The “when”, the “where” and the “why” of the Neolithic revolution in the Levant

Avi Gopher; Shahal Abbo; Simcha Lev Yadun

doi:10.4312/dp.28.3

Authors

Avi Gopher A. Gopher, Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology, Israel.
Shahal Abbo S. Abbo, Dept. of Field Crops, Faculty of Agriculture, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.
Simcha Lev Yadun Dept. of Biology, University of Haifa, Israel.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4312/dp.28.3

Keywords:

agriculture, cultivation, domestication, Levant, Neolithization

Abstract

An accumulation of data concerning the domestication of plants and the refinement of research questions in the last decade have enabled us a new look at the Neolithic Revolution and Neolithization processes in the Levant. This paper raises some points concerning the “When” and “Where” of plant domestication and suggests that the origins of plant domestication were in a welldefined region in southeast Turkey and north Syria. It presents a view on the process of Neolithization in the Levant and offers some comments concerning the background and motivations behind the Neolithic Revolution.