The oldest recognizable signs of permanent human habitation and urbanization go back abut 12,500 years -- sites like Jericho<span> and </span>Göbekli Tepe<span> both show persistent communities who had the resources to build permanent structures and enough surplus food and labor to support specialists -- however both of those sites also show that hunting remained an important component of the community's way of life. There are certainly other examples of permanent settlements from this same period scattered around, particularly in the region of modern Syria, Turkey, Armenia and Iraq. </span>
