Editing Neolithic Europe (section)

==Archaeology==
{{see|Prehistoric Europe|Old Europe (archaeology)}}
[[File:Expansion néolithique.png|thumb|261x261px|Neolithic expansion of [[Cardium pottery]] and [[Linear Pottery culture]] according to archaeology]]
[[File:Detmeroder Opferstein.jpg|thumb| <!-- Detmeroder Opferstein, --> A stone used in Neolithic rituals, in Detmerode, [[Wolfsburg]], Germany]]
[[File:LiMuri-pjt.jpg|thumb|Circular graves of ''Li Muri'' at [[Arzachena]], one of the oldest megalithic sites in Italy dating to c. 4000–3300 BCE]]

Archeologists trace the emergence of food-producing societies in the [[Levant]]ine region of southwest Asia to the close of the last glacial period around 12,000 BC, and these developed into a number of regionally distinctive cultures by the eighth millennium BC. Remains of food-producing societies in the [[Aegean civilization|Aegean]] have been carbon-dated to {{circa|6500&nbsp;BCE}} at [[Knossos]], [[Franchthi Cave]], and a number of mainland sites in [[Thessaly]]. Neolithic groups appear soon afterwards in the rest of [[Southeast Europe]] and south-central Europe. The Neolithic cultures of Southeast Europe (including the [[Aegean civilization|Aegean]]) show some continuity with groups in southwest Asia and [[Anatolia]] (e.g., [[Çatalhöyük]]).

In 2018, an 8,000-year-old ceramic figurine portraying the head of the "Mother Goddess", was found near Uzunovo, [[Vidin Province]] in Bulgaria, which pushes back the Neolithic revolution to 7th millennium BC.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2018/10/27/discovery-of-8000-year-old-veiled-mother-goddess-near-bulgaria-vidin-pushes-back-neolithic-revolution-in-europe/|title=Discovery of 8,000-year-old veiled Mother Goddess near Bulgaria's Vidin 'pushes back' Neolithic revolution in Europe|date=27 October 2018|work=Archaeology in Bulgaria|access-date=3 November 2018|archive-date=26 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026171542/http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2018/10/27/discovery-of-8000-year-old-veiled-mother-goddess-near-bulgaria-vidin-pushes-back-neolithic-revolution-in-europe/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Current evidence suggests that Neolithic material culture was introduced to Europe via western Anatolia, and that similarities in cultures of North Africa and the Pontic steppes are due to diffusion ''out'' of Europe. All Neolithic sites in Europe contain [[pottery|ceramic]]s,{{original research inline|date=November 2016}} and contain the plants and animals domesticated in Southwest Asia: [[einkorn]], [[emmer]], [[barley]], [[lentil]]s, [[pig]]s, [[goat]]s, [[sheep]], and [[cattle]]. Genetic data suggest that no independent domestication of animals took place in Neolithic Europe, and that all domesticated animals were originally domesticated in Southwest Asia.{{sfn|Bellwood|2004|pp=68–9}} The only domesticate not from Southwest Asia was [[broomcorn millet]], domesticated in East Asia.{{sfn|Bellwood|2004|pp=74, 118}}{{citation needed|date=November 2016}} The earliest evidence of [[cheese]]-making dates to 5500 BC in [[Kuyavia]], [[Poland]].{{sfn|Subbaraman|2012}}

