The Natufian in the Levant

Abstract

The Natufian entity was first identified and described in the early 1930s by D. Garrod (39) following her excavations at the Shukba Cave in the Samaria (Figure 1). Other assemblages identified as Natufian were subsequently uncovered within the boundaries of what was to become identified as the Natufian core area, encompassing the Galilee, Mt. Carmel, and the Judean Hills and Desert (41, 64, 83). Though the original definition of the Natufian complex was based on the characteristics of its chipped stone industry, both Garrod and Neuville (63, 64), who explored the Judean desert Natufian sites, were impressed by the nonlithic finds. This is the first Levantine prehistoric entity with durable architectural remains bearing evidence of intensive building activities. Some of the sites exceed in size anything known before, heralding the appearance of the villages and compounds of the Neolithic cultures to come. Besides an unprecedented abundance (in quantity and variety) of bone implements, there is a wealth of limestone and basalt artifacts. Also, for the first time there appear numerous art objects and ornaments made of a variety of raw materials, both common and exotic. All these components place the Natufian apart from preceding archaeological cultures. Since the early discoveries, sites identified as Natufian have been reported both from the core area (12, 49, 65, 67, 78, 88) and from regions further away, some within different phytogeographic zones: northern Syria (26, 27, 60), north and south Lebanon (19), the Jordan Rift Valley (9, 33, 38), southern Jordan (46, 55, 56), the Syrian-Arabian Desert (20), and the Negev (43, 58, 61) (Figure 1). The abundant data accumulated over the years