Neolithic in the Near East
The Neolithic 'in the Near East' is a period in the prehistory of Western Asia that began with the transition from a Paleolithic to a Neolithic way of life and continued with its consolidation and expansion. It took place between the Levant and the western Zagros, including part of Anatolia, at the beginning of the Holocene, between around 10000 and 5500 BCE, or 12000–7500 BP.
This period was marked primarily by the adoption of agriculture, particularly cereal cultivation, and the domestication of animals, gradually replacing hunting and gathering. The first elements of the Neolithic way of life emerged during the final phase of the Paleolithic, known in the Near Eastern context as the Epipaleolithic, notably during the Natufian period in the Levant, which saw the development of a sedentary lifestyle. The Neolithic process in the Near East began in the 10th millennium BCE and ended around 7500/7000 BCE. This initial stage is referred to as the "pre-ceramic" Neolithic, characterized by the absence of pottery but the presence of agriculture, animal husbandry, and widespread sedentism. The subsequent phases, known as the Ceramic or Late Neolithic, lasted until around the middle of the 6th millennium BCE. These phases saw the emergence of regional cultures and the spread of the Neolithic way of life to new areas. The period concludes with the development of metallurgy, which marks the beginning of the Metal Ages.
Background
Neolithic Revolution and its causes
The concept of the Neolithic was introduced in 1865 by John Lubbock, alongside the Paleolithic, as an extension of Christian Jürgensen Thomsen's "three-age" system. It was originally based on technological criteria, primarily the transition from chipped to polished stone tools. The Neolithic concept gained further definition in the 1920s and 1930s through the work of Australian prehistorian Vere Gordon Childe. In his influential book Man Makes Himself, Childe redefined the Neolithic in economic and social terms, coining the term "Neolithic Revolution." Drawing an analogy with the Industrial Revolution, he framed it as a transformative stage in human history, situated between the control of fire and the emergence of "urban revolution".According to Childe, this period was marked by the development of food-producing village societies. Key features included the cultivation of plants and the domestication of animals, which contributed to population growth, agricultural surpluses, and the establishment of sedentary communities. While Childe viewed these societies as largely self-sufficient, he acknowledged the existence of trade in luxury items. He also emphasized their capacity for collective organization, particularly in agriculture and resource management, and their formation of clan-based political structures reinforced by magical and religious practices. Materially, the Neolithic was characterized by the use of polished stone tools, ceramics, and implements for weaving. Although this model has been revised over time, it remains partially relevant in identifying what is commonly referred to as the "Neolithic package".
File:Tell es-sultan.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of Tell es-Sultan, the archaeological site of Jericho
Research conducted after World War II has contributed to a more nuanced understanding of Neolithic societies, driven by new archaeological discoveries. Excavations of Natufian sites in the 1950s and 1960s demonstrated that sedentism often preceded domestication, challenging earlier assumptions that domestication was a prerequisite for permanent settlement. In the 1950s, Kathleen Kenyon established a chronological framework for the Neolithic in the Levant through her work at Tell es-Sultan in Jericho, identifying distinct phases of a "Pre-Pottery Neolithic." This model remains in use, although it has been critiqued for applying the term "Neolithic" to societies that may not meet all of its defining criteria. Subsequent discoveries have refined the understanding of the Neolithic process. Genetic studies have helped identify multiple centers of domestication, and the excavation of the sanctuary at Göbekli Tepe in southeastern Turkey has illuminated the ritual and symbolic dimensions of early Neolithic societies. Comparative studies with other regions that underwent similar transitions—whether independently or through diffusion—have further informed interpretations of the Neolithic, revealing both commonalities and regional particularities. Ethnographic research has also supported the development of interpretive models rooted in prehistoric archaeological evidence.
As a result, the search for underlying causes has often dominated research on the Neolithic, giving rise to a wide range of theories. These explanations have focused primarily on the origins of domestication, but also on the broader process of Neolithization and its various components.
Vere Gordon Childe, drawing on ideas previously advanced by Raphael Pumpelly, advocated the "oasis theory": the end of the last Ice Age brought about a drier climate, concentrating humans and animals in river valleys and oases in the Middle East, where wild cereals also grew. This close coexistence in restricted areas was thought to have led to the domestication of plants and animals. In contrast, Robert John Braidwood, through his research in the Zagros Mountains during the 1950s, proposed the "hilly flanks theory," which shifted the emphasis toward social and cultural readiness. He argued that Neolithization occurred because societies had developed the necessary tools and knowledge for agriculture and food processing. From the late 1960s, Lewis Roberts Binford introduced a model combining demographic and environmental factors. He suggested that Epipaleolithic communities in the Levant experienced population growth, which, combined with rising sea levels at the end of the Ice Age, created pressure on food resources. This would have led to migration into less populated marginal zones, where communities began domesticating plants and animals. Similar functionalist models emerged, framing Neolithization as an adaptive response to demographic or environmental pressures, and viewing the transition as a necessary stage driven by external constraints. Later theories moved away from strictly materialist explanations. In the 1980s and 1990s, Jacques Cauvin proposed a symbolic and cognitive interpretation, emphasizing a "symbolic revolution"—a transformation in humans' conceptual relationship with their environment—as the primary driver of Neolithic change. Ian Hodder also explored the mental and symbolic dimensions of Neolithic societies, though he viewed them more as developments accompanying other changes rather than as root causes. Since the 2000s, explanatory models have increasingly incorporated multiple factors, recognizing the complex interplay between social, economic, cognitive, and environmental dynamics in the process of Neolithization.
