Editing Jericho (section)

====Natufian hunter-gatherers, {{circa|10,000 BCE}}====
[[File:Calibrated Carbon 14 dates for Jericho as of 2013.jpg|thumb|Calibrated carbon 14 dates for Jericho as of 2013<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shukurov |first1=Anvar |last2=Sarson |first2=Graeme R. |last3=Gangal |first3=Kavita |title=The Near-Eastern Roots of the Neolithic in South Asia |journal=PLOS ONE |date=7 May 2014 |volume=9 |issue=5 |pages=Appendix S1 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0095714 |language=en |issn=1932-6203|pmc=4012948 |pmid=24806472 |bibcode=2014PLoSO...995714G |doi-access=free }}</ref>]]
[[File:Reconstruction of the Natufian-Jericho skull.jpg|thumb|Reconstruction of the Natufian-Jericho skull<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Moraes |first1=Cicero |last2=Beaini |first2=Thiago Leite |last3=Santos |first3=Moacir Elias |date=2023-01-10 |journal=A Aproximação Facial Forense do Crânio de Jericó (BM 127414), ≈9000 AP | title=A Aproximação Facial Forense do Crânio de Jericó (BM 127414), ≈9000 AP | url=https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/A_Aproxima_o_Facial_Forense_do_Cr_nio_de_Jeric_BM_127414_9000_AP/21772343/2 |language=en |doi=10.6084/m9.figshare.21772343.v2}}</ref>]]
[[Epipaleolithic]] construction at the site appears to predate the invention of [[agriculture]], with the construction of [[Natufian culture]] structures beginning earlier than 9000&nbsp;BCE, the beginning of the [[Holocene]] epoch in geologic history.<ref name=Freedmanp689/>

Jericho has evidence of settlement dating back to {{circa|10,000 BCE}}. During the [[Younger Dryas]] period of cold and drought, permanent habitation of any one location was impossible. However, the [[Ein as-Sultan camp|Ein es-Sultan]] spring at what would become Jericho was a popular camping ground for [[Natufian]] hunter-gatherer groups, who left a scattering of crescent-shaped microlith tools behind them.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mithen |first=Steven |title=After the ice: a global human history, 20,000–5000 BCE |year=2006 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=0-674-01999-7 |page=57 |edition=1st Harvard University Press pbk. }}</ref> Around 9600&nbsp;BCE, the droughts and cold of the Younger Dryas [[stadial]] had come to an end, making it possible for Natufian groups to extend the duration of their stay, eventually leading to year-round habitation and permanent settlement.{{citation needed|date= March 2022}}