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8 - Early agriculture in Southwest Asia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2015

By
Alan H. Simmons
Edited by
Graeme Barker  and
Candice Goucher
Graeme Barker
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Candice Goucher
Affiliation:
Washington State University
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Summary

The oldest documented Neolithic cultures occur in the Fertile Crescent of Southwest Asia, more commonly known as the Near East. While future research may ultimately yield an even older Neolithic, it has been best and most thoroughly studied in this region. This chapter provides an overview of the Near Eastern Neolithic in the several terms like environment and climate, Near East-specific theories on the Neolithic, issues of sedentism and the nature of the first villages and contemporary and future research trends. The Near Eastern Neolithic was first documented during archaeology's formative development and some of the considerable diversity in terminology is result of the academic and national backgrounds of the variety of scholars involved in these early studies. Refinements in precise environmental reconstruction methods have greatly assisted in addressing this issue. The emerging research on Cyprus has reoriented how archaeologists view island colonization, domestication processes and accompanying social changes, and the spread of the Neolithic from its mainland cores.
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge World History , pp. 210 - 242
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2015

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References

Further reading

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