The emergence of the Neolithic in the Near East: A protracted and multi-regional model

Abstract

The spread of the Neolithic from its area of origin in the Fertile Crescent into Europe, North Africa and Central Asia, vast regions with high ecological and geographical disparity, in a relatively short period of time (a little over two millennia) shows the expansive potential of this new way of life. This was possible because a robust and flexible socio-economic system was built during the four millennia in which the transition from hunter-gatherer to farming societies took place. Better knowledge of how the dynamic forces of the Neolithic developed in the Near East is a precondition for understanding the mechanisms and reasons of its successful expansion. During the last decade, thanks to the intensive work carried out by many international research teams, a much better comprehension on how this happened has been gained. The Fertile Crescent now appears to have been the location of a mosaic of groups evolving at different rhythms and creating different cultural patterns, but who were walking in the same direction due to strong currents of interaction existing between distant regions. These synergies, which contributed to the dynamism and resilience of the process, were possible because of the setup of complex exchange networks, the migration of whole communities and the wandering of task groups.