Pre-Pottery Neolithic

Quick Facts: Who was Pre-Pottery Neolithic?

Subject:

Pre-Pottery Neolithic

Known for:

Early Neolithic period in Southwest Asia, marking the initial stages of agriculture.

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2Day Chrono-Wiki & Primary Historical Archives

Origins & Early Life

The Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) represents the early Neolithic in the Near East, dating to c. 12,000 – c. 8,500 years ago, (10000 – 6500 BCE). It succeeds the Natufian culture of the Epipalaeolithic Near East (also called Mesolithic), as the domestication of plants and animals was in its formative stages, having possibly been induced by the Younger Dryas. The Pre-Pottery Neolithic culture came to an end around the time of the 8.2-kiloyear event, a cool spell centred on 6200 BCE that lasted several hundred years. It is succeeded by the Pottery Neolithic. The Pre-Pottery Neolithic is divided into Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA 10000–8800 BCE) and the following Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB 8800–6500 BCE).

Career & Major Achievements

These were originally defined by Kathleen Kenyon in the type site of Jericho. The Pre-Pottery Neolithic precedes the ceramic Neolithic (Yarmukian culture, 6400 – 6200 BCE). At 'Ain Ghazal, in Jordan, the culture continued a few more centuries as the so-called Pre-Pottery Neolithic C culture. One of the earliest known Pre-Pottery Neolithic sites is Körtik Tepe in Upper Mesopotamia, starting in the Younger Dryas period in 10,700 BCE. Around 9,000 BCE, during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA), the "world's first town", Jericho, appeared in the Levant, although the adequacy of this title has since been challenged.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

The Pre-Pottery Neolithic is divided into Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (10000 – 8800 BCE) and the following Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (8800 – 6500 BCE). PPNB differed from PPNA in showing greater use of domesticated animals, a different set of tools, and new architectural styles. Work at the site of 'Ain Ghazal in Jordan has indicated a later Pre-Pottery Neolithic C period. Juris Zarins has proposed that a Circum Arabian Nomadic Pastoral Complex developed in the period from the climatic crisis of 6200 BCE, partly as a result of an increasing emphasis in PPNB cultures upon domesticated animals, and a fusion with Harifian hunter-gatherers in the Southern Levant, with affiliate connections with the cultures of Fayyum and the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Cultures practicing this lifestyle spread down the Red Sea shoreline and moved east from Syria into southern Iraq.

Historical Fact-Check Quiz: Pre-Pottery Neolithic

True or False: “The Pre-Pottery Neolithic culture immediately succeeded the Pottery Neolithic culture across the Near East.”

Answer (FALSE ❌): It succeeded the Natufian culture of the Epipalaeolithic Near East (Mesolithic), and was succeeded by the Pottery Neolithic.

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

• Prehistoric Africa — Chrono-Wiki Encyclopedia Entry: The deep history of human evolution, spanning from early hominids to modern behavior in Africa.
• Prehistoric Asia — Chrono-Wiki Encyclopedia Entry: Overview of human existence and cultural development across the Asian continent before written records.
• Prehistoric Egypt — Chrono-Wiki Encyclopedia Entry: The vast span of human habitation in Egypt, from early tool use to the rise of dynasties.
• Prehistoric Europe — Chrono-Wiki Encyclopedia Entry: Europe's deep prehistory, spanning from early hominins to the dawn of written records.
• Prehistoric technology — Chrono-Wiki Encyclopedia Entry: Technology preceding written records, spanning from early stone tools to agricultural advancements.
• Prehistory — Chrono-Wiki Encyclopedia Entry: The period of human existence before the invention and use of written records.

Frequently Asked Questions about Pre-Pottery Neolithic