Editing Epipalaeolithic Near East (section)

===Late Epipalaeolithic===
{{main|Natufian culture}}
{{see|Khiamian culture}}
The Late Epipalaeolithic is also called the [[Natufian culture]]. This period is characterized by the early [[History of agriculture|rise of agriculture]], which later emerged more fully in the [[Neolithic]] period. [[Radiocarbon dating]] places the Natufian culture between 12,500 and 9500&nbsp;BCE, just before the end of the [[Pleistocene]].<ref name="Munro2003">{{Cite journal |last=Munro |first=Natalie D. |year=2003 |title=Small game, the Younger Dryas, and the transition to agriculture in the southern Levant |url=http://www.anth.uconn.edu/faculty/munro/assets/Mitteilungen.pdf |journal=Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Urgeschichte |volume=12 |pages=47&ndash;71}}</ref> This period is characterised by the beginning of agriculture.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bar-Yosef |first=Ofer |year=1998 |title=The Natufian Culture in the Levant, Threshold to the Origins of Agriculture |url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/anthropology/v1007/baryo.pdf |journal=Evolutionary Anthropology |volume=6 |issue=5 |pages=159–177 |doi=10.1002/(SICI)1520-6505(1998)6:5<159::AID-EVAN4>3.0.CO;2-7|s2cid=35814375 }}</ref>

The Natufian culture is commonly split into two subperiods: Early Natufian (12,500–10,800&nbsp;BCE) (Christopher Delage gives {{circa}} 13,000–11,500 [[Before Present|BP]] uncalibrated, equivalent to {{circa}} 13,700–11,500&nbsp;BCE)<ref>{{Cite book |title=The last hunter-gatherers in the Near East |date=2004 |publisher=British Archaeological Reports 1320 |isbn=978-1-84171-389-2 |editor-last=Delage |editor-first=Christophe |location=Oxford}}</ref> and Late Natufian (10,800–9500&nbsp;BCE). The Late Natufian most likely occurred in tandem with the [[Younger Dryas]]. The following period is often called the [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic]] and includes the [[Khiamian culture]] (9700 to 8600 BCE).

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File:Bovine-Rib Dagger, Natufian Culture.jpg|Bovine-rib dagger, [[HaYonim Cave]], [[Upper Galilee]]; Natufian Culture, 12500-9500 BC.
File:Eynan Epipaleolithic mortar.jpg|Stone [[Mortar and pestle|mortar]]s from [[ʿAin Mallaha]]; Natufian period, 12500-9500 BC
File:Lovers 9000BC british museum.jpg|upright|The [[Ain Sakhri figurine]], Ain Sakhri caves, [[West Bank]], near [[Bethlehem]], [[Palestine]]. British&nbsp;Museum:&nbsp;{{British-Museum-db|1958,1007.1|id=1358965}}
File:Reconstruction of a prehistoric hook and sinker.png| Stone fishing hook and sinker (a grooved pebble), used on [[Hula Valley|Lake Hula]] in the Northern District of Israel during the Late Epipalaeolithic<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Pedergnana | first1=Antonella | last2=Cristiani | first2=Emanuela | last3=Munro | first3=Natalie | last4=Valletta | first4=Francesco | last5=Sharon | first5=Gonen | title=Early line and hook fishing at the Epipaleolithic site of Jordan River Dureijat (Northern Israel) | journal=PLOS ONE | publisher=Public Library of Science (PLoS) | volume=16 | issue=10 | date=6 October 2021 | issn=1932-6203 | doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0257710 | page=e0257710| pmid=34613991 | pmc=8494375 | doi-access=free | bibcode=2021PLoSO..1657710P }}</ref>
</gallery>