Neolithic
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[[Image:Néolithique 0001.jpg|thumb|An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools.]]
{{Neolithic}}
The '''Neolithic'''<ref>The name was invented by [[John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury|Sir John Lubbock]] in 1800 as a refinement of the [[three-age system]].{{Dubious|date=March 2008}}<!-- [[Three age system]] says it was invented in the 1820s.--> The term is more commonly used in the [[Old World]], as its application =) to cultures in the [[Americas]] and [[Oceania]] that did not fully develop metal-working technology raises problems. The term "Neolithic" thus does not refer to a specific chronological period, but rather to a suite of behavioural and cultural characteristics including the use of (both wild and domestic) crops and the use of domesticated animals. Some archaeologists have long advocated replacing "Neolithic" with a more descriptive term, such as Early Village Communities, although this has not gained wide acceptance.</ref> (from [[Greek language|Greek]] ''νεολιθικός'' - neolithikos, from ''νέος'' ''neos'', "new" + ''λίθος'' ''lithos'', "stone") or "New" [[Stone Age]], was a period in the development of [[human]] [[technology]] beginning about 10,000 B.C. in the [[Middle East]]<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://www.answers.com/topic/neolithic
|title=Neolithic: Definition and Much More from Answers.com
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|accessdate=2008-06-16
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</ref> that is traditionally the last part of the [[Stone Age]]. The Neolithic era follows the terminal [[Holocene]] ''[[Epipalaeolithic]]'' periods, beginning with the rise of farming, which produced the "[[Neolithic Revolution]]" and ending when [[metal]] [[tool]]s became widespread in the Copper Age ([[chalcolithic]]) or [[Bronze Age]] or developing directly into the [[Iron Age]], depending on geographical region.
Neolithic culture appeared in the [[Levant]] ([[Jericho]], modern-day West Bank) about 8500 BC. It developed directly from the [[Epipaleolithic]] [[Natufian]] culture in the region, whose people pioneered wild cereal use, which then evolved into true farming. The Natufians can thus be called "proto-Neolithic" (11,000–8500 BC). As the Natufians had become dependent on wild cereals in their diet, and a sedentary way of life had begun among them, the climatic changes associated with the [[Younger Dryas]] are thought to have forced people to develop farming. By 8500–8000 BC farming communities arose in the Levant and spread to Asia Minor, North Africa and North Mesopotamia.
Early Neolithic farming was limited to a narrow range of crops, both wild and [[domestication|domesticated]], which included [[einkorn wheat]], [[millet]] and [[spelt]] and the keeping of [[dog]]s, [[sheep]] and [[goat]]s. By about 7000 BC it included domesticated [[cattle]] and [[pig]]s, the establishment of permanently or seasonally inhabited settlements, and the use of pottery.<ref>The [[potter's wheel]] was a later refinement that revolutionized the pottery industry.</ref> Not all of these cultural elements characteristic of the Neolithic appeared everywhere in the same order: the earliest farming societies in the [[Ancient Near East|Near East]] did not use pottery, and, in [[Prehistoric Britain|Britain]], it remains unclear to what extent plants were domesticated in the earliest Neolithic, or even whether permanently settled communities existed. In other parts of the world, such as [[Africa]], South Asia and Southeast Asia, independent domestication events led to their own regionally-distinctive Neolithic cultures which arose completely independent of those in Europe and Southwest Asia. [[Jōmon period|Early Japanese]] societies used pottery ''before'' developing agriculture.<ref>{{cite book|last=Habu|first=Junko|year=2004|title=Ancient Jomon of Japan|publisher=Cambridge University Press|id=ISBN 0521772133 (HB), ISBN 0521776708 (PB)|pages=page 3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Japan Echo, Inc.|title=Jomon Fantasy: Resketching Japan's Prehistory|url=http://web-japan.org/trends00/honbun/tj990615.html|date=June 22, 1999|publisher=Trends in Japan|hormat-html|accessdate=2008-04-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=Charles T.|last=Keally|title='Fakery' at the Beginning, the Ending and the Middle of the Jomon Period|journal=Bulletin of the International Jomon Culture Conference|volume=1|date=2004|url=http://www.jomon.or.jp/ebulletin11.html|format=html|accessdate=2008-04-14}}</ref>
Unlike the [[Palaeolithic]], where more than one human species existed, only one human species (''[[Homo sapiens sapiens]]'') reached the neolithic.
