NEOLITHIC PERIOD

NEOLITHIC CULTUREbegins ca. 10,000 bp

Also referred to as the New Stone Age Ground and polished stone tools Settled villages with domesticated plants and animals Development of pottery and weaving Megalithic architecture Evidence of mother-earth/goddess religion The end of the Neolithic period is marked by the use

of writing, metal tools, and the rise of urban civilization

Making stone tools by pecking, grinding and polishing is a defining

technology for the Neolithic period.

Spread of Neolithic Culturebce: before Common Era

The earliest known development of Neolithic culture was in SW Asia between 8000 and 6000 bce.

In the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys, Neolithic culture developed into the urban civilizations of the Bronze Age by 3500 bce.

Between 6000 and 2000 bce Neolithic culture spread through Europe, the Nile valley (Egypt), the Indus valley (India), and the Huang He valley (N China).

In the New World, the domestication of plants and animals occurred independently of Old World developments. By 1500 bce, Neolithic cultures were present in Mexico and South America

The Agricultural Revolution: Pastoralism

Pastoralism, the herding of domesticated or partially domesticated animals emerged at the same time as

agriculture did -- 10-12,000 years ago

Herders, Tasilli N’Ajjer

The wandering, nomadic life of the pastoralists had more in common with hunter-gatherers than did the life of the farmers

Shepherds and Farmers:Cooperation and Conflict

Pastoralism developed on marginal land in areas unsuitable for agriculture.

Frequently, the two ways of life were compatible with lively trade between farmers who had grain, metal and crafted objects to exchange with pastoral nomads, who had hides, wool, meat, and milk products.

However, nomads frequently found raiding of settled lands tempting and profitable, and farmers, with growing populations, tended to encroach on any land that could be converted to the growing of crops.

With these two specializations, organized warfare emerged.

Domesticated Animals

Shorter muzzles and hornsLess developed teeth and jaws

Less intelligent and less aggressiveTendency to uniform color

Specialization for human needs (ex. heavy wool)

WeavingThe discovery of weaving plant and animal fibers into cloth represented a revolutionary improvement in the quality of human life.

Weaving may have preceded agriculture, as it grew naturally out of basketry and the weaving of reed mats.

Life in sedentary agricultural villages permitted the refinement of ancient techniques and the adoption of more complex looms.

The Agricultural Revolution: From wild grass to grain

A small percentage of wild grass plants has seed that clings to the stalk even when ripe.

These crops could not reproduce themselves without human intervention.

Size and number of the kernels, also changed over time.

Genetic Changes:

The invention of the scratch plow in Mesopotamia about 6,000 years ago was a great labor-saving device for

humans and a revolutionary stage in human development--the exploitation of non-human forms of

energy, in this case animal.

Lifestyle ChangesDependency on few plantsGreater vulnerability to

weatherComplete dependency on

harvest timesNeed for hard physical laborLarger familiesExpanded “tool kit”Wealth and property

become meaningful

Transformation of grain to food

Seeds milled between two stones and boiled in water makes porridge.

When finely ground grain is mixed with water into a paste and baked, the grain is transformed into bread.

Yeast cultures are natural, but were regarded as magical prior to the recent discovery of micro-organisms.

Grain spoiled for bread-making can be fermented. The sprouted grain is baked, ground into a paste (called malt), and then added to water. With the right yeast and little luck, the result is beer.

Fired Pottery Invention of kiln

brought about the firing of clay pots

Fired pots were sturdier and allowed for increased storage of agricultural products

Decoration

The most beautiful example of Greek Neolithic pottery is this two-handled vase from Dimini dated between 5300 and 4800 BC

One of the best preserved vases from Sesklo is dated between 5300-3800 BC. It is decorated with plain long white lines on the dark red surface

Bread oven

Pottery kiln

Metal smelter

The Agricultural Revolution:Village Life

Sedentism: living in one place Opportunities:

Accumulation of food and wealth Development of new skills Specialization

Challenges: Close quarters: need for

community organization Epidemics Protection

Jericho:the oldest discovered village

Jericho’s Walls

Sometime after the founding of the town, a wall was built around it, enclosing ca. 10 acres.

The wall itself was 6.5 feet thick and is preserved to a height of almost 20 feet.

This is the earliest known fortification in the world.

Jericho: Pre-Pottery Neolithic B ca.7000-6000 bce

Following a long abandonment, Jericho was resettled ca. 6800 by a people with a different culture.

More elaborate houses, consisting of multiple rectangular rooms positioned around courtyards.

Finds of this period suggest a cult of ancestors at Jericho (and throughout Syria Palestine during this period).

Ten skulls were discovered that had been modelled with plaster to resemble the faces of the dead.

Judean Stone Mask

Human mask Kh. Duma, Hebron AreaNeolithic periodca.7000 BCE Hard limestoneHeight: 22.3 cm

Plaster statues from Jericho and Ain

Ghazal

Çatalhöyük ca. 8,000-7,000 bce

Çatalhöyük means 'forked mound' and is the modern name for the site of an ancient city in the country of Turkey, ancient Anatolia.

First discovered and excavated by James Mellaart in 1950s and 1960s

Archaeologists believe the ancient city covered an area the size of 50

soccer fields.

