Hunting technologies and transition to agriculture in the Levant (Paperback)

The transition from hunting/gathering to food production - a major event in the history of mankind and a point of no return in its approach to natural resources - took place at the end of the Pleistocene in the Levant. The reasons for this transition have been the subject of numerous studies investigating environmental changes and related economic and social adaptations. The book records testing the hypothesis that improvement in hunting skills and resulting depletion of big game was one of the triggers for this major transformation in human subsistence strategy. The study is based on archery experiments with replica of weapons used in different hunters-gatherers societies that occupied the Southern Levant during the Terminal Pleistocene and analysis of archaeological data. The results show a shift towards weapon designs requiring relatively low time and labor input in production and maintenance just prior to the transition to agriculture. This adaptation matches concurrent evidence of intensification in exploitation of faunal resources and increase in population density. This book is of essence for all those interested in ancient weapon technologies and human adaptation strategies