== Periods by pottery phase ==
In [[Southwest Asia]] (i.e., the [[Middle East]]), cultures identified as Neolithic began appearing soon after the 10th millennium BC. Early development occurred in the [[Levant]] (e.g., [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic A]] and [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic B]]) and from there spread eastwards and westwards. Neolithic cultures are also attested in southeastern [[Anatolia]] and northern [[Mesopotamia]] by ca. 8000 BC.
The [[prehistoric Beifudi site]] near Yixian in [[Hebei]] Province, [[China]], contains relics of a culture contemporaneous with the [[Cishan culture|Cishan]] and [[Xinglongwa culture|Xinglongwa]] cultures of about 7,000-8,000 BC, neolithic cultures east of the [[Taihang Mountains]], filling in an archaeological gap between the two Northern Chinese cultures. The total excavated area is more than 1,200 square meters and the collection of neolithic findings at the site consists of two phases.<ref name="archdis">{{cite web
|url=http://www.kaogu.cn/en/detail.asp?ProductID=982
|title=New Archaeological Discoveries and Researches in 2004 -- The Fourth Archaeology Forum of CASS
|publisher=Institute of Archaeology - Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
|accessdate=2007-09-18
}}
</ref>
=== Neolithic 1 — Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) ===
[[Image:Skara Brae house 1 5.jpg|thumb|Skara Brae [[Scotland]]. Evidence of home furnishings i.e. shelves.]]
The Neolithic 1 (PPNA) began in the [[Levant]] (Jericho, Palestine & Jbeil (Byblos), Lebanon) around 8500 to 8000 BC. The actual date is not established with certainty due to different results in carbon dating by scientists in the [[British Museum]] and [[Philadelphia]] laboratories.
The major advance of Neolithic 1 was true [[farming]]. In the proto-Neolithic [[Natufian]] cultures, wild cereals were harvested, and perhaps early seed selection and re-seeding occurred. The grain was ground into flour. [[Emmer wheat]] was domesticated, and animals were herded and domesticated ([[animal husbandry]] and [[animal breeding]]).
Settlements became more permanent with circular houses, much like those of the Natufians, with single rooms. However, these houses were for the first time made of [[mudbrick]]s. The husband had one house, while each of his wives lived with their children in surrounding houses. The settlement had a surrounding stone wall and perhaps a stone tower (like Jericho). The wall served as protection from nearby groups, as protection from floods, or to keep animals penned. There are also some enclosures that suggest grain and meat storage.
=== Neolithic 2 — Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) ===
The Neolithic 2 (PPNB) began around 7500 to 7000 BC in the Levant (Jericho, Palestine). Like the PPNA dates there are two versions from the same laboratories noted above. But this terminological structure is not agreeable for SouthEast Anatolia and Middle Anatolia Basin settlements.
Settlements have rectangular mudbrick houses where the family lived together in single or multiple rooms. Burial findings suggest an [[ancestor cult]] where people preserved skulls from the dead which were plastered with mud to make facial features. The rest of the corpse may have been left outside the settlement to decay until only the bones were left, then the bones were buried inside the settlement underneath the floor or between houses.
=== Neolithic 3 — Pottery Neolithic (PN) ===
[[Image:Orkney Skara Brae.jpg|thumb|Excavated dwellings at [[Skara Brae]] Scotland, Europe's most complete Neolithic village.]]
