ABSTRACT
In the Near East, the transition from forager-gatherer lifeways to ones dependent on the use of plant cultivars appears to be intimately tied to the Younger Dryas, a period of global cooling and increased aridity that lasted from 12,900 to 11,700/11,600 cal BP. Lake Huleh is located in the northern Galilee region and is bordered on the east by the Golan Heights and by the hills of the upper Galilee to the west. The marked shift in the arboreal: nonarboreal, pollen ratio suggests that the forest surrounding Lake Huleh contracted due to increased aridity and decreased temperature levels associated with the cooling and drying effects of the Younger Dryas. Speleothems provide a high-resolution, dateable record of paleocli-matic conditions over long time periods, and through oxygen and carbon, stable isotopic analyses of calcitic carbonates, paleo- precipitation and temperature levels can be directly measured. Pollen and speleothem records suggest that the impact of the Younger Dryas varied across the region.
