Pre-Pottery Neolithic

Long ago, people lived in a new way.

They began to grow plants for food. They also kept animals like sheep and goats. This helped them stay in one place.

They did not use clay pots yet. They used different tools and built new kinds of homes. One place called Jericho was a very early town. These people changed how they lived for a long time. It was a big step for the world.

Long ago, people in the Near East lived in a new way. This time is called the Pre-Pottery Neolithic. It lasted from 10,000 to 6,500 BCE.

During this time, people began to farm plants and keep animals. They did not use clay pots yet.

This era had two main parts. The first part is called PPNA. Around 9,000 BCE, a place called Jericho appeared. Some call it the world's first town.

The second part is called PPNB. In this stage, people used more animals. They also had new tools and different styles of homes.

These new ways of living spread to other places. Farming moved into Europe at a steady speed. It also moved toward South Asia. In a place called Mehrgarh, people grew barley and wheat. They also kept cattle, sheep, and goats.

Scientists study DNA to see how these people moved. They found that early farmers traveled to Europe by sea. This helped spread new ideas across the world.

The Pre-Pottery Neolithic was a very important time in history. It happened in the Near East from 10,000 to 6,500 BCE.

During these years, people began to change how they lived. They started to grow plants and raise animals for food. This was a new way of life called the Neolithic. Before this, people were mostly hunter-gatherers. This means they moved around to find wild food.

Now, they were learning to stay in one place. They did not use clay pots yet. This is why we call this period "Pre-Pottery."

This era is split into two main parts. The first part is called PPNA. It lasted from 10,000 to 8,800 BCE. During this time, a place called Jericho appeared in the Levant.

Some people call Jericho the world's first town. The second part is called PPNB. It lasted from 8,800 to 6,500 BCE. In this stage, life changed even more. People used more domesticated animals for help and food. They also used different tools and built new kinds of homes.

As time went on, these new ways of living moved to new places. In Europe, farming spread from the Near East. Scientists found that this spread happened at a steady speed. It moved at about 0.6 to 1.3 kilometers every year.

Some people think farmers traveled by sea. They might have moved through Cyprus and the Aegean Islands. This helped them reach Europe more quickly. This movement of people also moved their genes across the land.

The new ways of farming also moved toward South Asia. In a place called Mehrgarh, people lived a similar life. This site is in modern Pakistan.

At Mehrgarh, people grew barley and some wheat. They also kept cattle, sheep, and goats. Scientists see many links between these people and those in the Near East. For example, they used similar types of large granaries. They also made circular fire pits filled with burnt pebbles.

We can learn a lot about these people by looking at their DNA. DNA is a tiny code inside our cells. By studying DNA, scientists see how different groups mixed together. They found that people from Mesopotamia had an influence on other areas. For instance, some people in ancient Egypt had ancestors from the Fertile Crescent. This shows how much people moved and shared ideas. These early changes helped shape the world we live in today.

The Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) was a transformative era in human history. It took place in the Near East between 10,000 and 6,500 BCE.

This period followed the Natufian culture of the Epipalaeolithic. During the PPN, the domestication of plants and animals was in its formative stages. Some researchers believe these changes were induced by the Younger Dryas, a period of climate change. This era is defined by the fact that people had not yet begun using ceramic pottery. Instead, they relied on other materials for storage and daily life. This period ended around 6200 BCE during the 8.2-kiloyear event, which was a cool climate spell.

Archaeologists divide the PPN into two primary chronological stages. The first is Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA), which lasted from 10,000 to 8,800 BCE. One notable site from this time is Körtik Tepe in Upper Mesopotamia. Around 9,000 BCE, the site of Jericho appeared in the Levant. Some scholars have called Jericho the "world's first town," though this title is debated. The second stage is Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB), spanning from 8,800 to 6,500 BCE. These stages were originally defined by the archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon at the Jericho site. PPNB showed significant changes compared to PPNA. These included greater use of domesticated animals and new architectural styles. PPNB also utilized a different set of tools for daily tasks.

In some locations, the culture continued into a third stage known as Pre-Pottery Neolithic C (PPNC). At 'Ain Ghazal in Jordan, this period lasted for a few more centuries. In Israel, PPNC sites are quite rare. Only four such sites have been clearly identified by 2008. These include Ashkelon, 'Atlit Yam, Tel 'Ali, and Ha-Gosherim. Some scholars, like Juris Zarins, suggest a nomadic pastoral complex developed during this time. This complex may have resulted from a climatic crisis around 6200 BCE. It likely involved a fusion between PPNB cultures and Harifian hunter-gatherers. This lifestyle spread down the Red Sea shoreline and into southern Iraq.

The Neolithic revolution eventually spread far beyond the Near East. In Europe, the spread of farming was studied quantitatively in the 1970s. Researchers Ammerman and Cavalli-Sforza found a linear relationship between site age and distance from Jericho. This suggests the Neolithic spread at a constant speed. Estimates place this speed at about 1 km per year. More recent studies provide a confidence level of 95% for a speed between 0.6 and 1.3 km per year.

Scientists believe these farmers may have used a maritime route. They likely traveled through Cyprus and the Aegean Islands to reach Europe.

Evidence from South Asia also shows a connection to the Near Eastern Neolithic. The site of Mehrgarh in modern Pakistan is a key location. It is dated between 8,500 BCE and 5,500 BCE. At Mehrgarh, people farmed barley and small amounts of wheat. They also herded cattle, sheep, and goats. There is strong evidence for local domestication of barley and zebu cattle. However, the wheat varieties appear to be of Near-Eastern origin.

Archaeologists have noted similarities in farming techniques between Mehrgarh and Mesopotamia. These include the use of large granaries and circular fire pits filled with burnt pebbles. The eastward spread in this region moved at a speed of about 0.65 km per year.

Genetic analysis provides deep insight into how these ancient populations moved. Scientists study mitochondrial DNA, which is maternally inherited DNA found in cell cytoplasm. By comparing PPNB remains to other populations, researchers have tracked human migrations. The PPN era featured a genetic network of Anatolian, Natufian, and Iranian hunter-gatherers. In Mesopotamia, the ancestry was formed by an admixture of these three sources. This group showed close affinities to Neolithic remains in Armenia and Azerbaijan. In the Levant, local Natufian-like ancestry gradually decreased over many millennia. It was gradually replaced by ancestries from the Caucasus and Anatolia.

These ancient migrations also reached as far as Egypt. Genetic studies of the Nuwayrat individual from the Egyptian Old Kingdom revealed a complex history. This individual had about 24% of his ancestry from the eastern Fertile Crescent. This ancestry matched the Mesopotamia_Neolithic cluster from 9,000 to 8,000 BCE. This suggests that the movement of people from Mesopotamia into Egypt was substantial. Between 10,000 and 5,000 BCE, populations from Mesopotamia and the Zagros expanded. They brought a "Neolithic package" of technological innovations to new lands. This included domesticated plants and increased sedentism, or staying in one place. These early movements shaped the genetic and cultural landscape of the ancient world.