The Neolithic 3 (PN) began around 6000 to 5500 BC in the [[Fertile Crescent]]. By then distinctive cultures emerged, with pottery like the [[Halafian]] (Turkey, Syria, Northern Mesopotamia) and [[Ubaid]] (Southern Mesopotamia).
The Chalcolithic period began about 4500 BC, then the [[Bronze Age]] began about 3500 BC, replacing the Neolithic cultures.
== Periods by region ==
=== In the Fertile Crescent ===
Around 9,000 BC the first fully developed Neolithic cultures belonging to the phase [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic A]] ([[PPNA]]) appeared in the fertile crescent. Around 8,000 BC during the [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic A]] ([[PPNA]]) the world's first town [[Jericho]] appeared in the Levant and was surrounded by a stone wall and contained a population of 2000-3000 people and a massive stone tower..<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9043547/Jericho "Jericho"], [[Encyclopedia Britannica]]</ref> Around 5,500 BC the [[Tel Halaf|Halafian]] culture appeared in the Levant, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Anatolia, Northern Mesopotamia and subsisted on dryland agriculture.
=== Southern Mesopotamia ===
Alluvial plains (Sumer/Elam). Little rainfall, makes [[irrigation]] systems necessary. [[Ubaid period|Ubaid]] culture from 5500 BC.
=== Europe ===
[[Image:European Middle Neolithic.gif|thumb|Map showing distribution of some of the main culture complexes in [[Neolithic Europe]], ca.4500 BC]]
In southeast [[Neolithic Europe|Europe]] agrarian societies first appeared by ca. 7000 BC,<ref>[http://www.macedonian-heritage.gr/HellenicMacedonia/en/img_A11a.html Female figurine, circa 6000 BC, Nea Nikomidia, Macedonia, Veroia, (Archaeological Museum), Greece]</ref> and in [[Central Europe]] by ca. 5500 BC. Among the earliest cultural complexes of this area are included the [[Starčevo-Körös]] (Cris), [[Linearbandkeramic]], and [[Vinča culture|Vinča]]. Through a combination of [[cultural diffusion]] and [[human migration|migration of peoples]], the Neolithic traditions spread west and northwards to reach northwestern Europe by around 4500 BC. The [[Vinča culture]] may have created the earliest system of writing the [[Vinča signs]] though it is almost universally accepted amongst archeologists that the Sumerian cuneiform script was the earliest true form of writing and the [[Vinča signs]] most likely represented [[pictograms]] and [[ideograms]] rather than a truly developed form of writing.
=== South and East Asia ===
The oldest Neolithic site in [[South Asia]] is [[Mehrgarh]] from 7000 BC on the "Kachi plain of [[Balochistan (Pakistan)|Baluchistan]], [[Pakistan]] It is one of the earliest sites with evidence of farming (wheat and barley) and herding (cattle, sheep and goats) in South Asia."<ref> Hirst, K. Kris. 2005. [http://archaeology.about.com/od/mterms/g/mehrgarh.htm "Mehrgarh"]. '' Guide to Archaeology''</ref>
One of the earliest Neolithic sites in [[India]] is [[Lahuradewa]], at Middle [[Ganges]] region, C14 dated around 7th millennium BC..<ref> Fuller, Dorian 2006. "Agricultural Origins and Frontiers in South Asia: A Working Synthesis" in Journal of World Prehistory 20, p.42 [http://www.homepages.ucl.ac.uk/~tcrndfu/articles/JWP20.pdf "Ganges Neolithic"]</ref> Recently another site near the confluence of [[Ganges]] and [[Yamuna]] rivers called [[Jhusi]] yielded a C14 dating of 7100 BC for its Neolithic levels.<ref> Tewari, Rakesh et al. 2006. "Second Preliminary Report of the excavations at Lahuradewa,District Sant Kabir Nagar, UP 2002-2003-2004 & 2005-06" in Pragdhara No. 16 [http://www.uparchaeology.org/pragdhara%20No-16.pdf "Electronic Version p.28"]</ref>
In South India the Neolithic began by 3000 BC and lasted until around 1400 BC when the Megalithic transition period began. South Indian Neolithic is characterized by Ashmounds since 2500 BC in Karnataka region, expanded later to Tamil.
