Environmental Archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research interests are Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene hunter-gatherers and paleoenvironmental change in the Near East, North Africa, and Arabia. Hercurrent field work in Jordan focuses on the study of Epipaleolithic and Early Neolithic geoarcheology, mortuary archeology, and stone tools.
1520-6505/asset/EVAN_centre.gif?v=1&s=7c86407828b70a9f742a640e3c04352901f9cb62)
Article
The Pre-Natufian Epipaleolithic: Long-term Behavioral Trends in the Levant
Article first published online: 12 APR 2012
DOI: 10.1002/evan.21307
Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Issue
Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews
Volume 21, Issue 2, pages 69–81, March/April 2012
Additional Information
How to Cite
Maher, L. A., Richter, T. and Stock, J. T. (2012), The Pre-Natufian Epipaleolithic: Long-term Behavioral Trends in the Levant. Evol. Anthropol., 21: 69–81. doi: 10.1002/evan.21307
- †
Environmental Archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research interests are Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene hunter-gatherers and paleoenvironmental change in the Near East, North Africa, and Arabia. Hercurrent field work in Jordan focuses on the study of Epipaleolithic and Early Neolithic geoarcheology, mortuary archeology, and stone tools.
- ‡
Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Copenhagen. His research interests revolve around the transition from hunting and gathering to farming in southwest Asia, situated learning theory, stone tool analysis, and landscape archeology. He conducts field work in Jordan and Qatar.
- §
Human Evolution and Development at the University of Cambridge. His research is broadly concerned with the mechanisms controlling phenotypic variation among Homo sapiens, with a particular focus on hunter-gatherer diversity and adaptations, and the influence of behavioral transitions on human biology.
Publication History
- Issue published online: 12 APR 2012
- Article first published online: 12 APR 2012
Funded by
- Arts and Humanities Research Council, UK
- Abstract
- Article
- References
- Cited By
Keywords:
- prehistoric archeology;
- Epipaleolithic;
- Near East;
- material culture;
- economy;
- technology
Abstract
Few cultural developments have taken on as much archeological significance as when people began living in villages and producing their own food. The economic, social, technological, and ideological transformations immediately preceding and following these changes were profound. Early models of culture change associated with pre-agricultural societies of the Levant focused on the sudden, late origin of settled farming villages triggered by climate change. Accompanying this new economic and living situation was durable stone-built architecture; intensified plant and animal use; a flourishing of art and decoration; new mortuary traditions, including marked graves and cemeteries; elaborate ritual and symbolic behavior—a new way of life. This new life style arguably had a slow start, but really took off during the Epipaleolithic period (EP), spanning more than 10,000 years of Levantine prehistory from c. 23,000-11,500 cal BP. The last EP phase, immediately preceding the Neolithic, is by far the best-studied in terms of its cultural and economic contributions to questions on the origins of agriculture.1–4 Recently, archeologists have considered the earlier parts of the EP to be more culturally dynamic and similar to the later phase (Natufian) than was previously thought.3–10 The earlier EP is increasingly seen as demonstrating the behavioral variability and innovations that help us to understand the economic, technological, and social changes associated with complex hunter-gatherers of the Natufian and farmers of the Neolithic. This paper traces the cultural and biological developments of the EP period leading up to the Natufian and considers the long-term trajectory of culture change, social complexity, and village life in the Near East. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.