Environment, seasonality and hunting strategies as influences on Natufian food procurement: The faunal remains from Shubayqa 1

Abstract

Analysis of the faunal assemblage from Shubayqa 1 allows detailed discussion of food procurement through the sequence of occupation spanning the Early and Late Natufian. The influence of climate, season of occupation and hunting techniques on the subsistence economy is discussed. It is argued that targeted prey varied throughout the year, with mass hunting methods providing a large proportion of the meat. In the Late Natufian a decrease in passage migrant birds is interpreted as evidence for gradual drying of the environment, or less reliable rainfall from year-to-year. Availability of resources varied between the two phases of occupation, which, despite preceding the Younger Dryas, suggests that environmental conditions were changing. However, subsistence strategies were easily amended to maintain a plentiful supply of food.