Editing Holocene (section)

=== Middle East ===
[[File:MUFT - Catal Höyük Modell.jpg|thumb|A model of [[Çatalhöyük]], a commonly cited example of a [[proto-city]], 7300 BC]]
In the [[Middle East]], the Holocene brought a warmer and wetter climate, in contrast to the preceding cold, dry [[Younger Dryas]]. The Early Holocene saw the advent and spread of agriculture in the [[Fertile Crescent]]—[[sheep]], [[goat]], [[cattle]], and later [[pig]] were domesticated, as well as cereals, like [[wheat]] and [[barley]], and [[legume]]s—which would later [[Spread of agriculture|disperse]] into much of the world. This '[[Neolithic Revolution]]', likely influenced by Holocene climatic changes, included an increase in [[sedentism]] and population, eventually resulting in the world's first large-scale state societies in [[Mesopotamia]] and [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hole |first=F. |date=2007-05-11 |title=Agricultural sustainability in the semi-arid Near East |url=https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/3/193/2007/ |journal=Climate of the Past |language=en |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=193–203 |doi=10.5194/cp-3-193-2007 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2007CliPa...3..193H |issn=1814-9332}}</ref>

During the Middle Holocene, the [[Intertropical Convergence Zone]], which governs the incursion of monsoon precipitation through the [[Arabian Peninsula]], shifted southwards, resulting in increased aridity.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Enzel |first1=Yehouda |last2=Kushnir |first2=Yochanan |last3=Quade |first3=Jay |date=2015 |title=The middle Holocene climatic records from Arabia: Reassessing lacustrine environments, shift of ITCZ in Arabian Sea, and impacts of the southwest Indian and African monsoons |volume=129 |pages=69–91 |url=https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D8WD3ZTQ |doi=10.7916/D8WD3ZTQ |issn=0921-8181}}</ref> In the Middle to Late Holocene, the coastline of the [[Levant]] and [[Persian Gulf]] receded, prompting a shift in human settlement patterns following this marine regression.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Giaime |first1=Matthieu |last2=Artzy |first2=Michal |last3=Jol |first3=Harry M. |last4=Salmon |first4=Yossi |last5=López |first5=Gloria I. |last6=Abu Hamid |first6=Amani |date=1 May 2022 |title=Refining Late-Holocene environmental changes of the Akko coastal plain and its impacts on the settlement and anchorage patterns of Tel Akko (Israel) |journal=[[Marine Geology (journal)|Marine Geology]] |volume=447 |pages=106778 |doi=10.1016/j.margeo.2022.106778 |s2cid=247636727 |issn=0025-3227|doi-access=free |bibcode=2022MGeol.44706778G }}</ref>