The emergence of specialized pastoralism in the southern Levant

This paper investigates a number of models concerning the development of specialized pastoralism in the Old World. Hypotheses are tested by comparing a wide range of environmental variables with settlement pattern data collected along the Wadi Be'er Sheva and the lower Wadi Besor in the Negev desert of Israel. It is suggested that specialized pastoralism emerged in conjunction with local population growth and with changes in 4th millennium agro‐technology.