Neolithization phenomenon
The phenomenon of Neolithization is now understood as a long, complex, and non-linear process. It is characterized by the transition from a hunter-gatherer to a farmer-herder economy, but it also involves a range of technical, social, and cognitive transformations that are interrelated through causal dynamics. Contemporary approaches tend to view the Neolithic not as a singular event, but as a gradual process involving multiple changes over an extended periodAccording to Ç. Çilingiroğlu:A. Goring-Morris and A. Belfer-Cohen further elaborate:
To define what constitutes a Neolithic society, researchers often refer to the concept of the "Neolithic package," based on the criteria originally outlined by Childe. These characteristics, while somewhat imprecise, typically include indicators such as permanent built structures, domesticated animals, cultivated cereals and legumes, pottery for storage and cooking, polished stone tools for food processing, and axes representing the refinement of lithic technology. As M. Özdoğan and others note, these features collectively represent what is often referred to as the "Neolithic way of life"). However, the specific composition of this material culture varies across regions and periods. Another way to group early Neolithic societies despite regional diversity is through the use of the term koinè, referring to a shared set of traits common to several human groups.
These evolving perspectives have led to the development of more nuanced models, which account for the diversity of phenomena over a long chronological span. Increasingly, scholars trace the origins of Neolithization back to the Epipaleolithic, around 20,000 BCE—ten millennia before the conventional beginning of the Neolithic. This has resulted in a partial deconstruction of the concept of a singular "Neolithic revolution," as many of the traits associated with the Neolithic package have been identified in earlier societies, particularly those of the Final Epipaleolithic. The Neolithic is thus viewed less as a revolutionary rupture and more as the period during which pre-existing elements were fully integrated into a coherent system of social, economic, and cognitive transformation. This approach also acknowledges periods of regression and renewal within the Neolithization process, including phases of experimentation that did not culminate in fully Neolithic societies.
Geography, landscapes and environment
Main geographical areas
In Neolithic studies, the Near East is understood as a region extending from the Mediterranean Sea to the Zagros Mountains, and from the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf to the Taurus Mountains. Cyprus and Central Anatolia are often included, as they were quickly integrated into the Neolithization process. This vast area encompasses diverse natural environments and landscapes, which are commonly grouped into several major zones based on geographical and cultural criteria. Among these is the concept of the "Fertile Crescent", first introduced by James Henry Breasted. In its current usage, it refers to a biogeographical area covering the Levant and the slopes and foothills of the Taurus and Zagros ranges, where many of the wild progenitors of domesticated plants and animals were found.The Levant, situated east of the eastern Mediterranean, is marked by a succession of environments oriented north–south. These include the coastal plain, which was broader during the Epipaleolithic and Neolithic due to lower sea levels; the forested foothills and mountain ranges reaching elevations of up to 2,000 meters; the Rift Valley or "Levantine corridor", which runs below sea level; and the higher plateaus that eventually transition into the Arabian desert. The Levant is generally divided into three geographical zones, though sometimes only two are distinguished, following a west–east orientation.
- Southern Levant: North of the Sinai and the Negev deserts, this area includes the coastal plain, the Upper Galilee and Judaean mountains, the Jordan Valley, the Arabah plain, and the Transjordanian plateaus to the east.
- Central Levant: Sometimes grouped with either the northern or southern Levant, this zone spans from the Damascus oasis in the south to the Homs Gap in the north. It includes the Lebanese coastal plain, Mount Lebanon, the Litani valley and the Bekaa plain, the Anti-Lebanon mountains, and the Ghuta oasis near Damascus.
- Northern Levant: Corresponding roughly to western Syria, this region includes the Syrian coastal plain, the Alawite and Amanus mountains, the Orontes Valley, the Amuq Plain, the plateaus of central Syria, and is bounded to the east by the Middle Euphrates, which forms another corridor.
- Southeastern Anatolia: The northernmost part of Upper Mesopotamia, structured by the upper valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates, with elevations declining from 800 to 300 meters north to south. Bounded by the Eastern Taurus Mountains in the north and the Jezirah plateaus to the south, the region contains narrow valleys that widen in places to form suitable areas for settlement.
- Jezirah: Known as the "island," this plateau region of Upper Mesopotamia, averaging 250–300 meters in elevation, is dissected by the Tigris, the Euphrates, and their tributaries. It is generally divided into a wetter Upper Jezirah to the north-northeast and a drier Lower Jezirah to the south-southwest.
- Mesopotamian alluvial and deltaic plain: A low-lying, flat region with an arid climate today, where the Tigris and Euphrates merge and form a marshy delta before emptying into the Persian Gulf. During the early Neolithic, sea levels were lower, and the gulf extended much farther southeast, possibly as far as the Gulf of Oman.
- Zagros Mountains: Particularly the western and central sections, composed of parallel folds running northwest–southeast. These mountains are deeply incised by rivers flowing toward Mesopotamia, creating isolated valleys. The more humid southwestern slopes transition into foothill zones leading into Mesopotamia.
- Central Anatolia: Separated from the northern Levant by the Taurus Mountains, this high plateau region exceeds 1,000 meters in elevation. It includes a more arid eastern zone featuring Lake Tuz and volcanic cones, and a more forested western zone with a cluster of lakes in the southwest.
The island of Cyprus also forms part of the Near Eastern Neolithic context. Located approximately 100 kilometers from the northern Levantine coast, it is the third-largest island in the Mediterranean. Its geography consists of three east–west zones: the Kyrenia mountain range along the northern coast; the Mesaoria plain; and the Troodos massif in the center-west. The southern coast, especially around the Akrotiri peninsula and the Larnaka plain, hosted the main prehistoric settlements.