Neolithic

The Neolithic, or New Stone Age, marks the final stage of Stone Age cultural development across much of Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa. Lasting broadly from around 10,000 BCE to 2,000 BCE—varying significantly by region—it was defined above all by the transition from foraging to farming. This profound transformation, known as the Neolithic Revolution, brought major changes in subsistence, settlement and social organisation and arose independently in several parts of the world.

Characteristics of the Neolithic

The term Neolithic, coined in 1865 by John Lubbock, refers to technological, economic and social developments that distinguished this era from earlier Palaeolithic and Mesolithic societies. The hallmark of the Neolithic is the emergence of agriculture and animal domestication, enabling a shift from mobile hunter-gatherer lifeways to sedentary village communities. This Neolithic “package” typically included:

• The cultivation of cereals, legumes and other crops
• The domestication of animals such as sheep, goats, cattle and pigs
• Permanent or semi-permanent settlement
• Increasing social complexity
• Later, the appearance of pottery, textile production and new forms of craft specialisation

Different regions adopted these elements in varying sequences. For example, in parts of East Asia pottery production preceded agriculture, whereas in the Near East farming pre-dated ceramics.

Origins and Independent Centres

Archaeology demonstrates that agriculture began independently in several parts of the world. Early farming centres include the following:

• The Fertile Crescent (c. 12,000–10,000 BP), where wild cereal use by the Natufian culture evolved into deliberate cultivation
• The Yangtze and Yellow River basins in China (c. 9,000 BP), with the domestication of rice and millet
• The New Guinea Highlands (c. 9,000–6,000 BP), with early plant management strategies
• Mesoamerica, particularly central Mexico (c. 5,000–4,000 BP), where crops such as maize, beans and squash were domesticated
• Northern South America (c. 5,000–4,000 BP)
• Sub-Saharan Africa (c. 5,000–4,000 BP) with indigenous crops, though the precise locus remains unclear
• Eastern North America (c. 4,000–3,000 BP)

These regional developments produced distinct Neolithic traditions rather than a single global pattern.

The Near Eastern Neolithic

The Neolithic in Southwest Asia, one of the best-documented regions, began around 10,200 BCE with the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA). This phase grew out of the Natufian culture (12,500–9,500 BCE), which was already harvesting wild cereals and adopting more permanent settlement patterns. Climatic stress during the Younger Dryas likely accelerated the move to cultivated crops.
Founder crops of the Fertile Crescent included wheat, lentils, peas, chickpeas, bitter vetch and flax. By roughly 8,000 BCE, domesticated animals such as sheep, goats, cattle and pigs had become integral to subsistence.
Important PPNA and early PPNB sites include:

• Göbekli Tepe in southeastern Anatolia (c. 9,500 BCE), featuring monumental stone enclosures that may represent the earliest known ritual complex
• Jericho (Tell es-Sultan), with early farming villages, mudbrick houses and a stone tower
• Gilgal I, demonstrating early cultivation of figs
• Ain Mallaha, Nahal Oren and other Levantine sites showing continuity from the Natufian tradition

During the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (from c. 8,800 BCE), settlements expanded, rectangular architecture appeared and ritual practices such as plastered skulls indicate increasingly complex social organisation. At Ayn Ghazal in Jordan, one of the largest Neolithic settlements, remarkable human figurines date to around 7,250 BCE.
Later developments, including the Pottery Neolithic and the Chalcolithic, introduced ceramics, metallurgy and long-distance exchange, setting the stage for Bronze Age urbanism.

Regional Variability

Neolithic timelines differ widely across regions:

• Egypt: The Neolithic continued until the Protodynastic period around 3,150 BCE.
• China: Varied Neolithic cultures persisted until c. 2,000 BCE with the emergence of the Erlitou culture and subsequent Shang dynasty.
• Scandinavia: Farming arrived far later, and Neolithic lifeways lasted until well into the Bronze Age.
• South Asia and North Africa: Independent domestication events produced locally distinctive Neolithic traditions.

Jōmon cultures in Japan produced pottery long before adopting agriculture, demonstrating that Neolithic traits did not necessarily arise in tandem.

Technology, Society and Settlement

Neolithic communities typically built permanent dwellings—initially round structures, later rectangular houses made of mudbrick. Settlements grew significantly in size and density, with evidence for food storage, communal structures and early ritual features.
Toolkit innovations accompanied these changes. Ground and polished stone tools, sickle blades, grinding stones and early agricultural implements replaced earlier flaked stone technologies. Pottery became widespread in many regions during later phases, facilitating food storage and culinary innovations.
Animal domestication supported new subsistence economies and contributed to secondary products such as milk, wool and traction power. Social differentiation, ritual activity and long-distance exchange networks increased throughout the Neolithic.

Transition and Later Developments

The Neolithic ended at different times across Eurasia and Africa. In many regions it was followed by the Chalcolithic (Copper Age) from around 4,500 BCE, marked by early metallurgy. The subsequent Bronze and Iron Ages saw the development of urban societies, writing systems and complex political institutions.