The Natufian culture of the Levant, which flourished roughly between 15,000 and 11,500 years before the present, is often cited as the most direct cultural precursor to the Neolithic communities of the Fertile Crescent.

Understanding the Natufians helps clarify what kind of social and cultural world the builders of Göbekli Tepe emerged from.

The Natufians are notable for several reasons.

They built relatively permanent settlements — not just temporary camps but structures with stone foundations, suggesting that communities were returning to the same location season after season and investing in semi-permanent infrastructure.

They practiced elaborate mortuary rituals, burying their dead within the settlements themselves, sometimes with grave goods and sometimes with evidence of complex post-mortem treatment of the remains.

They produced art objects including carved figurines of animals and humans.