Final answer:
Neolithic settlements like Jericho and Çatalhöyük might have perceived surrounding hunter-gatherer communities variably as potential trading partners, equals with different lifestyles, or as inferior and backward, depending on their interactions and the social progress within agricultural communities.
Step-by-step explanation:
Groups living in Neolithic settlements like Jericho or Çatalhöyük might have had varied perspectives on hunter-gatherer communities around them. While some might have seen them as potential trading partners due to the Neolithic people's reliance on trade with hunter-gatherer communities for items such as obsidian, others may have viewed these societies as equals but with different lifestyles or even inferior and backward due to the progressive social and technological developments within agricultural communities. There is also the possibility that some Neolithic groups considered hunter-gatherers as allies for mutual protection, especially considering that many groups lived at peace with their neighbors for long periods, as suggested by evidence of interactions between different societies.