Editing Tell Abu Hureyra (section)

=== First occupation ===
[[File:NatufianSpread.svg|thumb|Tell Abu Hureyra was at the northern end of the area of [[Natufian culture]] (12,000 to 9,500 BC), near [[Mureybet]].]]
The village of Abu Hureyra had two separate periods of occupation: An Epipalaeolithic settlement and a Neolithic settlement. The Epipaleolithic, or [[Natufian culture|Natufian]], settlement was established c. 13,500 [[Before Present|years ago]].<ref name="Moore2000">{{cite book |last=Moore |first=Andrew M. T. |title=Village on the Euphrates: From Foraging to Farming at Abu Hureyra |author2=Hillman, Gordon C. |author3=Legge, Anthony J. |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2000 |isbn=0-19-510806-X |location=Oxford |pages=104 |author-link=Andrew M.T. Moore}}</ref> During the first settlement, the village consisted of small round huts, cut into the soft sandstone of the terrace. The roofs were supported with wooden posts, and roofed with brushwood and reeds.<ref name="Mithen" />{{RP|40-41}} Huts contained underground storage areas for food. The houses that they lived in were subterranean pit dwellings.<ref name="Hillman et al 2016"/> The inhabitants are probably most accurately described as "hunter-collectors", as they didn't only forage for immediate consumption, but built up stores for longterm food security. They settled down around their [[larder]] to protect it from animals and other humans. From the distribution of wild food plant remains found at Abu Hureyra it seems that they lived there year-round. The population was small, housing a few hundred people at most—but perhaps the largest collection of people permanently living in one place anywhere at that time.

The inhabitants of Abu Hureyra obtained food by hunting, fishing, and gathering of wild plants. [[Gazelle]] was hunted primarily during the summer, when vast herds passed by the village during their annual migration.<ref name=Mithen>{{cite book|last=Mithen|first=Steven|title=After the Ice: A Global Human History, 20000-5000 BC|year=2006|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=0-674-01570-3|edition=paperback|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/aftericeglobalhu00mith}}</ref>{{RP|41-42}} These would probably be hunted communally, as mass killings also required mass processing of meat, skin, and other parts of the animal. The huge amount of food obtained in a short period was a reason for settling down permanently: it was too heavy to carry and would need to be kept protected from weather and pests.

Other prey included large wild animals such as [[onager]], [[sheep]], and [[cattle]], and smaller animals such as [[hare]], [[fox]], and [[bird]]s, which were hunted throughout the year. Different plant species were collected, from three different eco-zones within walking distance (river, forest, and steppe). Plant foods were also harvested from "wild gardens" with species gathered including wild cereal grasses such as [[einkorn wheat]], [[emmer wheat]], and two varieties of [[rye]].<ref name="Mithen" />{{RP|41}} Several large stone tools for grinding grain were found at the site.

Abu Hureyra 1 had a variety of crops that made up the system. Their resources consisted of 41% ''Rumex'' and ''Polygonum'', 43% rye and [[einkorn]], and the remaining 16% lentils.<ref name=":0" />