26. What technology developments did the Natufians introduce?

The Natufian culture, which has been dated to live in between 12,800 - 10,300 years ago, was a culture of great technological advance. The Natufians were the first of the prehistoric cultures to build and live in permanent stone villages. This impacted the Natufian hunter-gatherers because they were forced to operate in area that they were familiar with, instead of a change in area every time their tribe moved. The natufians also were the first to construct large-scale cemeteries. This was mainly made possible due to the permanent living structures, because if the tribe was moving there would be no need to create a cemetery of that scale. Natufians also introduced a variety of new tools, including the sickle, ground-stone objects, and bone implements. Nearly everything about the Natufian culture suggests innovation with the sites being larger, denser, and more complex than previous cultures.

Natufian archeologic site

Sources: http://www.jstor.org/stable/530343?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

For further reading: http://www.columbia.edu/itc/anthropology/v1007/baryo.pdf

Miller Humphreys