Late Neolithic

After the initialPre-Pottery Neolithic phase from northwestern Mesopotamia toJarmo (red dots, circa 7500 BCE), the Pottery Neolithic culture of Mesopotamia in the 7th–5th millennium BCE was centered around theHassuna culture in the north, theHalaf culture in the northwest, theSamarra culture in central Mesopotamia and theUbaid culture in the southeast, which later expanded to encompass the whole region.
Geographical range	Old World
Period	Pottery Neolithic
Dates	c. 6,400–3,500 BCE
Preceded by	Pre-Pottery Neolithic B
Followed by	Bronze Age

In thearchaeology of Southwest Asia, theLate Neolithic, also known as theCeramic Neolithic orPottery Neolithic, is the final part of theNeolithic period, following on from thePre-Pottery Neolithic and preceding theChalcolithic. It is sometimes further divided into Pottery Neolithic A (PNA) and Pottery Neolithic B (PNB) phases.^[1]

The Late Neolithic began with the first experiments withpottery, around 7000 BCE, and lasted until the discovery ofcopper metallurgy and the start of the Chalcolithic around 4500 BCE.

The Neolithic of theSouthern Levant is divided into Pre-Pottery and Pottery or Late Neolithic phases, initially based on the sequence established byKathleen Kenyon atJericho. In the Mediterranean zone, the Pottery Neolithic is further subdivided into two subphases and several regional cultures. However, the extent to which these represent real cultural phenomena is debated:^[2]

• Pottery Neolithic A (PNA) or Late Neolithic 1 (LN1)
  • Yarmukian culture
  • Lodian (Jericho IX) culture
• Pottery Neolithic B (PNB) or Late Neolithic 2 (LN2)
  • Wadi Rabah culture

In the eastern desert regions of the Southern Levant—theBadia—the whole period is referred to as the Late Neolithic (c. 7000–5000 BCE).^[3] It is marked by the appearance of the firstpastoralist societies in the desert, who may have migrated there following the abandonment of the largePPNB settlements to the west.^[4][5]

In the southernNegev andSinai Deserts, the Late Neolithic is characterised by the pastoralistTimnian culture, which persisted through to the Bronze Age.^[6]

The Late Neolithic began around 6,400 BCE in theFertile Crescent, succeeding the period of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic.^[7] By then distinctive cultures emerged, with pottery like theHalafian (Turkey, Syria, Northern Mesopotamia) andUbaid (Southern Mesopotamia).

Thenorthern Mesopotamian sites ofTell Hassuna andJarmo are some of the oldest sites in the Near-East wherepottery has been found, appearing in the most recent levels of excavation, which dates it to the 7th millennium BCE.^[8] This pottery is handmade, of simple design and with thick sides, and treated with a vegetable solvent.^[9] There are clay figures, zoomorphic or anthropomorphic, including figures of pregnant women which are taken to be fertility goddesses, similar to theMother Goddess of later Neolithic cultures in the same region.

Pottery was decorated with abstract geometric patterns and ornaments, especially in theHalaf culture, also known for its clay fertility figurines, painted with lines. Clay was all around and the main material; often modelled figures were painted with black decoration. Carefully crafted and dyed pots, especially jugs and bowls, were traded. As dyes,iron oxide containing clays were diluted in different degrees or various minerals were mixed to produce different colours.

The Halaf culture saw the earliest known appearance ofstamp seals.^[10] They featured essentially geometric patterns.^[10]

Female fertility figurines in painted clay, possibly goddesses, also appear in this period, circa 6000–5100 BCE.^[11]

• 
  Jar decorated with diverse geometric patterns; 4900-4300 BC; ceramic; by Halaf culture;Erbil Civilization Museum (Erbil, Iraq)
• 
  Shard; 5600-5000 BC; painted ceramic; 7.19 × 4.19 cm; byHalaf culture
• 
  Halaf culture female figurines, 6000-5100 BC Louvre Museum
• 
  Stamp seal and modern impression- geometric pattern. Halaf culture
• 
  Fragment of a bowl; 5600-5000 BC; 8.2 cm; byHalaf culture
• 
  Shard; 5600-5000 BC; painted ceramic; 3.96 × 5.21 cm; byHalaf culture

TheHassuna culture is aNeolithicarchaeological culture innorthern Mesopotamia dating to the early sixth millennium BCE. It is named after thetype site ofTell Hassuna inIraq. Other sites where Hassuna material has been found includeTell Shemshara. The decoration of pottery essentially consists in geometrical shapes, and a fewibex designs. The monochrome pottery from the latest level atGinnig has been described as "proto-Hassuna". As the oldest layers at the site lacked pottery, Ginnig may represent a rare example of site in Upper Mesopotamia that was occupied during the transition from the aceramic to the ceramic Neolithic.^[12]

