Write notes on Natufian culture- UPSC 2020 (10 Marks, 150 words) 

Natufian culture is a Mesolithic culture that developed in the regions now known as Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and western Syria dating back to approximately 10,200 to 12,500 years ago. This culture thrived at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, where people lived in caves, rock shelters, and small villages characterised by stone and mud-walled houses.

The culture is named after Wadi en-Natuf, a ravine located near Jerusalem, Israel, where the remains of this culture were first found. 

Natufians buried their dead in communal cemeteries, usually in shallow pits without any other objects or decorations.

One of their villages, a 10,500-year-old settlement at Jericho in the Jordan River valley, contained a small shrine.

Basin-shaped depressions in the rocks found outside homes and plastered pits beneath the floors of the houses indicate that the Natufians stored plant foods.

Natufians also used sickles small stone blades set in straight handles of wood or bone. 

These sickles were originally used to harvest sedges for basket making but later came to be used to cut grain. 

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