Domestication of Plants and Animals

The domestication of plants and animals lead to great change in the development and structuring of communities, as the hunter-gatherer lifestyle was slowly replaced by permanent settlements of farmers and villages. We can see that the communities varied greatly dependent on their local ecology, the resources available, and the time period within which their community was based. The road to agricultural way of life in the MIddle East is characterized by Four distinct stages. It was during the Kebaran period, and Geometric Kebaran in which hunter-gatherers began to utilize the plant and animal resources of the region. Architecture became a prominent feature of the Natufian period, as communities began to transition to village life from that of hunting-gathering. Though it was during this period that material culture began to appear, and artifacts such as sea shells and beads were found traded long distances from the Red and Mediterranean Seas. During the Natufian period, agriculture had not yet taken hold, though the domestication of dogs was seen to have occured at both Hayonim Terrace, and Mallaha, as the skeletons of these creatures were found with human remains. It was during the Early Neolithic period of Middle Eastern history during which people began to live in villages and accept agriculture as a means of subsistence. It was the appearance of communal structures during this period which helped to permeate a sense of community planning and directionalism. The community in a sense had the ability to act as a group, as evidence of community activity was found in several structures which were used in ritual functions. It was during Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period in which the size of settlements increast drastically, as was the change to rectangular houses from those that were round≥ This change in shape allowed higher density in villages, and showed the natural progression towards planning and future development on the part of the community. One of these sites