The Neolithic Period represents the final stage of the Stone Age and is characterized by major technological and cultural developments. This era saw the refinement of stone tools through grinding and polishing, the domestication of plants and animals, the rise of permanent settlements, and the emergence of crafts such as pottery and weaving. It followed the Paleolithic (Old Stone Age), marked by chipped stone tools, and preceded the Bronze Age, when metal tools became widespread.
The Neolithic began during the Holocene Epoch—the current geological period that started roughly 11,700 years ago. The exact starting point varies globally, but the earliest signs of Neolithic culture generally date to around 10,000 BCE. During this time, humans transitioned from foraging to agriculture, gradually learning to cultivate crops and raise livestock. This transformation enabled the development of permanent villages, freed communities from nomadic life, and allowed time for specialized craftsmanship.
Origins and Spread of Agriculture
The shift from hunting-gathering to food production began in the Fertile Crescent (modern Southwest Asia), where early agriculture emerged around 9500 BCE. By 7000 BCE, communities in the Tigris and Euphrates valleys (present-day Iraq and Iran) were farming wheat and barley and raising sheep and goats—later joined by cattle and pigs. Agriculture spread from this region into Europe along two primary routes: via Turkey and Greece into central Europe and across North Africa into Iberia. Farming reached Greece by 7000 BCE and spread northward over the next 4,000 years, with Britain and Scandinavia completing the transition only after 3000 BCE.
Elsewhere, Neolithic cultures emerged independently:
In the Indus Valley (~5000 BCE),
Along the Huang He (Yellow River) in China and Southeast Asia (~3500 BCE),
And in the Americas, where maize, beans, and squash were domesticated in Mesoamerica around 6500 BCE, though sedentary life began there only around 2000 BCE.
In the Eastern Hemisphere, the Neolithic eventually gave way to the Bronze Age, when societies learned to alloy copper with tin or arsenic to make bronze tools and weapons, marking a significant technological leap.
The Origins of Agriculture and Domestication
Agriculture is the deliberate cultivation of plants and animals in human-modified ecosystems. While traditionally viewed through narrow lenses—such as rice farming in Asia or cattle ranching in the Americas—it is more broadly a process of environmental engineering: humans reshape landscapes (e.g., clearing vegetation or tilling soil) to encourage the growth of desired species.
Over time, certain plants and animals became domesticated—biologically dependent on humans for propagation. Domesticated plants, or cultigens, often yield larger fruits, seeds, or tubers than their wild ancestors. The most successfully domesticated species come from families like the grasses (Poaceae), legumes (Fabaceae), and nightshades (Solanaceae). Similarly, domesticated animals—such as dogs, cattle, sheep, goats, and horses—were selectively bred for docility and productivity (e.g., more meat, milk, or wool), and were also used for labor, transport, and companionship.
Research Techniques and Evidence
Because agriculture predates written records, its origins are studied primarily through archaeology. Techniques like radiocarbon dating—especially since improvements in the 1980s—have enabled direct dating of even tiny plant remains, like seeds. Other methods include:
Pollen analysis (palynology)
Phytolith identification (microscopic silica structures in plants)
Starch grain analysis (used to identify food residues on tools and pottery)
These techniques help reconstruct past environments and reveal what plants and animals were used by ancient peoples.
How and Why Agriculture Emerged
Agriculture arose in multiple regions independently and cannot be explained by a single cause. It likely began as humans adjusted to post-Ice Age climate changes around 11,700 years ago, which brought warmer temperatures and new ecosystems. However, climate alone doesn’t explain the diversity in timing and location of agricultural development.
Contrary to earlier theories, agriculture did not emerge due to food scarcity. In fact, early agricultural societies often lived in resource-rich environments. Domesticated plants and animals may have initially complemented hunting and gathering, offering a buffer during lean seasons. Dogs may have first been domesticated as hunting companions, while livestock provided a more reliable food source than wild game. Over time, resource management evolved into full-scale farming, especially in areas with seasonal climates and abundant natural resources.
