40 i Flora Unveiled
preferentially harvested. This method of harvesting could in principle favor the selection of
mutations that delayed the abscission process.
To determine how quickly the shift from wild to domesticated forms actually occurred,
Tanno and Willcox examined 9,844 charred spikelets of einkorn wheat from four different
Neolithic sites in northern Syria and southeastern Turkey.^22 A comparison of the spikelets
of various ages indicated that there was a gradual increase in the percentage of the tough-
rachised domesticated grain from 10,250 to 8,500 years ago.^23
Agriculture and the Revolution in IconographyAny time a society undergoes a change in lifestyle on the scale of the transition from forag-
ing to agriculture— a radically different way of life based on an entirely new technology—
we can assume that the psychological and spiritual make- up of the members of that society
will undergo a commensurate adaptational adjustment over time. Moreover, when belief
systems and cultural institutions begin to alter, they can initiate a positive feedback loop,
adding momentum to the impetus for change. Once the validity and value of crop culti-
vation was fully accepted and integrated into belief systems, the stage was set for further
innovations and wider applications of the new technology. Such a positive feedback loop
would explain why, at the end of the Younger Dryas period, when conditions once again
became favorable for foraging, the Sultanians pressed on with their labor- intensive agricul-
tural lifestyle— clearing, digging, hoeing, planting, and weeding— rather than reverting to
the more leisurely existence of hunting and gathering.
Archeologists Jacques Cauvin and Ofer Bar- Yosef have documented a revolution in ico-
nography, evidenced by small art objects found in the settlements, that took place in the
Levant during the transition from foraging to crop cultivation. These art objects were often
associated with graves, consistent with some sort of ritual significance. The pre- agricultural
Natufians used shell, stone, and bone to make a variety of implements, decorations, and
small figurines. Nearly all of their figurines represent animals, typically small herbivores
such as deer or gazelle, but also dogs, owls, and possibly even baboons (Figure 3.5A). Human
forms are rare and consist of small, highly simplified heads with no indication of sex.^24 If
we assume that the zoomorphic figurines were not merely aesthetic objects or toys, but also
had important symbolic significance for the lives of the individuals in whose graves they
were often found, we can infer that they represent elements of the basic mythological system
of the Natufians. For example, images of ruminants that the Natufians frequently carved
as decorations on sickle handles could represent a totemic symbol associated with a clan
or group.^25 The absence of human images at Natufian sites may indicate that they had not
yet begun to use humans as abstract symbols. This is somewhat surprising considering the
highly sophisticated “Venus” figurines produced during the Aurignacian and Gravettian
periods of the Paleolithic. Clearly, there is no direct cultural lineage between the Paleolithic
people of Eurasia and the Natufians of the Levant.
The Khiamians, who succeeded the Natufians, introduced various changes in settle-
ment architecture, tools, burial practices, and horticultural practices. In the spiritual realm,
they also initiated an important change in the types of symbols used in their portable
art. Instead of the zoomorphic figurines of the Natufians, the Khiamians created small