Comparative excavations carried out in [[Adichanallur]] in [[Tuticorin District]] of Southern India (now part of Tamilnadu state) have provided evidence of a southward migration of the [[Megalithic]] culture<ref> Sastri K.A.N., ''A History of South India'', pp. 49–51</ref> The earliest clear evidence of the presence of the megalithic urn burials are those dating from around 1000 BC, which have been discovered at various places in Tamil Nadu, notably at Adichanallur, 24 km from [[Tirunelveli]], where archaeologists from the [[Archaeological Survey of India]] unearthed 12 urns with Tamil [[Brahmi script]] on them containing human skulls, skeletons and bones, plus husks, grains of rice, charred rice and Neolithic [[Celt (tool)|celts]], giving evidence confirming it of the Neolithic period 2800 years ago. This proved that Tirunelveli area has been the abode for human habituation since the Neolithic period about 3,000 years ago. Adhichanallur has been announced as an archaeological site for further excavation and studies.,<ref>Subramanian T.S. (May 26, 2004 )''Skeletons, script found at ancient burial site in Tamil Nadu'', The Hindu, retrieved 7/31/2007 [http://www.hindu.com/2004/05/26/stories/2004052602871200.htm]</ref><ref>'The most interesting pre-historic remains in Tamil India were discovered at Adichanallur.There is a series of urn burials. seem to be related to the megalithic complex. - Zvelebil, K.A., Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature - pp21–22, Brill Academic Publishers. </ref>
We have to keep in mind that Adhichanallur is a Megalithic period site, not a Neolithic place.
In [[East Asia]] the earliest sites include [[Pengtoushan culture]] around 7500 BC to 6100 BC, [[Peiligang culture]] around 7000 BC to 5000 BC.
The 'Neolithic' (defined as using polished stone implements) remains a living tradition in small and extremely remote and inaccessible pockets of West Papua (Indonesian New Guinea). Polished stone adzes and axes are used in the present day (2008 AD). This is likely to cease altogether in the next few years as steel blades and chainsaws proliferate.
=== America ===
In [[Mesoamerican chronology|Mesoamerica]] a similar set of events (i.e., crop domestication and sedentary lifestyles) occurred by around 4500 BC, but possibly as early as 11,000–10,000 BC, although here the term "Pre-Classic" (or Formative) is used instead of mid-late Neolithic, [[Archaic Era]] for the Early Neolithic, and [[Paleo-Indians|Paleo-Indian]] for the preceding period though these cultures are usually not referred to as belonging to the Neolithic.
==Social organization==
[[Image:Néolithique 0008.jpg|thumb|left|Anthropomorphic Neolithic figurine]]
During most of the Neolithic people lived in small [[tribe]]s of 150-2000 members that were composed of multiple Bands or lineages.<ref>{{cite book |title=Evolutionary Origins of Morality: Cross-disciplinary Perspectives |author=Leonard D. Katz
Rigby |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=inmTyPPdR5oC&pg=RA1-PA158&dq=Neolithic+egalitarianism&lr=&sig=VOAK5WWAg2del4rIQKQIaQ4EGzQ#PRA1-PA158,M1 |year=2000 |location=United kingdom|pages=352 |ibsn=0719056128 |publisher=Imprint Academic}} Page 158</ref> There is little [[scientific evidence]] for developed [[social stratification]] in the majority of Neolithic societies; [[social stratification]] is more closely associated with the later [[Bronze Age]].<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=haCAIME9vnEC&pg=PA258&dq=neolithic+period+social+stratification&lr=&sig=XNM049JaO8pIIVrel_Uvhj1He28#PPA258,M1 Killen, pg 422.]</ref> Although some late Neolithic societies formed complex stratified chiefdoms similar to Polynesian societies such as the [[Ancient Hawaii]]ans most Neolithic societies were relatively simple and [[egalitarian]]<ref>{{cite book |title=Evolutionary Origins of Morality: Cross-disciplinary Perspectives |author=Leonard D. Katz
