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12500—9500 BC

Natufian culture — a Mesolithic archaeological culture. It existed in the Levant approximately 12,500-9500 years BC, presumably developing on the basis of a hybrid of the local but earlier Kebaran culture and the Mushabian culture. Among the main occupations of the Natufians were hunting, fishing, and gathering grain of wild cereals, for which they made special harvesting knives and built granaries. The Natufians were the predecessors of the first agricultural cultures of the region; some researchers believe that the transition from gathering to cereal cultivation was first made in the world by the Natufians themselves. Along with the bearers of the neighboring Zarzian culture, they were among the first people to domesticate dogs: in their burials dating to approximately 10,000 BC, skeletons of puppies and adult dogs buried next to humans have been discovered. It was identified by the British archaeologist D. Garrod in 1928-1932. It was named after Wadi an-Natuf, on the banks of which in Shukba Cave (27 km northwest of Jerusalem) the first finds were made.

Sites of the Natufian culture are found in Palestine with a center in the Jordan Valley, south to Egypt and north to the Euphrates. The area of settlement of the late Natufian population was apparently the center of origin of the Semitic-Hamitic macrofamily languages. Natufian dwellings were semi-dugouts, often with a stone foundation, lined with a mixture of clay and sand. Above the ground surface, a pillar structure was built supporting a reed roof. No traces of the use of unfired brick, common in this region in subsequent periods (Pre-Pottery Neolithic), have been found. The dwellings were round or oval in plan and had a diameter of 3-6 meters. In the center was a round or quadrangular open hearth. The entire settlement could cover an area of 1000-3000 m² and contain up to 100-150 houses. A relatively small part of the Natufians lived in caves (settlements of Mugharet Kebara, Mugharet el-Wad). The Natufians produced microliths: small stone tools such as arrowheads and blades, placed on a wooden or bone base to obtain sickles of harvesting knives. Attempts at stone polishing appear. Stone mortars (up to 80 cm high and weighing up to 100-150 kg) and pestles were used for grinding grain, sometimes with depressions carved directly into the rock. Harpoon tips and fishhooks made of bone were widely used. Containers made of ostrich eggshells have been found. Bone tools similar to those used for basket weaving have also been found, but no direct evidence of basket production by the Natufians has been found. The assumption about the use of baskets also explains the fact that pit-granaries, although present in Natufian settlements, are quite rare.

Remains of plant food of the Natufians are poorly preserved; nevertheless, it was possible to determine that their diet included wild wheat, beans, almonds, acorns, and pistachios. Bone finds indicate that the main prey in Natufian hunting were gazelles (Gazella gazella and Gazella subgutturosa), less often — deer, wild bulls, wild boars, onagers. In river valleys (for example, the Jordan), fishing became important.

Numerous Natufian ornaments made of shells and animal teeth have been found (necklaces, appliqués on clothing, headdresses), and stylistic differences are noticeable between ornaments from different settlements, probably reflecting the existing division into tribes. Tools were decorated with geometric ornament (net, zigzags, waves); in addition, carved images of animals on the handles of bone tools are found. Examples of round sculpture have been discovered. Most often gazelles and other ruminants are depicted (possibly a totem animal), human figures are much less common; figurines of owls, dogs, turtles, etc. have been found.

Natufian burials were most often located in abandoned houses of their settlements, less often — in caves (Carmel, Judean Mountains). Sometimes limestone blocks were placed on the graves. The body could be placed both on its back and in the fetal position, and no strict orientation to the cardinal directions was observed. For the deceased, a bed of shells was made in the grave, and jewelry and animal bones were placed with them. The grave was often sprinkled with ochre on top. In some settlements, the separation of the skull, its decoration with shells, and storage separately from the body was practiced (Hayonim, Nahal Oren, Ain Mallaha).

In addition to single burials, collective ones are also found (especially in the early period). There are signs that old graves were broken open for new burials. Approximately a third of the skeletons found belong to children.

In 2008, a group of archaeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem under the direction of Leore Grosman discovered a burial of at least 28 people in the Lower Galilee region (Israel), made about 12,000 years ago. Among the discovered burials was the grave of a female shaman. The body lay on its side and was pressed to the ground by massive stones on the head, pelvis, and arms. Also in the grave were 50 tortoise shells, the skeleton of one human leg, and parts of animal skeletons (eagle, wild boar, leopard, marten, cow).

In Ain Mallaha, obsidian from Anatolia and mollusk shells from the Nile River have been found. Basalt tools from the settlement on Mount Carmel were brought from the Golan Heights (a distance of about 100 km).

It is assumed that the ancient Egyptian Harifian culture originates from the Natufian culture. The end of the Natufian culture was brought about by the Tahunian culture.