The Hilly Flanks are the upland areas surrounding the Fertile Crescent of Southwest Asia, including the foothills of the Zagros Mountains, the Taurus Mountains, and the highland parts of the Levant. The Hilly Flanks foothill chain spans over 1000 miles, including parts of Turkey, northwestern Iraq, and western Iran. The region is just north of Mesopotamia, with similar characteristics of fertility with the added trait of foothills and plateaus.

The term was coined by Robert Braidwood in 1948. He proposed that the Neolithic Revolution began in the Hilly Flanks because these areas received enough rainfall for agriculture without irrigation. He also observed that many of the wild progenitors of domesticated crops had their natural habitats in the Hilly Flanks, as did wild sheep and goat. His theory was in opposition to the oasis theory of V. Gordon Childe, which placed the origins of agriculture in well-watered desert refugia such as Mesopotamia. Ultimately, archaeological investigations proved Braidwood correct.

The region has been the subject of numerous archaeological expeditions intending to discover more about its historical culture. One such archaeological investigation by the Danish Archaeological Expedition to Iraq (DAEI) aimed to investigate the early urbanism in the upper regions of Mesopotamia. Previous survey work done in the Rania Plain, a region in the Hilly Flanks, has recorded settlement history dating back to the Late Chalcolithic Period.

Studies on pottery and clay remains in the region uncover the activities of creative expression and entertainment in Neolithic societies that settled in the region. Major emphasis in archaeological studies has been placed on the effect of the changes in climate on food management methods, particularly the shift from hunting and gathering to crop cultivation and livestock domestication. Animal husbandry include the domestication of pigs, goats, sheep, and cattle. The crops frequently harvested include barley, wheat, legumes, and grains.