Animal domestication in the Southern Levant.

Abstract

In this paper seven researchers working in the southern Levant present their views as well as new data on the origins of domestic animals in this region. The papers cover the chronological development of this phenomenon, from the first sedentary communities in the Natufian, to the advent of the first domestic caprines in the Mid/Late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B. In addition, the domestication of cattle and pig in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic С is discussed as is the development of pastoral economies in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic C/Pottery Neolithic, when caprine herds were first introduced into the eastern and southern desertic regions. Other issues raised are the possible processes involved in domesticating animals, the problem of autochthonous domestication versus the introduction of domesticates into the region and the influence of the unique physical conditions of the southern Levant on the domestication process.