<P> The oldest remains that have been found of constructed dwellings are remains of huts that were made of mud and branches around 17,000 BC at the Ohalo site (now underwater) near the edge of the Sea of Galilee . The Natufians built houses, also in the Levant, around 10,000 BC . Remains of settlements such as villages become much more common after the invention of agriculture . </P> <P> Landscape history studies the form (morphology) of settlements--for example whether they are dispersed or nucleated . Urban morphology can thus be considered a special type of cultural - historical landscape studies . Settlements can be ordered by size, centrality or other factors to define a settlement hierarchy . </P> <P> Geoscience Australia defines a populated place as "a named settlement with a population of 200 or more persons". </P> <P> The Committee for Geographical Names in Australasia used the term localities for rural areas, while the Australian Bureau of Statistics uses the term "urban centres / localities" for urban areas . </P>

Where are the thickly settled areas located in a village