The Levantine corridor is the relatively narrow strip in Western Asia, between the Mediterranean Sea to the northwest and deserts to the southeast, which connects Africa to Eurasia. It is the western part of the Fertile Crescent, the eastern part of the latter being Mesopotamia. This corridor is a land route of migrations of animals between Eurasia and Africa. In particular, it is believed that early hominins spread from Africa to Eurasia via the Levantine corridor and Horn of Africa.N. Goren-Inbar, John D. Speth (eds.), "Human Paleoecology in the Levantine Corridor". 1994, (book review ) The corridor is named after the Levant.
Dispersal route for plants Botanists recognize this area as a dispersal route of plant species.Bar-Yosef O. Pleistocene connections between Africa and Southwest Asia: an archaeological perspective, African Archaeological Review, 1987, vol. 5, pp. 29–38.
Migration route for humans
The distribution of Y-chromosome and mtDNA haplogroups suggests that during the Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods, the Levantine corridor was more important for bi-directional human migrations between Africa and Eurasia than was the Horn of Africa.J. R. Luis et al., "The Levant versus the Horn of Africa: Evidence for Bidirectional Corridors of Human Migrations" , American Journal of Human Genetics, 74: 532-544.
The term is used frequently by archaeologists as an area that includes Cyprus, where important developments occurred during the Neolithic Revolution.
The first sedentary villages were established around fresh water springs and lakes in the Levantine corridor by the Natufian culture.
See also Sahara pump theory
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