essay

Biological evidence for human sedentism in southwest Asia during the Natufian

natufian culture in the levantAnn Arbor, Mich.Published In 1991 • Pages: 315-336

By: Tchernov, E. (Eitan).

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
'The goal of this paper is: (1) to bring forth mainly biological evidence to support the argument that sedentism already existed during the early Natufian in the southern Levant; (2) to explain how the establishment of a sedentary way of life caused a major impact on the environment by creating special habitats around long-term sites, even before domestication and farming were regularly practiced; and (3) to show that under these special ecological conditions people started to manipulate the wild populations through selective culling.' (page 315). Tchernov discusses in situ speciation, the increase in plants and animal species exploited, and extensive control over wild populations of gazelles. He relies heavily on the data from Hayonim cave and terrace.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Fauna
Settlement patterns
Hunting and trapping
Environmental quality
Sociocultural trends
traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Epipaleolithic
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2009
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Middle East
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Middle East
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Archaeozoologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Sarah Berry; 2007
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
no date
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
12,000 BP-10,000 BP
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian Autonomous Areas, and Syria
NotesAdditional notes
Eitan Tchernov
Includes bibliographical references (p. 336-340)
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Natufian culture/Middle East--Antiquities