Natufian Period __Guide to the Hunter-Gatherers of the Levant

Discussion in 'Middle East' started by Margot, Nov 18, 2012.

  1. Margot

    Margot Account closed, not banned

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    Natufian Period


    I find these ancient people endlessly fascinating particularly since the settlements have been found in the Levant and Jericho.... and wonder if ancient memories are possibly the source of the creation myths.

    http://archaeology.about.com/od/nterms/qt/natufian.htm
    Guide to the Hunter-Gatherers of the Levant

    By K. Kris Hirst,

    The Natufian culture is the name given to the sedentary hunter-gatherers living in the Levant region of the near east between about 12,500 and 10,200 years ago. They were hunter-gatherers, foraging for food such as emmer wheat, barley and almonds, and hunting gazelle, deer, cattle, horse, and wild boar.

    Natufian Communities

    For at least part of the year, Natufian people lived in communities, some quite large, of semi-subterranean houses. These semi-circular one room structures were excavated partly into the soil and built of stone, wood and perhaps brush roofs. The largest Natufian communities (called 'base camps') found to date include Jericho, Ain Mallaha, and Wadi Hammeh 27. Smaller, short-range dry season foraging camps may have been part of the settlement pattern, although evidence for them is scarce.

    The Natufians were hunter-gatherers, and they located their settlements at the boundaries between coastal plains and hill country, to maximize their access to a wide variety of food. They buried their dead in cemeteries, with grave goods including stone bowls and dentalium shell.

    Natufian Artifacts

    Artifacts found at Natufian sites include grinding stones, used to process seeds, dried meats and fish for planned meals, and ochre for likely ritual practices. Flint and bone tools, and dentalium shell ornaments are also part of the Natufian assemblage. Specific tools created for harvesting various crops are a hallmark of Natufian assemblages, such as stone sickles. Large middens are known at Natufian sites, located where they were created (rather than secondary refuse pits). Dealing with refuse is one defining characteristics of the descendants of the Natufians, the Pre-Pottery Neolithic.

    Some scarce evidence indicates that the Natufian people may have cultivated barley and wheat. The line between horticulture (tending wild stands of crops) and agriculture (planting specific stands) is a fuzzy one. Most scholars believe that it was not a one-time decision, but rather a series of experiments that may well have taken place during the Natufian or other hunter-gatherer subsistence regimes.

    The direct descendants of the Natufian (known as the pre-pottery Neolithic or PPN) were among the earliest farmers on the planet.
     
  2. Margot

    Margot Account closed, not banned

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    Fyi..............
     
  3. Margot2

    Margot2 Banned

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    First Funeral Flowers Found in Israel

    MOUNT CARMEL, ISRAEL--The Natufian hunter-gatherers who lived in Raqefet Cave some 14,000 years ago are the earliest known prehistoric people to systematically bury their dead in cemeteries, and they may have been the ancestors of the first farmers.

    Recent excavations at the cave, which consists of five chambers, have uncovered 29 skeletons so far. Dani Nadel of the University of Haifa has shown that four of those individuals, including a double burial of a man and an adolescent boy, had been buried on a bed of flowers and plants.

    The graves were cut out of the limestone bedrock floor of the cave, and then lined with a thin layer of mud, which preserved impressions of the stems of Judean sage, mint, figwort, and other aromatic and flowering plants. Phytoliths from grasses, shrubs, reeds, and sedges were also found in the four graves. This “is the oldest example of putting flowers and fresh plants in the grave before burying the dead,” Nadel said.

    continued at length.

    http://www.livescience.com/37881-ancient-grave-flowers-unearthed.html
     
  4. Margot2

    Margot2 Banned

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  5. Margot2

    Margot2 Banned

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    ..........................................
     
  6. Margot2

    Margot2 Banned

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    FYI.............................
     
  7. Margot2

    Margot2 Banned

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    FYI...................
     
  8. stuntman

    stuntman Well-Known Member

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    The Natufian Period was the time of the prehistoric man, thus, this period of time have nothing to do with Islam nor Judaim nor Christianity. It was existed until 4,000 BC.
     
  9. Margot2

    Margot2 Banned

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    Why did you connect the Natufian people with the Abrahamic religions??? Evidently they were Shamans.
     
  10. stuntman

    stuntman Well-Known Member

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    Then what is the point of this thread? just to show Archaeological finds?
     
  11. Margot2

    Margot2 Banned

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    I love the archeological finds.. and I post them fairly often.
     
  12. stuntman

    stuntman Well-Known Member

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    Ok, I love archeological finds as well. Quit interesting finds, thank you!
     
  13. Margot2

    Margot2 Banned

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    My pleasure........
     
  14. Latherty

    Latherty Well-Known Member

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    And why is it on a political forum?

    Was is the political statement this is trying to make?
     
  15. HBendor

    HBendor New Member

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    Now that person will find something to say about <Abdullah's> of Saudi Arabia that recently died at the young age of ninety. Worthless piece of fatty tissue.
     
  16. Margot2

    Margot2 Banned

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    This thread has nothing to do with the Saudis.. why are you so far off topic?
     
  17. HBendor

    HBendor New Member

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    With your subject and the way you try to pass your reverent knowledge...
    I think ahead... waiting for the next 'Swiss Cheese full of holes' about to be flung at us.
     
  18. Margot2

    Margot2 Banned

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    They found evidence of a Natufian cave in Israel with evidence that they brought flowers to their dead and had some sort of Shaman thing going on ... about 11,000 years old.
     
  19. HBendor

    HBendor New Member

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    I don't deny that part of Archeology...>>>MOD EDIT Off Topic Removed<<<
     
  20. Margot2

    Margot2 Banned

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    For stuntman.........
     
  21. Margot2

    Margot2 Banned

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  22. Margot2

    Margot2 Banned

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