Global Overview
Agriculture began independently in multiple regions.
Early domestication is marked by changes in plant/animal form.
Agriculture followed the end of the last Ice Age and corresponded with increased sedentism and population growth.
Southwest Asia (Fertile Crescent)
One of the earliest regions to shift from foraging to farming (by ~14,500–12,000 BP).
Natufians were key early cultivators (e.g., wild barley).
Domesticated plants (e.g., einkorn, emmer) and animals (sheep, goats) emerged by 10,000 BP.
Younger Dryas (12,700–11,500 BP) may have accelerated the shift to agriculture due to environmental stress.
Complex irrigation and food storage developed later to support urbanization (e.g., Mesopotamia).
The Americas
Independent origins of agriculture in:
Mesoamerica (corn, beans, squash—milpa system).
South America (potatoes, quinoa, llamas).
Eastern North America (sunflower, squash).
Fewer domesticated animals due to the absence of herd species.
Swidden (slash-and-burn) agriculture was common.
Terracing and use of organic fertilizers were practiced, notably by the Inca.
East Asia
Early agriculture in:
North China: millet, hemp, cabbage.
South China/Yangtze Basin: rice and paddy fields.
Early domesticated animals include water buffalo, pigs, chickens.
Soybean and adzuki bean domestication possibly began in Korea or NE China (~3000 BP).
Europe
Agriculture introduced from Southwest Asia (~9000 BP).
Mixed model: migration and diffusion.
LBK culture (Linearbandkeramik) spread rapidly across central Europe (~7300–6900 BP).
Mixed subsistence strategies persisted, with some groups maintaining hunting for millennia.
Sumer
Located in southern Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Sumer was home to one of the world’s earliest civilizations. Its Early Dynastic Period began around 5000 BP, shortly after the development of a sophisticated writing system in the Sumerian language. Barley was the principal crop, supplemented by wheat, flax, dates, apples, plums, and grapes. This era also provides the earliest known evidence of selective breeding in sheep and goats, which outnumbered cattle and were raised primarily for meat, milk, butter, and cheese.
At Ur, a major settlement covering about 50 acres (20 hectares), approximately 10,000 animals were kept in pens and stables, with 3,000 slaughtered annually. The population of about 6,000 people included a workforce of 2,500 who cultivated around 3,000 acres (1,200 hectares), with an equal amount of land left fallow. Workers included not only laborers but also administrators such as storehouse recorders, overseers, and harvest supervisors. Agricultural produce was distributed among temple staff, community elites, and smallholder farmers.
Farming relied on teams of oxen pulling light, unwheeled plows, and grain was harvested in spring with sickles. Wagons had solid wooden wheels with leather tires fastened by copper nails and were pulled by oxen or onagers (wild asses), harnessed using collars, yokes, reins, and nose rings. Horses, though domesticated around 6000 BP in present-day Ukraine, did not replace onagers in Sumer until about 4000 BP. Eventually, horses were groomed, exercised, and medicated systematically, with breeding records and naming practices emerging. Meanwhile, upland regions remained under the use of transhumant nomads.
The Nile Valley (Ancient Egypt)
In Egypt, agriculture intensified after the introduction of domesticated animals from Southwest Asia. By the early 7th millennium BP, settlements in Al-Fayyūm kept sheep, goats, and pigs, and cultivated emmer wheat, barley, flax (used for linen), and possibly cotton. Crops were harvested using flint-edged reaping knives, and grain was stored in pit silos lined with woven baskets. At Al-Badarī in Upper Egypt, domestic animals were buried in linen wrappings, suggesting religious or symbolic practices linked to farming.
By around 5550 BP, during the Amratian culture, agriculture had spread to the fertile alluvial lands along the Nile. By 5050 BP, agricultural expansion had significantly increased wealth and social hierarchy. Tomb art from later dynasties depicts not only domestic animals but also captive or controlled gazelles, deer, hyenas, and Barbary sheep. Some scholars have suggested that gazelle domestication may have been attempted, though this remains debated. Millet may also have been a staple crop.
