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The Natufian culture in the Levant, threshold to the origins of agriculture

1998; Wiley; Volume: 6; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/(sici)1520-6505(1998)6

1520-6505

Ofer Bar‐Yosef,

Ancient Near East History

Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and ReviewsVolume 6, Issue 5 p. 159-177 The Natufian culture in the Levant, threshold to the origins of agriculture† Ofer Bar-Yosef, Ofer Bar-Yosef obaryos@fas.harvard.edu Search for more papers by this author Ofer Bar-Yosef, Ofer Bar-Yosef obaryos@fas.harvard.edu Search for more papers by this author First published: 07 December 1998 https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1520-6505(1998)6:5 3.0.CO;2-7Citations: 269 † Ofer Bar-Yosef studies Middle and Upper Paleolithic sequences in the Near East, as well as the origins of agriculture as expressed in the archaeology of Epi-Paleolithic Neolithic sites. He has published papers and co-edited volumes on various prehistoric sites of Pleistocene and Holocene age in the Levant. He is the MacCurdy Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology in the Department of Anthropology, Harvard University. AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Abstract 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.1–4 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. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Citing Literature Volume6, Issue51998Pages 159-177 RelatedInformation