Pre-Pottery Neolithic

(Redirected from Pre-pottery Neolithic)

Earlier part of the Neolithic period in Southwest Asia

Pre-Pottery Neolithic
The Fertile Crescent, c. 7500 BCE (PPNB), with main Pre-Pottery Neolithic sites (black squares for pre-agricultural sites). The area of Mesopotamia proper was not yet settled by humans.
Geographical range	Fertile Crescent
Period	Neolithic
Dates	c. 10000 – 6500 BCE
Type site	Jericho
Preceded by	Epipalaeolithic Near East (Kebaran culture, Natufian culture) Khiamian
Followed by	Pottery Neolithic. Halaf culture, Neolithic Greece, Faiyum A culture

The Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) represents the early Neolithic in the Levantine and upper Mesopotamian region of the Fertile Crescent, dating to c. 12,000 – c. 8,500 years ago, (10000 – 6500 BCE). It succeeds the Natufian culture of the Epipalaeolithic Near East (also called Mesolithic), as the domestication of plants and animals was in its formative stages, having possibly been induced by the Younger Dryas.

The Pre-Pottery Neolithic culture came to an end around the time of the 8.2-kiloyear event, a cool spell centred on 6200 BCE that lasted several hundred years. It is succeeded by the Pottery Neolithic.

Chronology

Prehistoric Southwest Asia

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↓ Historic ↓Chalcolithic Neolithic Epipalaeolithic↑ Palaeolithic ↑Late Pre-Pottery Late Middle Early

Axis scale is years Before Present

Pre-Pottery Neolithic A

Main article: Pre-Pottery Neolithic A

The Pre-Pottery Neolithic is divided into Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA 10000–8800 BCE) and the following Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB 8800–6500 BCE). These were originally defined by Kathleen Kenyon in the type site of Jericho (Palestine). The Pre-Pottery Neolithic precedes the ceramic Neolithic (Yarmukian culture, 6400 – 6200 BCE). At 'Ain Ghazal, in Jordan, the culture continued a few more centuries as the so-called Pre-Pottery Neolithic C culture.

Around 11000 years ago (9000 BCE), during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA), the "world's first town", Jericho, appeared in the Levant, although the adequacy of this title has since been challenged.

Sculpture of a predatory animal, Göbekli Tepe, circa 9000 BCE
Urfa Man, c. 9000 BCE. Şanlıurfa Archaeology and Mosaic Museum.

Pre-Pottery Neolithic B

Main article: Pre-Pottery Neolithic B

The Pre-Pottery Neolithic is divided into Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (10000 – 8800 BCE) and the following Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (8800 – 6500 BCE). PPNB differed from PPNA in showing greater use of domesticated animals, a different set of tools, and new architectural styles.

Head of a statue from Jericho, from c. 9000 years ago (7000 BCE). On display at the Rockefeller Museum, in Jerusalem.
Footed bowl in granite, Syria, end of 8th Millennium BCE.
Jar in calcite alabaster, Syria, late 8th Millennium BCE.
Green aragonite tripod vase Mid-Euphrates 6000 BCE Louvre Museum AO 28386
Calcite tripod vase, mid-Euphrates, probably from Tell Buqras, 6000 BCE, Louvre Museum AO 31551
PPNB plastered skull from Tell Aswad, Syria, 7th Millennium BCE

Pre-Pottery Neolithic C

Work at the site of 'Ain Ghazal in Jordan has indicated a later Pre-Pottery Neolithic C period. Juris Zarins has proposed that a Circum Arabian Nomadic Pastoral Complex developed in the period from the climatic crisis of 6200 BCE, partly as a result of an increasing emphasis in PPNB cultures upon domesticated animals, and a fusion with Harifian hunter-gatherers in the Southern Levant, with affiliate connections with the cultures of Fayyum and the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Cultures practicing this lifestyle spread down the Red Sea shoreline and moved east from Syria into southern Iraq.

In Israel, PPNC sites are rather rare. By 2008, only four sites had been clearly identified: Ashkelon (Afridar) and 'Atlit Yam on the coast, stratum II at Tel 'Ali one mile south of the Sea of Galilee, and Ha-Gosherim in the north.

ʿAin Ghazal statues: closeup of one of the bicephalous statues, c. 6500 BCE.
Ain Ghazal statue on show in the Musée du Louvre, Paris.
Louvre Ain Ghazal statue, frontal
Two-headed statue from the Jordan Museum

Diffusion

Europe

Carbon 14 dating

Main articles: Neolithic Europe and Indus Valley civilisation

The spread of the Neolithic in Europe was first studied quantitatively in the 1970s, when a sufficient number of 14C age determinations for early Neolithic sites had become available. Ammerman and Cavalli-Sforza discovered a linear relationship between the age of an Early Neolithic site and its distance from the conventional source in the Near East (Jericho), thus demonstrating that, on average, the Neolithic spread at a constant speed of about 1 km/yr. More recent studies confirm these results and yield the speed of 0.6–1.3 km/yr at 95% confidence level.