• 
  Hassuna redware bowl, circa 5500 BCE
• 
  Fragment of pottery with incised and painted decor. From Tell Hassuna, 6500 - 6000 BCE.
• 
  Reconstitution of Neolithic dwelling in northern Mesopotamia (Akarcay Tepe II)
• 
  Reconstitution of Neolithic dwelling in northern Mesopotamia (Akarcay Tepe II)

TheSamarra culture is aChalcolithicarchaeological culture innorthern Mesopotamia that is roughly dated to 5500–4800 BCE. It partially overlaps with theHassuna and earlyUbaid.

• 
  Samarra plate, with a design consists of a rim, a circle of eight fish, and four fish swimming towards the center being caught by four birds, at the center being aswastika symbol; circa 4000 BCE; painted ceramic; diameter: 27.7 cm;Vorderasiatisches Museum (Berlin)
• 
  Samarra period fine ware, with centralIbex motif; circa 6200-5700 BCE; Vorderasiatisches Museum
• 
  Fragment of Samarra pottery with geometrical designs inUniversity of Chicago Oriental Institute (USA)
• 
  Female figurine found in theTell es Sawwan (middle Tigris, near Samarra), level 1, ca. 6000 BCE.

TheUbaid period (c. 6500–3800 BCE)^[13] is aprehistoric period ofMesopotamia. The name derives fromTell al-'Ubaid in Southern Mesopotamia, where the earliest large excavation of Ubaid period material was conducted initially byHenry Hall and later byLeonard Woolley.^[14]

In South Mesopotamia the period is the earliest known period on thealluvial plain although it is likely earlier periods exist obscured under thealluvium.^[15] In the south it has a very long duration between about 6500 and 3800 BCE when it is replaced by theUruk period.^[16]

In North Mesopotamia, Ubaid culture expanded during the period between about 5300 and 4300 BCE.^[16] It is preceded by theHalaf period and theHalaf-Ubaid Transitional period and succeeded by the Late Chalcolithic period. The new period is named Northern Ubaid to distinguish it from the proper Ubaid in southern Mesopotamia.^[17]

With Ubaid 3 (circa 4500 BCE) numerous examples of Ubaid pottery have been found along the Persian Gulf, as far asDilmun, whereIndus Valley Civilization pottery has also been found.^[18]

Stamps seals start to depict animals in stylistic fashion, and also bear the first known depiction of theMaster of Animals at the end of the period, circa 4000 BCE.^[19][10][20]

• 
  Jar; Late Ubaid period (4500-4000 BC); pottery; from Southern Iraq;Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (USA)
• 
  Fragment of pottery with a painting of anIbex; 4700-4200 BC; painted ceramic; fromGirsu;Louvre^[21]
• 
  Female figurines; 4700-4200 BC; ceramic; from Girsu; Louvre^[22]
• 
  Terracotta stamp seal withMaster of Animals motif, Tello, ancientGirsu, End of Ubaid period, Louvre Museum AO14165. Circa 4000 BC.^[19]

TheFertile Crescent in theAncient Near East is one of the independent origins of the Neolithic, the source from which farming and pottery-making spread across Europe from 9,000 to 6,000 years ago at an average rate of about 1 km/yr.^[23] There is also strong evidence for causal connections between the Near-Eastern Neolithic and that further east, up to the Indus Valley.^[23] There are several lines of evidence that support the idea of connection between the Neolithic in the Near East and in the Indian subcontinent.^[23] The prehistoric site ofMehrgarh in Baluchistan (modern Pakistan) is the earliest Neolithic site in the north-west Indian subcontinent, dated as early as 8500 BCE.^[23] 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.^[23] 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.^[23] 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.^[23] The postures of the skeletal remains in graves at Mehrgarh bear strong resemblance to those at Ali Kosh in the Zagros Mountains of southern Iran.^[23] Despite their scarcity, the 14C and archaeological age determinations for early Neolithic sites in Southern Asia exhibitremarkable 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.^[23]

