Neolithic period in the context of "Göbekli Tepe"

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⭐ Core Definition: Neolithic period

The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Greek νέος néos 'new' and λίθος líthos 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BC to c. 2,000 BC). It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts of the world. This "Neolithic package" included the introduction of farming, domestication of animals, and change from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to one of settlement. The term 'Neolithic' was coined by John Lubbock in 1865 as a refinement of the three-age system.

The Neolithic began about 12,000 years ago, when farming appeared in the Epipalaeolithic Near East and Mesopotamia, and later in other parts of the world. It lasted in the Near East until the transitional period of the Chalcolithic (Copper Age) from about 6,500 years ago (4500 BC), marked by the development of metallurgy, leading up to the Bronze Age and Iron Age.

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👉 Neolithic period in the context of Göbekli Tepe

Göbekli Tepe is an archaeological site from the New Stone Age, in the Turkish part of Upper Mesopotamia. The settlement was inhabited from around 9500 BCE to at least 8000 BCE, during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic. It is known for its circular structures that contain large stone pillars – among the world's oldest known megaliths. Many of these pillars are decorated with anthropomorphic details, clothing, and sculptural reliefs of wild animals, providing archaeologists insights into prehistoric religion and the iconography of the period. The 15 m (50 ft) high, 8 ha (20-acre) tell is covered with ancient domestic structures and other small buildings, quarries, and stone-cut cisterns from the Neolithic, as well as some traces of activity from later periods.

The site was first used at the dawn of the southwest Asian Neolithic period, which marked the appearance of the oldest permanent human settlements anywhere in the world. Prehistorians link this Neolithic Revolution to the advent of agriculture but disagree on whether farming caused people to settle down or vice versa. Göbekli Tepe, a monumental complex built on a rocky mountaintop with no clear evidence of agricultural cultivation, has played a prominent role in this debate.

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Neolithic period in the context of Gyali

Gyali (Greek: Γυαλί "glass", also spelled Giali or Yali, pronounced [ʝaˈli]) is a Greek volcanic island in the Dodecanese, located halfway between the south coast of Kos (Kardamaina) and Nisyros. It consists of rhyolitic obsidian lava domes and pumice deposits (which are mined in huge quantities). No historical eruptions are known, but the most recent pumice eruptions overlie soils containing pottery and obsidian artifacts from the Neolithic period (10,000–4,500 BC). The island has two distinct segments, with the northeastern part almost entirely made of obsidian and the southwestern part of pumice. These are connected by a narrow isthmus and beach made of modern reef sediments. Anciently, the island was known as Istros (Ancient Greek: Ἴστρος).

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Neolithic period in the context of Pottery of ancient Cyprus

The pottery of ancient Cyprus starts during the Neolithic period. Cypriot ceramics demonstrate many connections with cultures from around the Mediterranean. During the Early and Middle Bronze Ages, it is especially imaginative in shape and decoration. There are also many early terracotta figurines that were produced depicting female figures.

The typo-chronology of Cypriot pottery for the Iron Age was established by Einar Gjerstad based on material excavated by the Swedish Cyprus Expedition. Gjerstad divided the Iron Age into three periods, the Cypro-Geometric (1050–750 BC), the Cypro-Archaic (750–480 BC) and the Cypro-Classical (480–310 BC), which are in turn subdivided;CG I–III, CA I–II and CC I–II. Each period corresponds to one pottery type, with a total of seven, Types I–VII. The exact dates of the chronology of Gjerstad have been slightly revised following more current research. The typochronology is explained in his main work Swedish Cyprus Expedition IV, 2. The Cypro-geometric, Cypro-archaic and Cypro-classical Periods (1948) with further remarks made in the article Pottery Types, Cypro-Geometric to Cypro-Classical (1960).

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Neolithic period in the context of Neolithic British Isles

The Neolithic period in the British Isles lasted from c. 4100 to c. 2,500 BC. Constituting the final stage of the Stone Age in the region, it was preceded by the Mesolithic and followed by the Bronze Age.

During the Mesolithic period, the inhabitants of the British Isles had been hunter-gatherers. Around 4000 BC, migrants began arriving from Central Europe. These migrants brought new ideas, leading to a radical transformation of society and landscape that has been called the Neolithic Revolution. The Neolithic period in the British Isles was characterised by the adoption of agriculture and sedentary living. To make room for the new farmland, the early agricultural communities undertook mass deforestation across the islands, which dramatically and permanently transformed the landscape. At the same time, new types of stone tools requiring more skill began to be produced, and new technologies included polishing. Although the earliest indisputably-acknowledged languages spoken in the British Isles belonged to the Celtic branch of the Indo-European family, it is not known what language the early farming people spoke.

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Neolithic period in the context of Hardstone carving

Hardstone carving, in art history and archaeology, is the artistic carving of semi-precious stones (and sometimes gemstones), such as jade, rock crystal (clear quartz), agate, onyx, jasper, serpentinite, or carnelian, and for objects made in this way. Normally the objects are small, and the category overlaps with both jewellery and sculpture. Hardstone carving is sometimes referred to by the Italian term pietre dure; however, pietra dura (with an "a") is the common term used for stone inlay work, which causes some confusion.

From the Neolithic period until about the 19th century such objects were among the most highly prized in a wide variety of cultures, often attributed special powers or religious significance, but today coverage in non-specialist art history tends to be relegated to a catch-all decorative arts or "minor arts" category. The types of objects carved have included those with ritual or religious purposes, engraved gems as signet rings and other kinds of seal, handles, belt hooks and similar items, vessels and purely decorative objects.

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