Rigby |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=inmTyPPdR5oC&pg=RA1-PA158&dq=Neolithic+egalitarianism&lr=&sig=VOAK5WWAg2del4rIQKQIaQ4EGzQ#PRA1-PA158,M1 |year=2000 |location=United kingdom|pages=352 |ibsn=0719056128 |publisher=Imprint Academic}} Page 158</ref> although Neolithic cultures were noticeably more hierarchical than the [[Paleolithic]] cultures that preceded them and [[Hunter-gatherer]] cultures in general<ref>[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761555928_5/Stone_Age.html#howtocite "Stone Age," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2007] © 1997-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Contributed by Kathy Schick, B.A., M.A., Ph.D. and Nicholas Toth, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.</ref><ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=3u6JNwMyMCEC&pg=PA422&lpg=PA422&dq=paleolithic+history+violence&source=web&ots=JLvUQmZfSv&sig=CREh_uTCaX3MR8Ncw5ZTp7lUtvA#PPA420,M1 Guthrie, pg 420.]</ref> The domestication of animals ([[Circa|c.]] 7000 BC) resulted in a dramatic increase in social inequality as livestock -which were often regarded as a form of capital amongst more complex pastoral Neolithic societies allowed competition between households to result in inherited inequalities of wealth as Neolithic pastoralists who controlled large herds of goats and cows gradually acquired more livestock which allowed economic inequalities to become more pronounced.<ref>Bahn, Paul (1996) "The atlas of world archeology" Copyright 2000 The brown Reference Group plc</ref> Evidence of social inequality is still disputed however, as settlements such as [[Catalhoyuk]] reveal a striking lack of difference in the size of homes and burial sites, suggesting more egalitarian societies with no evidence to suggest any concept of capital though some homes appear slightly larger or more elaborately decorated than others. Families and households were still largely economically independent and the household was probably the center of life in the Neolithic. Excavations in [[Central Europe]] have, however, revealed that early Neolithic [[Linear Ceramic culture]]s ("''Linearbandkeramik''") were building large arrangements of [[circular ditches]] between 4800 BC and 4600 BC. These structures (and their later Neolithic equivalents such as [[causewayed enclosure]]s, [[burial mound]]s, and [[henge]]s) required considerable time and labour to construct, which could suggest that some influential individuals were able to organise and direct human labour--though non-hierarchical voluntary work remains a strong possibility. There is a large body of evidence for fortified settlements at ''Linearbandkeramik'' sites along the [[Rhine]], as at least some villages were fortified for some time with a palisade and outer ditch.<ref>[http://www.holysmoke.org/fem/fem0156.htm Idyllic Theory of Goddess Creates Storm]</ref><ref>Krause (1998) under External links, places.</ref> An earlier view saw the Linear Pottery Culture as living a "peaceful, unfortified lifestyle."<ref>Gimbutas (1991) page 143.</ref> Since then settlements with palisades and weapon-traumatized bones have been discovered, such as at Herxheim,<ref>Orschiedt (2006) under External links, Places.</ref> which, whether the site of a massacre or of a martial ritual, demonstrates "...systematic violence between groups." and warfare was probably much more common during the Neolithic than in the preceding Paleolithic period.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=3u6JNwMyMCEC&pg=PA422&lpg=PA422&dq=paleolithic+history+violence&source=web&ots=JLvUQmZfSv&sig=CREh_uTCaX3MR8Ncw5ZTp7lUtvA#PPA422,M1 Guthrie, pg 422]</ref> Control of labour and inter-group conflict is characteristic of corporate-level or 'tribal' groups, headed by a charismatic individual; whether a '[[Big man (anthropology)|big man]]', or proto-[[Tribal chief|chief]] or a [[matriarch]], functioning as a lineage-group head, or whether a non-hierarchical system of organization existed is debatable and there is no evidence that explicitly suggests that Neolithic societies functioned under any dominating class or individual, as has been the case in the [[chiefdoms]] of the European [[Bronze Age|Early Bronze Age]].<ref> Ian Kuijt (2000) [http://books.google.com/books?id=kz79KLC6yLoC&pg=PA316&dq=neolithic+society+(general+information)&lr=&sig=Cfzhgod1DrWCne5b61g8GHsS3PI#PPA317,M1 "Life in Neolithic Farming Communities: Social Organization, Identity, and differentiation" page 317] Springer press </ref> Theories to explain the apparent egalitarianism of Neolithic (and more importantly Paleolithic) societies have arisen, notably the [[Marxist]] concept of [[primitive communism]].