By Egypt’s 4th dynasty (~4525 BP), agriculture had become highly organized. Unlike urban Mesopotamia, Egyptian cities primarily served the agricultural hinterland. A complex bureaucracy oversaw farming, with the grand vizier at its head, supported by officials such as the chief of the fields and the master of largesse (livestock manager). The state and temples held large estates. Tenant farmers paid rent in grain (about 3.5 bushels per acre) and were often lent seed and oxen.
Irrigation was essential. King Menes (~4875 BP) commissioned a masonry dam for water control, and by a millennium later, floodwaters were diverted into Lake Moeris to store water for dry-season irrigation. Farming used ox- or ass-drawn wooden plows, land was tilled twice, and seed was either funneled through the plow or trodden in by sheep. Main crops included six-row barley and emmer wheat, with lentils, beans, flax, and onions also cultivated. Sickle blades were improved with curved edges. Yields reportedly reached 11 times the amount sown, though it’s unclear whether multiple harvests occurred per year. Threshing was done by livestock trampling the grain, and winnowing involved tossing it into the wind to separate chaff.
Livestock production was also advanced. Egyptians bred cattle (black, piebald, white), kempy-coated sheep, goats, pigs, ducks, and geese. Some herds were enormous; one 6th-dynasty landowner reportedly owned 1,000 cattle, 760 asses, 2,200 goats, and 1,000 sheep. Specialized breeds were developed for different purposes, including dairy and meat cattle, fat-tailed sheep, and hunting dogs resembling Salukis.
Mesoamerica
Understanding the origins of agriculture in Mesoamerica is limited by the lack of thoroughly excavated sites. However, the Guilá Naquitz cave in southern Mexico provides some of the earliest evidence of plant use and domestication, including acorns, piñon pine nuts, prickly pear, mesquite seeds, wild runner beans, and various grasses. Enlarged squash seeds found there, one dated to 10,000 BP, indicate early domestication. Attempts to domesticate foxtail grass at the site appear to have failed.
At the San Andrés site on the Gulf Coast of Tabasco, Mexico, pollen from domesticated corn and manioc has been found in deposits dating to 7000–6000 BP, along with cotton pollen and possible sunflower seeds (although true sunflower domestication is better supported in eastern North America). These innovations occurred among low-density, highly mobile preceramic populations.
Corn’s domestication remains somewhat mysterious. Though now a staple, early evidence is sparse. The oldest known corn cob comes from Guilá Naquitz and dates to 6300–6000 BP. Unlike modern corn, its wild relatives—teosintes—lack large, productive cobs. One theory proposes that corn arose through a hybridization between teosinte and gamma grass (Tripsacum dactyloides), producing the cob structure seen in modern maize. Early corn may have been valued for its sugary stalks rather than its kernels, which would explain its rare appearance in the archaeological record. The sugars also made early corn useful for fermentation and alcohol production, important in social contexts.
Stable village life began around 3800 BP in the Early Formative period, long after corn was domesticated. Extended families formed the basis of agricultural labor, and villages organized themselves around ceremonial centers with pyramid structures. As complexity increased, cultures like the Olmec developed sizable towns. By 2000 BP, these were integrated into larger state systems, eventually giving rise to the Maya, Toltec, and Aztec empires. Food for urban populations came from rain-fed swidden fields, gardens, and irrigated lowland systems.
Mesoamerica’s major crops included avocados, cacao, chili peppers, cotton, common and lima beans, corn, manioc, and tomatoes. Domesticated animals included turkeys, dogs, and Muscovy ducks. Agricultural innovations like irrigation, terracing, and chinampas (artificial islands) maximized land use. Land was cleared by chopping and burning, and seeds were sown with fire-hardened digging sticks. Crops were stored in pits or granaries. Much about early Mesoamerican agriculture—especially in the lowlands—remains to be discovered.