Paléorient, vol. 37.1, p. 101-109 © CNRS ÉDITIONS 2011 Manuscrit reçu le 7 février 2011, accepté le 10 mai 2011 THE GREENING OF THE BADLANDS: PASTORAL NOMADS AND THE “ CONCLUSION” OF NEOLITHIZATION

IN THE SOUTHERN LEVANT

G. O. ROLLEFSON

Introduction

The inspiration behind the emergence of the Neolithic period was, according to Jacques Cauvin, 1 a revolution of symbols that resulted in a paleopsychic compulsion to control nature and to spread the new cultural domination of the natural world to all human groups in the Levant in a messianic conversion. There was not a universal acceptance of this view at the time, 2 nor did the mentalist challenge to processual archaeology gain much traction in subsequent years to explain why and how the Neolithization process unfolded the way it did. A decade has passed since the publication of the English translation of Cauvin’s book, 3 and enormous strides have been

made in investigating Neolithic developments from Anatolia to the Sinai and the Arabian Peninsulas. The principal focus of this paper is to look at how ovicaprine pastoral nomadism began and evolved in the southern Levant, but fi rst it is worthwhile to note that the process(es) of Neolithization have materialized in greater clarity, including the impetus for adopting and adapting farming and animal husbandry, as well as the details of how such major transformations in economic— but even more importantly sociocultural— arenas unfolded over the several millennia of Neolithic evolution.