The Natufians are what archaeologists call the last fully-hunter gatherer groups of the Levant. Between about 12,500 and 10,200 years ago, the Natufians wandered the Levant region seeking plants including emmer wheat, barley and almonds, and hunting gazelle, deer, cattle, horse, and wild boar. Natufian communities were made up of circular, semi-subterranean houses, built of stone, wood and brush. The Natufians also built the first shrines in the Levant, with the earliest being at Gobekli Tepe.
Their immediate descendants are the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, who domesticated many of these important plants and animals.
Hilazon Tachtit (Israel)
Naftali Hilger
Jericho (West Bank)
One of the earliest pieces of evidence for the occupation of Natufians is at Jericho, located in what is today the West Bank. Jericho had a long, long history, some 12,000 years in all.
Wadi Hammeh 27 (Jordan)
Wadi Hammeh 27 is one of several sites located in the Wadi al-Hammeh in the Jordan valley. The Natufian site was occupied about 11,500 years ago, and archaeological evidence of that period nicludes a prepared floor, hearths, and houses.
Mount Carmel (Israel)
Library of Congress, via pingnews.com
Pioneer archaeologist Dorothy Garrod is closely connected to the site of Mount Carmel, where four of the best known sites in the Levant are situated: es Skhul , et Tabun, el Wad and et Jaml.
Kebara Cave (Israel)
The Natufian component of Kebara Cave dates between 11,000 and 12,000 years old and includes a huge communal burial pit, where 17 sequential human burials were placed along with a wide variety of grave goods.
Gobekli Tepe (Turkey)
The earliest levels of the ancient cult center of Gobekli Tepe was definitely built by hunter-gatherer Natufians, although the astrounding elaboration was continued and enhanced throughout the succeeding Pre-Pottery Neolithic period.
Hayonim Cave (Israel)
The Natufian occupation of Hayonim Cave includes several circular rooms with prepared floors, a thick midden of stone tools and debitage, worked bone, and groundstone objects.
