Neolithic

The later part of the Stone Age, marked in many regions by farming, settled communities, and polished stone tools. Its timing and defining traits varied across regions.

Neolithic Revolution: The gradual shift from foraging toward food production that began in several regions independently. This broad transition captures the economic change associated with the Neolithic.
Fertile Crescent: A crescent-shaped region of Southwest Asia where early farming and animal domestication developed. It contains some of the earliest known farming communities.
Çatalhöyük: A large Neolithic settlement in central Anatolia, known for densely packed houses and wall paintings. Its architecture offers a vivid case of life in a substantial farming settlement.
Population growth: An increase in the number of people living in a population over time. Reliable food supplies could support denser populations and larger settlements.
Paleolithic: The earlier and longest part of the Stone Age, characterized chiefly by stone tools and foraging societies. It provides the broad chronological contrast to the Neolithic.
Domestication: The multigenerational process by which humans alter wild species through managed breeding. Domesticated plants and animals made sustained food production possible.
Pre-Pottery Neolithic: A period in Southwest Asia when farming and settled life preceded widespread pottery. It shows that Neolithic lifeways did not depend on ceramic technology.
Jericho: An ancient settlement near the Jordan River with archaeological layers dating back to the Neolithic. Its early settlement structures document community life during the transition to farming.
Social stratification: The division of a society into ranked groups with unequal access to resources or status. Stored surpluses and land control could create new forms of social difference.
Mesolithic: A transitional period between the Paleolithic and Neolithic in some regional chronologies. It shows that the shift from foraging to farming was not always immediate.

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