Includes summary in English language (p. 61).

Includes bibliographical references (p. 68-69).

Research at the early village of Abu Hureyra on the Euphrates River has demonstrated that agriculture began there ca. 13,000 cal B.P. This confirms the primacy of western Asia as the region in which farming began earlier than anywhere else. Climatic fluctuation and, especially, the onset of the Younger Dryas, contributed importantly to the development of agriculture at the site. The transition to a mature farming way of life took place in a series of steps over several millennia. An ecological approach has proved most productive in elucidating the information recovered from Abu Hureyra. The inception of Farming was above all, about developing new ways of obtaining food. Future research needs to focus relentlessly on this fact, and should be directed toward recovering adequate samples of food remains from Epi-palaeolithc as well as Neolithic sites. Total recovery of economic evidence from sites under excavation should be the aim of all archaeologists concerned with the inception and development of agricultural societies in western Asia. The locations of sites and their environmental setting are also key elements in interpreting their economies. Application of the more refined data on climatic change that are now available is a critical element in advancing understanding. A landscape survey currently under way at Jericho illustrates several of these principles.