Dancing and formal rituals may have been used to retain collective discipline and social cohesion in pre-state levantene neolithic socieities.
==Shelter==
[[Image:Neolithic house.JPG|thumb|Reconstruction of Neolithic house in [[Tuzla]], [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]].]]
The shelter of the early people changed dramatically from the paleolithic era to the neolithic era. In the paleolithic, people did not normally live in permanent constructions. In the neolithic, mud brick houses started appearing that were coated with plaster.<ref name=firstcity>[http://www2.bc.edu/~mcdonadh/course/huyuk.html Shane, Orrin C. III, and Mine Küçuk. "The World's First City."] Archaeology 51.2 (1998): 43-47.</ref> The growth of agriculture made permanent houses possible. Doorways were made on the roof, with ladders positioned both on the inside and outside of the houses.<ref name=firstcity/> The roof was supported by beams from the inside. The rough ground was covered by platforms, mats, and skins on which residents slept. {{Fact|date=December 2007}}
==Farming==
{{Main|Neolithic Revolution}}
A significant and far-reaching shift in human [[subsistence]] and lifestyle was to be brought about in areas where crop [[farm]]ing and cultivation were first developed: the previous reliance upon an essentially [[nomad]]ic [[hunter-gatherer]] [[list of subsistence techniques|subsistence technique]] or [[Transhumance|pastoral transhumance]] was at first supplemented, and then increasingly replaced by, a reliance upon the foods produced from cultivated lands. These developments are also believed to have greatly encouraged the growth of settlements, since it may be supposed that the increased need to spend more time and labor in tending crop fields required more localized dwellings. This trend would continue into the Bronze Age, eventually giving rise to [[town]]s, and later [[city|cities]] and [[state]]s whose larger populations could be sustained by the increased productivity from cultivated lands.
The profound differences in human interactions and subsistence methods associated with the onset of early agricultural practices in the Neolithic have been called the ''[[Neolithic Revolution]]'', a term first [[neologism|coined]] by the Australian archaeologist [[Vere Gordon Childe]].
One potential benefit of the development and increasing sophistication of farming technology was an ability (if conditions allowed) to produce a crop yield which would be surplus to the immediate needs of the community. When such surpluses were produced they could be preserved and sequestered for later use during times of seasonal shortfalls, traded with other communities (giving rise to a nascent non-[[subsistence economy]]), and in general allowed larger populations to be sustained. The storage site might need to be defended from marauders, increasing the cultural investment in a particular site.
[[Image:Halafpottery.jpg|thumb|left|Halafian ware]]
However, it should be noted that early farmers were also adversely affected in times of [[famine]], such as may be caused by [[drought]] or [[pest control|pestilence]]. In instances where agriculture had become the predominant way of life the sensitivity to these shortages could be particularly acute, affecting agrarian populations to an extent which otherwise may not have been routinely experienced by prior hunter-gatherer communities.<ref>Bahn, Paul (1996) "The atlas of world archeology" Copyright 2000 The brown Reference Group plc</ref> Nevertheless, despite what must have been ??, agrarian communities generally proved successful, and their growth and the expansion of territory under cultivation continued.
