159177, doi:10.1002
Development of agriculture				7,
According to one theory, it was a sudden change in				Bar-Yosef, Ofer; Belfer-Cohen, Anna (1999), "Encoding
climate, the Younger Dryas event (ca. 10800 to 9500				information: unique Natufian objects from Hayonim
BC), that inspired the development of agriculture. The				Cave, Western Galilee, Israel", Antiquity 73: 402409
Younger Dryas was a 1,000-year-long interruption in				Bar-Yosef, Ofer (1992), Valla, Francois R., ed., The
the higher temperatures prevailing since the last ice				Natufian Culture in the Levant, Ann Arbor: International
age, which produced a sudden drought in the Levant.				Monographs in Prehistory, ISBN 1879621037
This would have endangered the wild cereals, which				Campana, Douglas V.; Crabtree, Pam J. (1990),
could no longer compete with dryland scrub, but upon				"Communal Hunting in the Natufian of the Southern
which the population had become dependent to sustain				Levant: The Social and Economic Implications", Journal
a relatively large sedentary population. By artificially				of Mediterranean Archaeology 3 (2): 223243
clearing scrub and planting seeds obtained from				Clutton-Brock, Juliet (1999), A Natural History of
elsewhere, they began to practice agriculture.				Domesticated Mammals (2nd ed.), Cambridge:
However, this theory of the origin of agriculture is				Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-63247-1
controversial in the scientific community.				Dubreuil, Laure (2004), "Long-term trends in Natufian
Domesticated dog				subsistence: a use-wear analysis of ground stone
It is at Natufian sites that the earliest archaeological				tools", Journal of Archaeological Science 31 (11):
evidence for the domestication of the dog is found. At				16131629, doi:10.1016/j.jas.2004.04.003
the Natufian site of Ein Mallaha in Israel, dated to 12				Munro, Natalie D. (August-October 2004),
000 BP, the remains of an elderly human and a				"Zooarchaeological measures of hunting pressure and
four-to-five-month-old puppy were found buried				occupation intensity in the Natufian: Implications for
together. At another Natufian site at the cave of				agricultural origins", Current Anthropology 45: S5,
Hayonim, humans were found buried with two canids.				doi:10.1086/422084, S6-S33.
Art				Simmons, Alan H.
The Ain Sakhri lovers, a carved stone object held at

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Natufian Culture

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