Exploitation of birds during the natufian and early neolithic of the southern levant
Eitan Tchernov

ABSTRACT: There is a punctuational increase in the species diversity of bird remains from the Kebaran (early Epipaleolithic) to the Natufian (late Epipaleolithic) in the southern Levant. The intensive and extensive exploitation of verylarge spectrum of species continued to the PPNA (Pre-Pottery Neolithic A) and the PPNB (Pre-Pottery Neolithic B), excluding levels where early domestication was found. Reliance on such a large variety of bird species demanded an elaborated hunting experience and usage of versatile techniques, which seem to traditionally continue from the early Natufian to the PPNB. In some cases evidences for clear preferences for specific body parts (used also for tools and ornamentations) for each group of birds could be shown. It is only through the earliest long-term occupation of Natufian and PPN southern Levantine sites, that profound ecological changes have taken place. Consequently a significant increase in the exploitation of a large spectral array of animal species, grains, plants and birds was the main response for overusage of the area and draining the food resources. The drastic increase in the spectra of animal species exploited is due to the exclusive and extensive exploitation of the limited resources around the site by killing off the game and spending ever more time and energy to maintain constant intake of food which drained the resources to a critical level. The growing scarcitiy of large game forced people not only to broaden the spectrum of hunted animals, but also to concentrate on retrieving greater diversity of minor resources (mostly birds), as well as trying to manipulate wild populations (gazelles). The traditional resource animal species (mainly large game) became progresively insufficient under these conditions. Sedentary people were forced to rely on much less energetically (amount of meat per catch) rewarding animals, and many small species became highly represented in Natufian and PPN sites, of which the shift into highly specialized bird hunting seemed to be of great importance. The evolution of commensalism that suddenly appeared under the special conditions of sedentism, and the punctuational speciation of commensal animals like Passer domesticus, is discussed.