A Complete Timeline of The Neolithic Period start 9m 31s

(speaker) As the world left the Paleolithic Period

and traveled through the Mesolithic,

it would not be long-- historically speaking--

before humans started to settle down

in permanent farmsteads, villages, and communities.

The Neolithic, or New Stone Age,

was the final chapter of the Stone Age

and the first step towards what we would consider

to be civilization,

loosely.

Part of the Neolithic was the first agricultural revolution,

where many human communities

began transitioning away from life as hunter-gatherers

in favor of farming crops and livestock.

This, in turn, allowed for populations to grow,

and some settlements spread out to support this,

forming the world's first large-scale communities.

The Neolithic began roughly 12,000 years ago,

and is actually marked by the first evidence of farming

taking place in the fertile crescent of Western Asia.

These early farms cultivated a small range of crops,

such as spelt, wheat, einkorn, and millet,

and still kept dogs in their settlements

to assist with hunting for meat.

It wasn't until 8000 BC

when modern domesticated animals,

such as pigs, goats, and sheep,

were brought into human settlements.

Where the Neolithic ends

depends on where you're located.

These West Asian cultures

were the first to progress out of the Neolithic

with the advent of metallurgy

as they headed into the Bronze Age.

Other regions of the world took longer to advance

with cultures in Africa

first progressing at around 3150 BC,

and Europe in 2000 BC.

Today we will be examining these cultures in greater detail.

How did the Neolithic humans of Europe,

Asia, and Africa live their lives?

How did they progress, learn, and thrive

in the early historical landscapes

they would grow to call home?

Join us as we answer these questions and more

exploring the Neolithic,

the mysterious and ancient New Stone Age.

Asian cultures were by far the first to show evidence

of stable farming communities

and the earliest forms of civilization.

This technology first came to light in Western Asia

and the Levant,

encompassing regions making up modern day Turkey,

Syria, Iraq, and Jordan.

This is suspected to have begun

when hunter-gatherers began to understand the process

in which plants grew.

It is thought that, in the first instance,

these hunter-gatherers

would simply scatter seeds around the region they found them

in order to prompt the growth of more plants,

thus resulting in more food.

There would have been a great deal

of trial and error involved in this,

as is the way with any new technology.

Hunter-gatherers are thought to have finally made the leap

when localized climate change forced parts of the planet

into long dry seasons,

a climate that favors plants,

which complete their life cycle in one year.

Certain grains and pulses were available to be harvested

at differing points in the year,

leading to a wide variety of food ready to eat year round.

It was off the back of this

that the first settlements were able to arise.

Neolithic communities in the Levant

are thought to have had a basic grasp

over seed selection and re seeding,

allowing the finest crops to be cultivated and harvested

based on preferences.

Some grains were ground down into flour

using mortar and pestles,

which, as technology progressed,

would eventually be used to make a range of new foods.

There is evidence from Jericho, however,

that figs were in fact the first crop to be cultivated by humans.

Fig remains were discovered in an ancient settlement

which dated back to around 9400 BC.

These figs were a domesticated variety

from trees that are only able to reproduce

from cuttings selected by humans.

Unless another crop is discovered that predates them,

scientists have reason to believe

that fig trees were the first domesticated plant.

Agriculture is not a technology

that was discovered once and spread across the globe,

but one that was invented independently

by many different cultures

who were progressing technologically at the same time.

There would have been plenty of spread

in the immediate regions it was developed in,

but agriculture is thought to have been instigated

over 11 separate times by different cultures across the globe,

starting in Western Asia.

Neolithic humans in Asia

were also the first to have set up a place of worship,

a temple-like building located

in the ancient Turkish archeological site of Gobekli Tepe.

Established around 9500 BC,

is thought to have been the first of its kind,

and was actually developed

before the buildings around it were established.

The people who built this structure

were still very much living as hunter-gatherers.

Around the temple lie seven stone circles,

some of which are made up of limestone pillars

engraved with depictions of various species of mammal,

bird, and invertebrate.

Amazingly, hundreds of people

are thought to have worked on these structures,

which may have once been shrines adjacent to the main temple

covered by basic roofing mechanisms.

Similar but slightly younger sites have been uncovered

in what is now Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon.

As Asian settlements in the early Neolithic became long term,

people started to abandon the nomadic lifestyle

in favor of a solid structure

that would keep them warm and sheltered year round.

These early houses were circular in shape,

with only one room that served as a multi-purpose bedroom,

living area, and makeshift kitchen

to prepare food from cultivated crops.

These earliest houses were made of mudbrick,

air-dried blocks composed from mud bound with straw.

In some cases, early communities had basic stone walls

and even stone towers.

These basic defenses were sufficient

to keep communities safe from wild animals,

rival groups of humans,

and natural hazards such as floods and storms.

Smaller walls can be found within

that may have served as animal pens

or food storage areas

that would have been used by the whole settlement.

Around 8800 BC,

we start to see evidence of what has been coined

"the pre-pottery Neolithic B period."

One major change taking place around this time

is that round houses

typically switch to rectangular or square houses

with multiple rooms.

This would have allowed families residing within further privacy

and would form the bases of the houses we live in today.

We also start to gain a better insight

into early human religions,

beliefs, and cultures at this time.

Figurines of both men and women

found made from gypsum and stone

have been discovered in settlements within what is now Syria,

and there is evidence that these early mudbrick houses

were the places of religious spectacles

that would be considered obscene in the modern day.

Human remains found within and outside these houses

suggest that these people worshiped

or venerated their dead in some way,

preserving their skulls within the houses

and plastering them with dried mud to form facial features.

Perhaps this was a way of keeping the deceased loved one

with them after death,

albeit a way that would be considered very strange in today's world.

When families preserve their loved ones,

they would leave the rest of the body outside to decay

to nothing but bones.

These bones would then be buried underneath the floor of the abode.

Following on from this period,

we enter the late Neolithic

focused around the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East.

This time is characterized

by the first experiments with pottery,

developed in the southern reaches of the Levant.