The Natufian Culture: An Overview

May 3, 2024

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The Natufian Culture: An Overview

1. Introduction to the Natufian Culture

Prior to the emergence of the Natufian culture, the Levant, which was originally located in the Mediterranean woodlands of Southwest Asia, changed significantly. At the end of the Pleistocene epoch around 20,000 BP, the Epipaleolithic peoples of the Levant were hunters and gatherers of wild cereals, zebras, and gazelles. However, beginning around 12,000 BC, the Natufian’s predomestication of goats and cattle is gradually changing the region from the Mediterranean woodlands to a drier, more desert-like landscape. This significant shift in climate was caused by an interglacial period, lasting from 15,000 to 7000 BC, characterized by a major rise in temperature. As a result, the Mediterranean vegetation practiced a retreat, leaving the Epipaleolithic peoples with little choice but to exploit new resources. The Natufian society had been developing from the Epipaleolithic societies of the region and was the first to take advantage of the vastly increased variety and abundance of natural resources. This became a crucial factor for the Natufian culture duration and sedentarization.

By definition, the Paleolithic Natufian culture, extending roughly from 12,500 to 9500 BC, represents the origins of sedentism and thus has significant implications for the understanding of the transition to agricultural society. The culture’s roots lie in the Epipaleolithic, with the society evolving from a sedentary, or perhaps semi-sedentary, base population. The emergence of the Natufian culture can be attributed to the changes in the subsistence strategies of the Epipaleolithic Levant, incited by a major change in climate and the abundance of natural resources. What directly follows is a historical sequence and a description of the Natufian’s subsistence strategies, supplemented by evidence found at the Ohalo II site, a rich source of Natufian culture history. The intensified focus on the Natufian society is twofold: to inform the significance of sedentism and its implications on the transition to agriculture, and to provide the background necessary to understand why the Natufian people are thought to be the harbingers of this transition.

2. Lifestyle and Settlement Patterns

The main focus of “The Natufian Culture: An Overview” is the explanation of important aspects of the Natufian culture to the non-specialist, using evidence and data that help conclude various answers or theories. This book is a short version of the long CDL Press publication “The Natufian Culture” edited by T.E. Levy and I.5. It provides an outline of Natufian culture, what it involved, and how people lived and died. An important factor for the authors to mention is that they avoid using specific jargon and occasional irrelevant data. This is an advantage to the general reader in aiding the learning of the Natufian culture.

“The Neolithic in the Levant: Investigations into the Chronology of the Epi-Palaeolithic, Neolithic, and the Transition to the Neolithic” (1992) by Ofer Bar-Yosef, in the book “The Natufian Culture in the Levant” edited by Harris and Hill, is the major text that serves as a guide to Natufian Culture. Ofer Bar-Yosef specializes in Natufian culture, and many of his ideas have helped contribute to the more accurate knowledge of Natufian culture that we have today. Important contributions that Bar-Yosef has made include the changes he has suggested in the periodization. He differentiates the Natufian culture into two parts, thus giving a more detailed insight into the culture as a whole. One aspect of Natufian culture which has been researched many times is the settlers’ lifestyle and the existence of sedentary or nomadic life.

3. Technological Innovations

The Natufian technocomplex is inseparable from the culture history of the Epipaleolithic in the regions of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Near East. It is generally considered as a major candidate for the period in which the remarkable cultural trends of the Epipaleolithic came to fruition prior to being continued by the new immigrant Neolithic societies. A number of primary technological and craft traditions are evidenced in the Natufian, and some of them represent significant innovations or cultural intensifications. Unfortunately, the Natufian is not well-represented by assemblages from open-air base camps, and this complicates reconstruction of subsistence and technology drastically. Most sites useful for assessing the nature of Natufian technological innovation are cemeteries and semi-mortuary activity areas where lithic debris is not abundant. The richest sources of information for lithic technology are the later period microlithic tool industries of the Natufian and the Neolithic, which are unfortunately probably the culmination of considerably earlier traditions, and evidence a functional and stylistic conservatism which will hinder investigation of the processes and timing of techno-economic transitions, even though they are of significant interest in their own right.

4. Art and Symbolism

Other than architecture and tools, art was another significant aspect of Natufian society. Scarce portable art objects were found in the Natufian sites, greatly reducing the amount of material that could be studied. Most art was figurative and was probably used in magic rites for success in hunting. The best-known piece of Natufian art is the ‘dancing woman’, a small bronze statuette found in the Ain Ghazal excavations, showing a woman with her hands on her stomach or navel. The piece is widely accepted as a magical fertility totem. Another piece of art is the sculpture of an antelope head, carved out of limestone and painted with red ocher. A mask was found at the Mas d’Azil cave made from antler, which shows a human-like face with half-closed eyes. These artifacts and many others express a belief system, feelings, and emotions that the Natufians had about their lives and the world around them. An interesting type of art that Natufians created was called ‘baton de commandeur’ or scepter. These batons were sticks carved with animals, possibly a magical symbol of a person’s rank or strength in the group. For rare artifacts such as the one found at the Natufian site Homewood in the Hula Valley SW of the Sea of Galilee, it was carved out of ivory shaped as a human with an erection. This piece shows a further advancement in Natufian art and gives a clearer understanding of what these people’s beliefs may have been in fertility and animal magic.

5. Legacy and Influence

Due to the politics and turmoil in the Near East today, many archaeological sites, including many Natufian sites, are either destroyed for construction or illegally excavated. This takes away a record of the people of these sites and the native human experience. By preserving the past, we may understand our present and future.

But it wasn’t for these reasons that Natufian is known. It is classified as the beginning of the greatest change in humanity – the transformation from hunting and gathering to sedentary farming (also known as food production), leading to urban civilization in the Near East. This might have been due to the stress on women, considering they do most of the farming in many societies today. Flat and chipped flint blade industries were first introduced in agricultural communities with domesticated crops and animals.

The Natufian culture had very advanced skills in finely crafted stone tools, possibly traded in search of woods. Some used bamboo to direct and carve, which was durable. Some tools are still used today. The people in Natufian worked together to gather their food, which led to less time spent working and more time for social activities. This showed less stress on women’s work. The returning environment allowed the Natufian to feel safe and endure. Natufian society appears to have been structured around fairly complex and multilayered spiritual concepts.