Çatalhöyük Pottery

The oldest pottery known from Anatolia (modern-day Turkey)

The earliest pottery was fired, unpainted and unglazed and had a very simple bag shaped form.

Çatalhöyük bone work

Most of the bone tools are bone points used as awls and needles.

Scraping tools were used in making pottery, and some antler tools were used for making stone tools

Bone ornaments like rings and pendants

Çatalhöyük stone work Ground stone tools include

axe heads, mace heads, querns for grinding grain, ornaments such as pendants, and mirrors of obsidian.

axe head

green stone pendant/belt fastener

Çatalhöyük obsidian: tradeAnatolian obsidian, "purchased" in Catal Huyuk

would wind its way a thousand miles southward to Jericho.

Obsidian, a volcanic rock, may have been considered a sacred material charged with "mana," divine power

Jericho craftsmen worked the obsidian into a variety of stone tools that were sharper and harder than steel.

Çatalhöyük Houses

Çatalhöyük Murals: Abstract

Çatalhöyük Murals: Figurative

Dancers

Çatalhöyük Murals: Figurative

A stylized portrayal of the terraced houses of the city itself, with a geologically perceptive rendition of an erupting,

twin-peaked volcano. The painting clearly represents an actual eruption of Hasan Dag, a

twin-peaked, then-active volcano, eight miles to the east of the city, which dominated the skyline on a clear day.

Human burials were placed underneath sleeping platforms inside houses.

Burial pits in platforms were used again and again.

Most adults were buried without any grave goods.

Babies and children were often buried with long strands of small polished beads made of stone, shell or coral.

Çatalhöyük Shrine

Çatalhöyük Shrine

Enthroned Çatalhöyük Goddess

Ubaid: early Mesopotamia

Ubaid pottery

EuropeanMegalithic

Cultureca. 5000-1500 bce

Megalithic Pages

European Megaliths

Some 7000 years ago in Brittany people started to move stones of up to 180 tons in weight and to place them in the landscape.

For what reason we don't know, despite many theories. Common archaeological opinion says: dolmens - artificial caves built of stones and

stone plates - were made for burial purposes. menhirs - the standing stones - there isn't

any reasonable explanation.

Alignment: row of three or more stones

Menhir: single standing stone

Dolmen: Three or more upright stones with a capstone, an artificial cave

Proleeck Dolmen, Ireland

Trilithon: three-stones two tall uprights stones supporting a lintel (lintel = a piece of stone over a door or window, forming part of the frame)

Alée couverte: rectangular megalithic chamber, usually in Brittany

Barrow: round artificial mound of earth or stones. Silbury Hill, England, is the largest neolithic barrow over 40 m high

Cairn: burial mound, constructed mostly of small stones

Passage grave: passage leading into a round central chamber, usually covered by mound- more a shrine than a graveMenga near Antequera (Malaga, Spain)

Cromlech: stone circle, from Welsh "crom" ("in a curve") and "lech" ("stone")

Henge: circular or oval enclosure made of the earth ditch and bank, usually with one or more entrances

Giant’s Ring, County Down, Ireland

Megalithic Mysteries The age of certain megaliths is dated to about 4600 years bce A discrepancy is evident between the highly developed understanding of

astronomy, geometry and trigonometry which these megalith builders possessed, and the relatively "primitive" nature of the archeological finds from cultures of the equivalent time

Certain stone circles are complex geometric constructions, taking into account a measurement we call today the ‘megalithic yard’: 0.829 meters

Studies have shown a mathematical correspondence to two other ancient measurements: the Egyptian Remen, used in the construction of the pyramids, and the royal Elle, a measurement often found in the construction of medieval cathedrals.

Malta Megaliths

The Megalithic Temples of Malta

The MEGALITHIC TEMPLES OF MALTA, dating from 5500 years ago, are the oldest free-

standing stone structures in the world

Holy Shrine of the

Mnajdra temple

Seven megalithic temples on the islands of Malta and Gozo: bear witness to the development of the temple tradition

Gozo: Ggantija

Mnjandra Temple

Malta: Hagar Qim Temple

Malta: “Fat Ladies” from Hagar Qim Temple

Malta: Tarxien

The original 'cupboard' altar In the face of the

altar, a cap-stone closed a hollow space inside the

altar,filled with animal bones and a small flint

knife.

aerial view of Tarxien

Malta: Temple Statues

Thanks to these two water-colors

painted by Charles de

Brochdorff in 1824, the Xaghra Stone Circle was

relocated and excavated

between 1987-1994.

Malta: Xaghra Stone Circle

Malta: Xaghra Stone Circle

Hypothetical reconstruction of the Xaghra Stone Circle

Maltese Goddesses

STONEHENGE2750-1500 bp

Stonehenge was built in several phases on a sacred site on the Salisbury Plain in a series of concentric rings of standing stones

around an altar stone at the center.

A landscaped trench separated the site from the surrounding land.

Beyond this a circle of small, movable "marker stones" were set in pits

An outer, enclosing circle of sandstone monoliths 13.5 feet high, supported what was once a continuous lintel.

Beyond these was first a circle of smaller uprights, sacred "blue" stones, transported from South Wales

The first ring has a horseshoe plan of originally 5 trilithons

A long avenue marked by uprights sets up an axis, identified by the Heel Stone, a large

stone with a pointed top.

at sunset

during solar eclipse

Stonehenge at a distance