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The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, from νέος (néos, "new") and λίθος (líthos, "stone"), or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 10,200 BC, according to the ASPRO chronology, in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world〔(Figure 3.3 ) from ''First Farmers: The Origins of Agricultural Societies'' by Peter Bellwood, 2004〕 and ending between 4,500 and 2,000 BC. Traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age, the Neolithic followed the terminal Holocene ''Epipaleolithic'' period and commenced with the beginning of farming, which produced the "Neolithic Revolution". It ended when metal tools became widespread (in the Copper Age or Bronze Age; or, in some geographical regions, in the Iron Age). The Neolithic is a progression of behavioral and cultural characteristics and changes, including the use of wild and domestic crops and of domesticated animals.〔Some archaeologists have long advocated replacing "Neolithic" with a more descriptive term, such as "Early Village Communities", but this has not gained wide acceptance.〕 The beginning of the Neolithic culture is considered to be in the Levant (Jericho, modern-day West Bank) about 10,200–8,800 BC. It developed directly from the Epipaleolithic Natufian culture in the region, whose people pioneered the use of wild cereals, which then evolved into true farming. The Natufian period was between 12,000 and 10,200 BC, and the so-called "proto-neolithic" is now included in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPNA) between 10,200 and 8,800 BC. As the Natufians had become dependent on wild cereals in their diet, and a sedentary way of life had begun among them, the climatic changes associated with the Younger Dryas are thought to have forced people to develop farming. By 10,200–8,800 BC, farming communities arose in the Levant and spread to Asia Minor, North Africa and North Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BC. It has been identified as having "inspired some of the most important developments in human history including the invention of the wheel, the planting of the first cereal crops and the development of cursive script, Mathematics, Astronomy and Agriculture." Early Neolithic farming was limited to a narrow range of plants, both wild and domesticated, which included einkorn wheat, millet and spelt, and the keeping of dogs, sheep and goats. By about 6,900–6,400 BC, it included domesticated cattle and pigs, the establishment of permanently or seasonally inhabited settlements, and the use of pottery. 〔The potter's wheel was a later refinement that revolutionized the pottery industry.〕 Not all of these cultural elements characteristic of the Neolithic appeared everywhere in the same order: the earliest farming societies in the Near East did not use pottery. In other parts of the world, such as Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia, independent domestication events led to their own regionally distinctive Neolithic cultures that arose completely independent of those in Europe and Southwest Asia. Early Japanese societies and other East Asian cultures used pottery ''before'' developing agriculture. Unlike the Paleolithic, when more than one human species existed, only one human species (''Homo sapiens sapiens'') reached the Neolithic. ''Homo floresiensis'' may have survived right up to the very dawn of the Neolithic, about 12,200 years ago. The term ''Neolithic'' derives from the Greek ''νεολιθικός'', ''neolithikos'', from ''νέος'' ''neos'', "new" + ''λίθος'' ''lithos'', "stone", literally meaning "New Stone Age". The term was invented by Sir John Lubbock in 1865 as a refinement of the three-age system. ==Periods by pottery phase== In the Middle East, cultures identified as Neolithic began appearing by in the 10th millennium BCE.〔 Early development occurred in the Levant (e.g., Pre-Pottery Neolithic A and Pre-Pottery Neolithic B) and from there spread eastwards and westwards. Neolithic cultures are also attested in southeastern Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia by c. 8,000 BCE. The prehistoric Beifudi site near Yixian in Hebei Province, China, contains relics of a culture contemporaneous with the Cishan and Xinglongwa cultures of about 5,000–6,000 BCE, neolithic cultures east of the Taihang Mountains, filling in an archaeological gap between the two Northern Chinese cultures. The total excavated area is more than , and the collection of neolithic findings at the site encompasses two phases.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=New Archaeological Discoveries and Researches in 2004 — The Fourth Archaeology Forum of CASS )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Neolithic」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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