ABSTRACT
An exceptional body of archaeological and archaeobotanical data has been amassed from several early farming sites along the Euphrates valley over the last, thirty years. The seven sites along the Euphrates belonging to the late 10th and early 9th millennium cal BC that are referred to in this chapter exhibits considerable cultural coherence in terms of artifacts, architecture and symbolic representations, which implies that these societies likely shared similar beliefs and spoke the same language. Of the seven sites, five are in Syria and are located at regular intervals along the Euphrates. The regional differences in ancient cereal assemblages provide evidence for independent domestication events. The charred plant remains from the Euphrates sites present a wealth of information about the adoption of agriculture by these early Neolithic societies. Two-grained einkorn was identified at Natufian Abu Hureyra and Mureybet from charred grains.
