Natufian culture (jun 1, 15000 BC – mar 1, 11500 BC)

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The Natufian culture, dating from about 15,000 to 11,500 years ago, was an advanced Mesolithic culture in the Levant, preceding Neolithic advancements. Notably sedentary before agriculture's introduction, Natufians might have begun cereal cultivation, such as rye, at Tell Abu Hureyra, marking some of the earliest agriculture evidence. At Shubayqa 1 in Jordan, 14,400 years ago, the earliest known production of bread-like foodstuff and possibly beer from Raqefet Cave, around 13,000 years ago, indicate early food processing skills. This culture primarily subsisted on wild cereals and game like gazelles. Genetic analysis suggests modern Levantines largely descend from Natufians, mixed with Chalcolithic Anatolians. Discovered by Dorothy Garrod during the 1920s in Shuqba cave, Natufian culture showcases some of the first signs of settlement and communal life in the region.

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