Analysis of mitochondrial DNA

Since the original human expansions out of Africa 200,000 years ago, different prehistoric and historic migration events have taken place in Europe. Considering that the movement of the people implies a consequent movement of their genes, it is possible to estimate the impact of these migrations through the genetic analysis of human populations. Agricultural and husbandry practices originated 10,000 years ago in a region of the Near East known as the Fertile Crescent. According to the archaeological record this phenomenon, known as "Neolithic", rapidly expanded from these territories into Europe. However, whether this diffusion was accompanied or not by human migrations is greatly debated. Mitochondrial DNA –a type of maternally inherited DNA located in the cell cytoplasm- was recovered from the remains of Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) farmers in the Near East and then compared to available data from other Neolithic populations in Europe and also to modern populations from South-Eastern Europe and the Near East. The obtained results show that substantial human migrations were involved in the Neolithic spread and suggest that the first Neolithic farmers entered Europe following a maritime route through Cyprus and the Aegean Islands.

Modern distribution of the haplotypes of PPNB farmers
Genetic distance between PPNB farmers and modern populations
Ancient European Neolithic farmers are genetically closest to modern Near-Eastern/ Anatolian populations: genetic matrilineal distances between European Neolithic Linear Pottery culture populations (5,500–4,900 calibrated BC) and modern Western Eurasian populations.

South Asia

Expansion to South Asia

Early Neolithic sites in the Near East and South Asia 10,000–3,800 BCE

Neolithic dispersal from the Near East to South Asia suggested by the time of establishment of Neolithic sites as a function of distance from Gesher, Israel. The dispersal rate amounts to about 0.6 km per year.

The earliest Neolithic sites in South Asia are Bhirrana in Haryana, dated to 7570–6200 BCE, and Mehrgarh, dated to between 6500 and 5500 BCE, in the Kachi plain of Baluchistan, Pakistan; the site has evidence of farming (wheat and barley) and herding (cattle, sheep and goats).

There is strong evidence for causal connections between the Near-Eastern Neolithic and that further east, up to the Indus Valley. There are several lines of evidence that support the idea of a connection between the Neolithic in the Near East and in the Indian subcontinent. The prehistoric site of Mehrgarh in Baluchistan (modern Pakistan) is the earliest Neolithic site in the north-west Indian subcontinent, dated as early as 8500 BCE. Neolithic domesticated crops in Mehrgarh include more than barley and a small amount of wheat. There is good evidence for the local domestication of barley and the zebu cattle at Mehrgarh, but the wheat varieties are suggested to be of Near-Eastern origin, as the modern distribution of wild varieties of wheat is limited to Northern Levant and Southern Turkey. A detailed satellite map study of a few archaeological sites in the Baluchistan and Khybar Pakhtunkhwa regions also suggests similarities in early phases of farming with sites in Western Asia. Pottery prepared by sequential slab construction, circular fire pits filled with burnt pebbles, and large granaries are common to both Mehrgarh and many Mesopotamian sites. The postures of the skeletal remains in graves at Mehrgarh bear a strong resemblance to those at Ali Kosh in the Zagros Mountains of southern Iran. Despite their scarcity, the 14C and archaeological age determinations for early Neolithic sites in Southern Asia exhibit remarkable continuity across the vast region from the Near East to the Indian Subcontinent, consistent with a systematic eastward spread at a speed of about 0.65 km/yr.

In South India, the Neolithic began by 6500 BCE and lasted until around 1400 BCE when the Megalithic transition period began. South Indian Neolithic is characterized by Ash mounds from 2500 BCE in Karnataka region, expanded later to Tamil Nadu.

Genetics

Lazaridis et al. (2022) stated that ancient Levantines (i.e. inhabitants of Jordan, Israel, Syria, Lebanon) and their descendants exhibit a decrease of ~8% local Neolithic ancestry, which is mostly Natufian ancestry, every millennium, starting from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic to the Medieval period. It was replaced by Caucasus-related and Anatolian-related ancestries, from the north and west respectively. However, despite the decline in the Natufian component, this key ancestry source made an important contribution to peoples of later periods, continuing until the present.

