In the proto-Neolithic Natufian cultures, wild cereals were harvested,
and perhaps early seed selection and re-seeding occurred.
It developed directly from the Epipaleolithic Natufian culture in the region,
whose people pioneered the use of wild cereals, which then evolved into true farming.
Examining tiny species-related variations in the molar shapes of fossilized mice teeth dating back as far as 200,000 years, the team built a timeline showing
how the populations of different mice fluctuated at the Natufian site during periods of varying human mobility.
These findings suggest that hunter-gatherers of the Natufian culture, rather than later Neolithic farmers, were the first
to adopt a sedentary way of life and unintentionally initiated a new type of ecological interaction- close coexistence with commensal species such as the house mouse,” Weissbrod says.
These findings suggest that hunter-gatherers of the Natufian culture, rather than later Neolithic farmers, were the first
to adopt a sedentary way of life and unintentionally initiated a new type of ecological interaction- close coexistence with commensal species such as the house mouse," Weissbrod said.