ABSTRACT
The idea that the Neolithic emerged due to the rise of agriculture was first questioned by the excavations of Dorothy Garrod in Palestine, finding traces of settlements around 15,000 years ago. Recent research tends to favour the Near East as the original place for the language, and in particular the Natufian period, the main contention being that, apart from Semitic, all languages in the family are spoken in Africa. The Natufian was not only liminal in time and space, but virtually in all its characteristics. The start of Natufian clearly coincides with the Bolling-Allerod interstadial, also started around 12,700 bc, with warmer temperatures rendering Natufian settlement possible. There were a number of Natufian innovations in mortuary practices, though establishing the exact sequence is hindered by the fact that experts come to disagree on most points. The ideas concerning the original, innocent violence and cruelty of man are untenable, just as is Nietzsche's understanding of Christianity as rooted in resentment.