Another significant change undergone by many of these newly-agrarian communities was one of [[diet (nutrition)|diet]]. Pre-agrarian diets varied by region, season, available local plant and animal resources and degree of pastoralism and hunting. Post-agrarian diet was restricted to a limited package of successfully cultivated cereal grains, plants and to a variable extent domesticated animals and animal products. Supplementation of diet by hunting and gathering was to variable degrees precluded by the increase in population above the carrying capacity of the land and a high sedentary local population concentration. In some cultures there would have been a significant shift toward increased starch and plant protein. The relative [[nutrition]]al benefits and disadvantages of these dietary changes, and their overall impact on early societal development is still the subject of some debate.
In addition, increased population density, decreased population mobility, increased continuous proximity to domesticated animals, and continuous occupation of comparatively population-dense sites would have altered patterns of [[disease]] and [[sanitation|sanitary]] needs.
==Technology==
[[Image:Romanian Artifact.jpg|thumb|right|A Neolithic artifact from Romania.]]
Neolithic peoples were skilled farmers, manufacturing a range of tools necessary for the tending, harvesting and processing of crops (such as sickle blades and grinding stones) and food production (e.g. [[pottery]], bone implements). They were also skilled manufacturers of a range of other types of stone tools and ornaments, including [[projectile point]]s, beads, and statuettes. But it was the polished [[stone axe]] above all other tools which made forest clearance on a large scale feasible. Together with the [[adze]], fashioning wood for shelter, structures and canoes for example, that enabled them to exploit their newly won farmland.
Neolithic peoples in the [[Levant]], [[Anatolia]], [[Syria]], northern [[Mesopotamia]] and [[Central Asia]] were also accomplished builders, utilising mud-brick to construct houses and villages. At [[Çatalhöyük]], houses were plastered and painted with elaborate scenes of humans and animals. In [[Europe]], [[Neolithic long house|long houses]] built from [[wattle and daub]] were constructed. Elaborate tombs for the dead were also built. These tombs are particularly numerous in [[Ireland]], where there are many thousand still in existence. Neolithic people in the British Isles built [[long barrow]]s and [[chamber tomb]]s for their dead and [[causewayed camp]]s, [[henge]]s, flint mines and [[cursus]] monuments. It was also important to figure out ways of preserving food for future months, such as fashioning relatively airtight containers, and using substances like [[salt]] as preservatives.
With limited exceptions (a few copper [[hatchet]]s and [[spear]] heads in the [[Great Lakes (North America)|Great Lakes]] region), the peoples of the [[Americas]] and the [[Pacific]] retained the Neolithic level of tool [[technology]] up until the time of European contact. There are numerous examples ([[Inca]], [[Maya civilization|Maya]], Native Hawaiians, [[Aztec]], [[Iroquois]], [[Mississippian culture|Mississippian]], [[Maori]]), however, of development of complex socio-political organization, building technology, scientific knowledge and linguistic culture in these regions that parallel post-neolithic developments in Africa and Eurasia.
==Clothing==
Finds of large numbers of bone and antler pins (ideal for fastening leather, but not cloth) indicate that most clothing was manufactured from animal skins - although finds of perforated stones, which (depending on size) may have served as spindle whorls or loom weights, might suggest that woolen cloth and linen became available during the British Neolithic. Though obviously not British and not Neolithic ([[Ötzi the Iceman]] belonged to the later [[Copper age]]) , [[Ötzi the Iceman]] may give an idea of the kind of clothing worn in the Neolithic Age.
