Natufian communities in the southern Levant developed a more settled hunter-gatherer way of life, with longer-term camps and early stone-built structures. This shift mattered for exchange because staying longer in one place supported repeated contacts, storage, and the making of durable goods that could move between groups.
At Eynan (ʿAin Mallaha) in the Hula Basin, repeated occupations created one of the best-known Natufian settlement sequences. Substantial architecture and many burials show long-term community investment, helping explain how exchange networks could be maintained across seasons and generations.
Natufian activity at Mount Carmel (including el-Wad within the Nahal Meʾarot/Wadi el‑Mughara complex) provides evidence for early stone architecture and Natufian burials. These sites sit near coastal routes, making them useful for understanding how materials, people, and ideas could travel between the Mediterranean coast and inland valleys.
Marine shells from both the Mediterranean and the Red Sea appear at inland sites, showing movement of goods across ecological zones. Because shells were often used as beads and other adornments, they likely carried social meaning (identity, alliances, or status) beyond their practical use.
Studies of Natufian ground-stone implements show that basalt (a heavy volcanic rock) sometimes traveled long distances to sites that lacked nearby sources. Moving such heavy materials suggests organized exchange or planned transport, likely tied to food-processing needs (grinding and pounding) and to social ties between communities.
Small amounts of obsidian (volcanic glass), sourced to regions including Anatolia, appear at Natufian sites in the southern Levant. Even when rare, obsidian is a clear marker of long-distance contacts, showing that exchange networks could pass materials across hundreds of kilometers.
During the Younger Dryas (about 12,900–11,600 years ago), cooler and often drier conditions disrupted earlier warming trends. In the southern Levant, these stresses likely affected wild plant availability and hunting patterns, influencing how communities balanced local foraging with maintaining exchange ties that could buffer risk.
Researchers note that Natufian obsidian quantities are low compared with later Neolithic periods, implying less formalized distribution systems. This supports an interpretation of exchange embedded in relationships—visits, intermarriage, alliance-building, and shared practices—rather than specialized “market” trade.
At Nahal Ein Gev II near the Sea of Galilee, excavations reveal a late Natufian village with substantial buildings, a large cemetery, and abundant personal ornaments. Evidence for jewelry manufacture and the use of shells highlights ongoing demand for materials that could be obtained through exchange as well as local collection.
Across key Natufian regions (Jordan Valley, Galilee, and Mount Carmel), durable goods such as ground-stone tools, ornaments, and occasional exotic materials circulated between sites. This circulation helped communities maintain cooperation and shared cultural practices while living in larger, more stable settlements than earlier foragers.
As the Natufian period ended, societies in the region moved toward the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, when exchange networks (especially for obsidian) became more intensive and structured. Natufian-era routes and relationships provided a foundation for these later, expanded systems.
In 1928, Dorothy Garrod excavated Shuqba Cave in Wadi Natuf and identified a distinctive “Mesolithic” layer that she later named the Natufian. This research created the cultural label still used today, making it possible to compare sites across the southern Levant and systematically study Natufian exchange networks over time.
Natufian Exchange Networks in the Southern Levant (c. 12,500–9,500 BCE)