Relative chronology

Chronology of the Neolithic period

Pre-Pottery Neolithic Pottery Neolithic

BC	Europe	Egypt	Syria Levant	Anatolia	Khabur	Sinjar Mountains Assyria	Middle Tigris	Low Mesopotamia	Iran (Khuzistan)	Iran	Indus/ India	China
11000												Early Pottery (18,000 BC)
10000			Pre-Pottery Neolithic A Gesher Mureybet (10,500 BC)
9000			Jericho Tell Abu Hureyra
8000			Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Jericho Tell Aswad	Göbekli Tepe Çayönü Aşıklı Höyük								Initial Neolithic (Pottery) Nanzhuangtou (8500–8000 BC)
7000		Egyptian Neolithic Nabta Playa (7500 BC)	Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Jericho Tell Aswad	Çatalhöyük (7500–5500) Hacilar (7000 BC)	Tell Sabi Abyad Bouqras	Jarmo				Ganj Dareh Chia Jani Ali Kosh	Mehrgarh I
6500	Neolithic Europe Franchthi Sesklo		Pre-Pottery Neolithic C ('Ain Ghazal)		Pottery Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad Bouqras	Pottery Neolithic Jarmo			Chogha Bonut	Teppe Zagheh	Mehrgarh I	Pottery Neolithic Peiligang (7000–5000 BC)
6000	Pottery Neolithic Sesklo Dimini		Pottery Neolithic Yarmukian (Sha'ar HaGolan)		Pottery Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad Bouqras	Pottery Neolithic Jarmo		Pottery Neolithic Ubaid 0 (Tell el-'Oueili)	Pottery Neolithic Chogha Mish	Pottery Neolithic Sang-i Chakmak	Pottery Neolithic Lahuradewa Mehrgarh II Mehrgarh III
5600	Pottery Neolithic Sesklo Dimini	Faiyum A	Amuq A		Halaf Halaf-Ubaid	Umm Dabaghiya	Samarra (6000–4800 BC)	Pottery Neolithic Ubaid 0 (Tell el-'Oueili)	Tepe Muhammad Djafar	Tepe Sialk
5200	Linear Pottery culture (5500–4500 BC)	Faiyum A	Amuq B	Hacilar Mersin 24–22		Hassuna		Ubaid 1 (Eridu 19–15) Ubaid 2 (Hadji Muhammed) (Eridu 14–12)	Susiana A	Yarim Tepe Hajji Firuz Tepe
4800		Pottery Neolithic Merimde	Amuq C	Hacilar Mersin 22–20		Hassuna Late Gawra 20			Tepe Sabz	Kul Tepe Jolfa
4500		Pottery Neolithic Merimde	Amuq D	Gian Hasan Mersin 19–17	Ubaid 3	Ubaid 3 (Gawra) 19–18	Ubaid 3		Khazineh Susiana B
3800		Badarian Naqada	Amuq D	Gian Hasan Mersin 19–17	Ubaid 4
		Succeeded by: Historical Ancient Near East

The Neolithic
↑ Mesolithic
Neolithic cultures Fertile Crescent Heavy Neolithic Shepherd Neolithic Trihedral Neolithic Pre-Pottery (A, B) Qaraoun culture Tahunian culture Yarmukian culture Halaf culture Halaf-Ubaid Transitional period Ubaid culture Nile valley Faiyum A culture Tasian culture Merimde culture El Omari culture Maadi culture Badarian culture Amratian culture Europe Arzachena culture Boian culture Butmir culture Cardium pottery culture Cernavodă culture Coțofeni culture Cucuteni–Trypillia culture Danilo culture Dudești culture Gorneşti culture Gumelnița–Karanovo culture Hamangia culture Kakanj culture Khirokitia Linear Pottery culture Malta Temples Ozieri culture Petreşti culture San Ciriaco culture Shulaveri–Shomu culture Sesklo culture Sopot culture Tisza culture Tiszapolgár culture Usatovo culture Varna culture Vinča culture Vučedol culture Neolithic Transylvania Neolithic Southeastern Europe China Peiligang culture Pengtoushan culture Beixin culture Cishan culture Dadiwan culture Houli culture Xinglongwa culture Xinle culture Zhaobaogou culture Hemudu culture Daxi culture Majiabang culture Yangshao culture Hongshan culture Dawenkou culture Songze culture Liangzhu culture Majiayao culture Qujialing culture Longshan culture Baodun culture Shijiahe culture Yueshi culture Neolithic Tibet South Asia Lahuradewa Mehrgarh Marine archaeology in the Gulf of Cambay Bhirrana Rakhigarhi Kalibangan Chopani Mando Jhukar Daimabad Chirand Koldihwa Burzahom Mundigak Brahmagiri Other locations Khiamian culture Jeulmun pottery period Jōmon period Philippine jade culture Capsian culture Savanna Pastoral Neolithic Al-Magar
Neolithic topics Neolithic Revolution (farming) Animal husbandry Pottery Metallurgy Wheel Circular ditches Henges Megaliths Neolithic religion Neolithic decline
↓ Chalcolithic
v t e

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