ABSTRACT
Peoples around the Near East altered their lifestyles to take advantage of changing environments. The Natufian culture that emerged in Palestine and southern Syria around 12,000 bce developed a new subsistence pattern to exploit these environmental changes. At the end of the Natufian Period, regional variations of the culture developed in different parts of Palestine and southern Syria. At about the same time, related village cultures emerged in northern Syria, Asia Minor, and in the hills north and east of Mesopotamia. The appearance of these village cultures marks the beginning of the Neolithic Period, a stage in human development characterized by the shift from a subsistence economy of hunting and gathering to one of agriculture and stock raising. The Late Paleolithic and Neolithic hunter-gatherers in and near the Nile valley made significant cultural progress. The latter part of the Neolithic Period also saw the advent of labor specialization and a hierarchically organized social system.
