The Neolithic, or New Stone Age, is the period in which human groups began to farm and keep domestic animals, replacing the hunting and gathering that had been the rule for hundreds of thousands of years. It began in the Fertile Crescent of the Near East, and farming arose independently in other regions, including China, Mesoamerica and New Guinea. People settled in permanent villages, made pottery, wove cloth and used polished stone tools, and sites such as Jericho and Catalhoyuk grew into large communities. In Europe the period brought megalithic monuments built from huge stones. It ended with the spread of metalworking, but the date varied widely, since in some regions the Neolithic lasted for thousands of years longer.
Before and after
- 10th millennium BCEThe Holocene begins
- c. 9,501 BCEBuilders raise the first monumental temple at Gobekli Tepe
- from c. 9,050s BCE to 8,850s BCEClovis culture
- from 10th millennium BCE to 3rd millennium BCENeolithic revolution
- from 10th millennium BCE to 3rd millennium BCENeolithic
- from 10th millennium BCE to 6th millennium BCEMesolithic
- c. 8,750 BCEEruption of Ulleungdo
- 86th century BCESheep, goats and cattle are domesticated
- c. 8,400 BCEEruption of Michinmahuida
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- from about 12,000 years ago to 7th millennium BCEConstruction of Göbekli Tepe
- from 76th century BCE to 25th century BCEChalcolithic
- from c. 7,500 BCE to 5,700 BCEConstruction of Çatalhöyük
- from c. 7,101 BCE to 5,701 BCECatalhoyuk grows into a large Neolithic town
- from c. 7,000 BCE to 2,600 BCEOrigins of Mehrgarh
- from c. 3,300 BCE to 1,100 BCEMinoan civilization
The era
This moment belongs to the Human prehistory (300,000 years ago to 3,200 BCE), the human story before writing.