Archaeologists agreed for some time that the culture of the early Neolithic is relatively homogeneous, compared to the late Mesolithic. DNA studies tend to confirm this, indicating that agriculture was brought to Western Europe by the Aegean populations, that are known as 'the Aegean Neolithic farmers'. When these farmers arrived in Britain, DNA studies show that they did not seem to mix much with the earlier population of the [[Western Hunter-Gatherer]]s. Instead, there was a substantial population replacement.<ref name="bbc.com">Paul Rincon, [https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47938188 Stonehenge: DNA reveals origin of builders.] BBC News website, 16 April 2019</ref><ref name="BraceDiekmann2019">{{cite journal|last1=Brace|first1=Selina|last2=Diekmann|first2=Yoan|last3=Booth|first3=Thomas J.|last4=van Dorp|first4=Lucy|last5=Faltyskova|first5=Zuzana|last6=Rohland|first6=Nadin|last7=Mallick|first7=Swapan|last8=Olalde|first8=Iñigo|last9=Ferry|first9=Matthew|last10=Michel|first10=Megan|last11=Oppenheimer|first11=Jonas|last12=Broomandkhoshbacht|first12=Nasreen|last13=Stewardson|first13=Kristin|last14=Martiniano|first14=Rui|last15=Walsh|first15=Susan|last16=Kayser|first16=Manfred|last17=Charlton|first17=Sophy|last18=Hellenthal|first18=Garrett|last19=Armit|first19=Ian|last20=Schulting|first20=Rick|last21=Craig|first21=Oliver E.|last22=Sheridan|first22=Alison|last23=Parker Pearson|first23=Mike|last24=Stringer|first24=Chris|last25=Reich|first25=David|last26=Thomas|first26=Mark G.|last27=Barnes|first27=Ian|title=Ancient genomes indicate population replacement in Early Neolithic Britain|journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution|volume=3|issue=5|year=2019|pages=765–771|issn=2397-334X|doi=10.1038/s41559-019-0871-9|pmid=30988490|pmc=6520225|bibcode=2019NatEE...3..765B }}</ref>
[[File:Macro, Liquid drop on Feather, 70-300mm-Coupler & reverse Lens-213.jpg|thumb|[[Poulnabrone dolmen]], [[the Burren]], [[County Clare]], Ireland]]
The diffusion of these farmers across Europe, from the Aegean to Britain, took about 2,500 years (6500–4000 BC). The Baltic region was penetrated a bit later, {{circa|3500&nbsp;BCE}}, and there was also a delay in settling the [[Pannonian plain]]. In general, colonization shows a "saltatory" pattern, as the Neolithic advanced from one patch of fertile alluvial soil to another, bypassing mountainous areas. Analysis of [[radiocarbon]] dates show clearly that Mesolithic and Neolithic populations lived side by side for as much as a millennium in many parts of Europe, especially in the [[Iberian Peninsula]] and along the Atlantic coast.{{sfn|Bellwood|2004|pp=68–72}}

Investigation of the Neolithic skeletons found in the [[Talheim Death Pit]] suggests that prehistoric men from neighboring tribes were prepared to fight and kill each other in order to [[Raptio|capture and secure women]].<ref>{{Cite news|author=Roger Highfield |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2066554/Neolithic-men-were-prepared-to-fight-for-their-women.html|title=Neolithic men were prepared to fight for their women|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=2008-06-02|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref> The mass grave at [[Talheim, Heilbronn|Talheim]] in southern Germany is one of the earliest known sites in the archaeological record that shows evidence of organised violence in Early Neolithic Europe, among various [[Linear Pottery culture]] tribes.<ref>{{cite news |title=German mass grave records prehistoric warfare |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33967908 |work=BBC News |date=17 August 2015}}</ref> 
The archaeological site of [[Herxheim (archaeological site)|Herxheim]] contained the scattered remains of more than 1000 individuals from different, in some cases faraway regions, who died around 5000 BC. Whether they were war captives or [[human sacrifice]]s is unclear, but the evidence indicates that their corpses were [[rotisserie|spit-roasted]] whole and then consumed.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Boulestin |first1=Bruno |last2=Coupey |first2=Anne-Sophie |title=Cannibalism in the Linear Pottery Culture: The Human Remains from Herxheim |date=2015 |publisher=Archaeopress |location=Oxford |pages=101, 115, 123, 126}}</ref>

In terms of overall size, some [[settlements of the Cucuteni–Trypillia culture]], such as [[Talianki (archaeological site)|Talianki]] (with a population of around 15,000) in western Ukraine, were as large as the [[city-states]] of [[Sumer]] in the [[Fertile Crescent]], and these Eastern European settlements predate the Sumerian cities by more than half of a millennium.<ref>{{Citation | first = Francesco | last = Menotti | contribution = The Tripolye house, a sacred and profane coexistence! | contribution-url = http://www.wac6.org/livesite/item.php?itemID=1683&itemType=PAPER | series = 6th [[World Archaeological Congress]] (WAC6) | year = 2007 | place = Dublin | url = http://www.ucd.ie/wac-6/|title=WAC-6 | oclc = 368044032|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413144155/http://www.wac6.org/livesite/item.php?itemID=1683&itemType=PAPER|archive-date=April 13, 2014}}</ref>