==Early settlements==
{{splitsection|List of Neolithic settlements}}
Neolithic [[List of archaeological sites|human settlements]] include:
* [[Tabon Cave|Tabon Cave Complex]] in [[Quezon, Palawan]], [[Philippines]] 5000-2000 BC {{Fact|date=February 2008}}
* [[Spirit Cave]] in [[Thailand]], 9000-5500 BC
* [[Franchthi Cave]] in [[Greece]], epipalaeolithic (ca. 10,000 BC) settlement, reoccupied between 7500-6000 BC
* [[Göbekli Tepe]] in Turkey, ca. 9000 BC
* [[Jericho]] in [[Palestine]], Neolithic from around 8350 BC, arising from the earlier [[Epipaleolithic]] [[Natufian culture]]
* [[Nevali Cori]] in Turkey, ca. 8000 BC
* [[Çatalhöyük]] in [[Turkey]], 7500 BC
* [[Pengtoushan culture]] in [[China]], 7500-6100 BC
* [['Ain Ghazal]] in [[Jordan]], 7250-5000 BC
* [[Jhusi]] in [[India]], 7100 BC
* [[Sesklo]] in [[Greece]], 6850 BC (with a +/- 660 year margin of error)
* [[Dispilio Tablet|Dispilio]] in [[Greece]], ca. 5500 BC
* [[Jiahu]] in [[China]], 7000 to 5800 BC
* [[Mehrgarh]] in [[Pakistan]], 7000 BC
* [[Knossus]] on [[Crete]], ca. 7000 BC
* [[Lahuradewa]] in [[India]], 6400 BC
* Porodin in [[Republic of Macedonia]], 6500 BC<ref name=eliznik>[http://www.eliznik.org.uk/EastEurope/History/balkans-map/developed-neolithic.htm#nogo Developed Neolithic period, 5500 BC]</ref>
* Vrshnik (Anzabegovo) in [[Republic of Macedonia]], 6500 BC<ref name=eliznik/>
* Pizzo di Bodi (Varese), [[Lombardy]] in [[Italy]], ca 6320 +/- 80 BC
* Sammardenchia in Friuli, [[Italy]] , ca 6050 +/- 90 BC,
* [[Hemudu culture]] in [[China]], 5000-4500 BC, large scale rice plantation
* around 2000 settlements of [[Trypillian culture]], 5400-2800 BC
* [[Knap of Howar]] and [[Skara Brae]], [[Orkney]], [[Prehistoric Scotland|Scotland]], from 3500 BC
* [[Brú na Bóinne]] in [[Ireland]], ca. 3500 BC
* [[Lough Gur]] in [[Ireland]] from around 3000 BC
The world's oldest known engineered [[roadway]], the [[Sweet Track]] in [[England]], dates from 3800 BC.
==See also==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break|width=50%}}
*[[Megaliths]]
*[[Neolithic Europe]]
*[[Neolithic Revolution]]
*[[Neolithic religion]]
{{col-break|width=50%}}
*[[Ötzi the Iceman]]
*[[Synoptic table of the principal old world prehistoric cultures]]
*[[Paleolithic]]
{{col-end}}
==Footnotes==
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{{reflist|2}}
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==Bibliography==
<div class="references-small">
* Bellwood, Peter. (2004). ''First Farmers: The Origins of Agricultural Societies.'' Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 0-631-20566-7
*[[Pedersen, Hilthart (2008)]], "Die jüngere Steinzeit auf Bornholm", München & Ravensburg. ISBN 978-3638945592
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== External links ==
{{Commons|Neolithic|Neolithic}}
*{{cite web|last=McNamara|first=John|title=Neolithic Period|publisher=World Museum of Man|date=2005|url=http://worldmuseumofman.org/neolithic1.htm|format=html|accessdate=2008-04-14}}
*{{cite web|last=Rincon|first=Paul|title=Brutal lives of Stone Age Britons|publisher=BBC News|date=Thursday, 11 May 2006|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4757861.stm|format=html|accessdate=2008-04-14}}
*[http://www.omniglot.com/writing/vinca.htm Vincha Neolithic Script]
*[http://ubprehistoire.free.fr/index.html UB Préhistoire - Enseignements sur le Néolithique]
[[Category:Neolithic| ]]
[[Category:Holocene]]
[[Category:Stone Age]]
[[Category:Greek loanwords]]
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