The excavation of hayonim terrace: an examination of terminal pleistocene climatic and adaptive changes

Abstract

The investigation of the epipalaeolithic site of Hayonim Terrace contributes new evidence relative to our understanding of the series of adaptive changes which took place among populations of Palestine during the terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene. The study defines a cultural continuity between the Geometric Kebaran A and Natufian archaeological complexes against a changing environmental background. A succession of environmental oscillations which occurred between c. 12,500 and 10,000 BP is identified and discussed in regard to changes in epipalaeolithic economic and adaptive patterns. An episode of climatic amelioration ( c. 12,000-11,000 BP) apparently contributed to the expansion of cereals into the Mediterranean hill zone and the abandonment of palaeolithic hunting and gathering strategy by Natufian cereal collectors. Subsequent environmental deterioration associated with the onset of drier conditions ( c. 11,000 BP) prompted Natufian populations to attempt to maintain their habitable territory artificially, through the cultivation of cereals.