Editing Southern Levant (section)

===Pre-history and Stone Age===
The Southern Levant is amongst the oldest inhabited parts of [[Eurasia]], being on one of three plausible routes by which early [[Hominini|hominins]] could have [[Out of Africa I|dispersed out of Africa]] (along with the [[Bab-el-Mandeb|Bab al Mandab]] and the [[Strait of Gibraltar]]).<ref>Fleagle, John G., Shea, John J., Grine, Frederick E., Baden, Andrea L., Leakey, Richard E., "Out of Africa I: The First Hominin Colonization of Eurasia", Springer 2010 pp 247–273.</ref> ''[[Homo erectus]]'' left Africa and became the first hominin species to colonise Europe and Asia approximately two million years ago, probably through the Southern Levant.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Abbate|first1=Ernesto|last2=Sagri|first2=Mario|date=2012-07-26|title=Early to Middle Pleistocene Homo dispersals from Africa to Eurasia: Geological, climatic and environmental constraints|journal=Quaternary International|series=The genus Homo from Africa to Europe: evolution of terrestrial ecosystems and dispersal routes|volume=267|pages=3–19|doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2011.02.043|bibcode=2012QuInt.267....3A}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rolland|first=Nicolas|date=2013-12-06|title=The Early Pleistocene human dispersals in the Circum-Mediterranean Basin and initial peopling of Europe: Single or multiple pathways?|journal=Quaternary International|series=Middle to Upper Palaeolithic biological and cultural shift in Eurasia II|volume=316|pages=59–72|doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2013.06.028|bibcode=2013QuInt.316...59R}}</ref> During this phase of the [[Pleistocene|Pleistocene epoch]] the region was wetter and greener, allowing ''H. erectus'' to find places with fresh water as it followed other African animals that were dispersing out of Africa at the same time.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Carotenuto|first1=F.|last2=Tsikaridze|first2=N.|last3=Rook|first3=L.|last4=Lordkipanidze|first4=D.|last5=Longo|first5=Laura|last6=Condemi|first6=Silvana|last7=Raia|first7=P.|date=2016-06-01|title=Venturing out safely: The biogeography of Homo erectus dispersal out of Africa|journal=Journal of Human Evolution|volume=95|pages=1–12|doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.02.005|pmid=27260171|hdl=10220/41176|hdl-access=free}}</ref> One such location was '[[Ubeidiya prehistoric site|Ubeidiya]], on the southern shore of the [[Sea of Galilee]], where some of the oldest hominin remains in Eurasia have been discovered, dating to between 1.2 million and 1.5 million years ago.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nNuoCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA82|title=World Prehistory and Archaeology|last=Chazan|first=Michael|date=2015-10-05|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317347514|pages=82|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Martínez-Navarro|first1=Bienvenido|last2=Belmaker|first2=Miriam|last3=Bar-Yosef|first3=Ofer|date=2009-05-01|title=The large carnivores from 'Ubeidiya (early Pleistocene, Israel): biochronological and biogeographical implications|journal=Journal of Human Evolution|volume=56|issue=5|pages=514–524|doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.02.004|pmid=19427671}}</ref>

Several [[Stone Age]]s, when stone tools prevailed and make up the bulk of artifacts, are followed by periods when other technologies came into use. They lent their names to the different periods. The basic framework for the southern [[Levant]] is, as follows: [[Paleolithic]] or Old Stone Age is often divided up into phases called, from early-to-late: [[Lower Paleolithic]], Middle Paleolithic and Upper Paleolithic. An [[Epipaleolithic (Levant)|Epipaleolithic]] (latest Paleolithic) period, also known as [[Mesolithic]] (transition to Neolithic) follows and is, in turn succeeded by a [[Neolithic]] (New Stone Age).{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

The following [[Chalcolithic]] period includes the first evidence of [[Nonferrous archaeometallurgy of the Southern Levant|metallurgy]] with copper making its appearance. However, as [[stone technology]] remains prevalent, the name, Chalcolithic (Copper/Stone) age combines the two.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}