During theMehrgarh Culture, precursor of theIndus Valley Civilization, Period II (5500 BCE–4800 BCE) and Merhgarh Period III (4800 BCE–3500 BCE) were ceramic Neolithic, usingpottery, and laterchalcolithic. Period II is at site MR4 and Period III is at MR2.^[25] Much evidence of manufacturing activity has been found and more advanced techniques were used. Glazedfaience beads were produced andterracotta figurines became more detailed. Figurines of females were decorated with paint and had diverse hairstyles and ornaments. Two flexedburials were found in Period II with ared ochre cover on the body. The amount of burial goods decreased over time, becoming limited to ornaments and with more goods left with burials of females. The first buttonseals were produced from terracotta and bone and had geometric designs. Technologies included stone and copper drills, updraftkilns, large pit kilns and copper meltingcrucibles. There is further evidence of long-distance trade in Period II: important as an indication of this is the discovery of severalbeads of lapis lazuli, once again fromBadakshan. Mehrgarh Periods II and III are also contemporaneous with an expansion of the settled populations of the borderlands at the western edge of South Asia, including the establishment of settlements like Rana Ghundai,Sheri Khan Tarakai, Sarai Kala, Jalilpur and Ghaligai.^[25]

TheEuropean Neolithic is generally dated to 7000–3000 BCE. 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.^[26]Ammerman andCavalli-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.^[26] More recent studies confirm these results and yield the speed of 0.6–1.3 km/yr at 95% confidence level.^[26]

Neolithic Greece is marked by some remarkable creations from stone or pottery. The settlement atSesklo gives its name to the earliest knownNeolithic culture ofEurope, which inhabitedThessaly and parts ofMacedonia. The oldest fragments researched at Sesklo place development of the civilization as far back as c. 7510 BCE — c. 6190 BCE, known as "proto-Sesklo" and "pre-Sesklo". They show an advanced agriculture and a very early use of pottery that rivals in age those documented in the Near East.

Ceramic decoration evolves to flame motifs toward the end of the Sesklo culture.Pottery of this "classic" Sesklo style also was used inWestern Macedonia, as atServia. That there are many similarities between the rare Asia Minor pottery and early Greek Neolithic pottery was acknowledged when investigations were made regarding whether these settlers could be migrants from Asia Minor, but such similarities seem to exist among all early pottery found in near eastern regions. The repertoire of shapes is not very different, but the Asia Minor vessels demonstrate significant differences.

The Sesklo culture is crucial in the expansion of the Neolithic into Europe. Dating and research points to the influence of Sesklo culture on both theKaranovo andKörös cultures that seem to originate there, and who in turn, gave rise to the important Danube civilization current.

• 
  Neolithic clay cups fromSesklo, circa 5,500 BCE. National Museum Athens
• 
  Female figurine, marble, Thessaly, 5,300–3,300 BCE
• 
  Female figurine of a woman holding a baby, Sesklo, Neolithic, 4,800–4,500 BCE
• 
  Sesklo culture vase

TheLinear Pottery culture is a majorarchaeological horizon of the EuropeanNeolithic, flourishingc. 5500–4500 BCE. It is abbreviated as "LBK" (fromGerman:Linearbandkeramik), and is also known as the "Linear Band Ware", "Linear Ware", "Linear Ceramics" or "Incised Ware culture", and falls within the "Danubian I culture" ofV. Gordon Childe.

The densest evidence for the culture is on the middleDanube, the upper and middleElbe, and the upper and middleRhine. It represents a major event in the initial spread of agriculture in Europe. The pottery after which it was named consists of simple cups, bowls, vases, and jugs, without handles, but in a later phase withlugs or pierced lugs, bases, and necks.^[27]

Important sites includeNitra inSlovakia;Bylany in theCzech Republic;Langweiler andZwenkau inGermany;Brunn am Gebirge inAustria;Elsloo,Sittard,Köln-Lindenthal,Aldenhoven,Flomborn, andRixheim on the Rhine;Lautereck andHienheim on the upper Danube; andRössen andSonderhausen on the middle Elbe.

Two variants of the early Linear Pottery culture are recognized:

• The Early or Western Linear Pottery Culture developed on the middleDanube, including westernHungary, and was carried down theRhine,Elbe,Oder, andVistula.
• TheEastern Linear Pottery Culture flourished in eastern Hungary.

Middle and late phases are also defined. In the middle phase, the Early Linear Pottery culture intruded upon theBug-Dniester culture and began to manufacture "musical note" or notenkopf pottery, where lines are sometimes interrupted by dots and stabs. In the late phase, theStroked Pottery culture moved down the Vistula and Elbe.

A number of cultures ultimately replaced the Linear Pottery culture over its range, but without a one-to-one correspondence between its variants and the replacing cultures. The culture map, instead, is complex. Some of the successor cultures are theHinkelstein,Großgartach,Rössen,Lengyel,Cucuteni-Trypillian, andBoian-Maritza cultures.

The Neolithic period in Europe was succeeded by theBronze Age, circa 3000 BCE.

• Late Neolithic
• Neolithic
• 7th millennium BC

• Webarchive template wayback links
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles containing German-language text