ABSTRACT
Calibration of the dozens of radiocarbon dates for Epi-Paleolithic and Neolithic times of early settlements and plant domestication in the eastern Mediterranean region by Bar-Yosef allows correlation of archeological trends with the Late Glacial climatic chronology based on annual layers in the Greenland ice-cores, especially with the Younger Dryas cool episode. This chapter evaluates the evidence for the Younger Dryas seen in pollen diagrams from the Taurus-Zagros Mountains north of Mesopotamia (Lake Van and Lake Zeribar) and from the Levant (Ghab Marsh and Lake Huleh), based on the calibration of radiocarbon dates. The paleoclimatic chronology of the speleothems from Soreq Cave in Israel is also utilized. The view is supported that the improved climatic conditions before the Younger Dryas episode permitted population expansion, and that the dry conditions of the Younger Dryas led to plant domestication and incipient agriculture.
