Editing Neolithic Europe (section)

== End of the Neolithic and transition to the Copper age ==
{{main|Chalcolithic Europe}}

With some exceptions, population levels rose rapidly at the beginning of the Neolithic until they reached the [[carrying capacity]].{{sfn|Shennan|Edinborough|2007}} This was followed by a population crash of "enormous magnitude" after 5000 BC, with levels remaining low during the next 1,500 years.{{sfn|Shennan|Edinborough|2007}}

The oldest golden artifacts in the world (4600 BC – 4200 BC) are found in the [[Varna Necropolis]], Bulgaria – grave offerings on exposition in [[Varna Archaeological Museum]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RnE9Fa4pbn0C&dq=varna+necropolis+oldest&pg=PA290|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101113823/https://books.google.com/books?id=RnE9Fa4pbn0C&pg=PA290&dq=varna+necropolis+oldest&hl=en#v=onepage&q=varna%20necropolis%20oldest&f=false|title=Gems and Gemstones: Timeless Natural Beauty of the Mineral World|first1=Lance|last1=Grande|first2=Allison|last2=Augustyn|date=November 15, 2009|archivedate=November 1, 2022|publisher=University of Chicago Press| isbn=978-0-226-30511-0 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/varna-bulgaria-gold-graves-social-hierarchy-prehistoric-archaelogy-smithsonian-journeys-travel-quarterly-180958733/|title=Mystery of the Varna Gold: What Caused These Ancient Societies to Disappear?|first=Andrew|last=Curry|website=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/oldest-gold-object-unearthed-bulgaria-180960093/|title=World's Oldest Gold Object May Have Just Been Unearthed in Bulgaria|first=Jason|last=Daley|website=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref>

[[File:IE expansion.png|thumb|upright=1.3|Scheme of [[Indo-European migrations]] from {{Circa|4000}} to 1000 BC according to the widely held [[Kurgan hypothesis]]. These migrations are thought to have spread [[Yamnaya culture|Yamnaya]] [[Western Steppe Herders|steppe pastoralist]] ancestry and [[Indo-European languages]] throughout large parts of Eurasia.<ref>{{cite news |first=Andrew |last=Curry |title=The first Europeans weren't who you might think |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/first-europeans-immigrants-genetic-testing-feature |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319032852/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/first-europeans-immigrants-genetic-testing-feature |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 19, 2021 |work=National Geographic |date=August 2019}}</ref>]]
Populations began to rise after 3500 BC, with further dips and rises occurring between 3000 and 2500 BC but varying in date between regions.{{sfn|Shennan|Edinborough|2007}} Around this time is the [[Neolithic decline]], when populations collapsed across most of Europe, possibly caused by climatic conditions, plague, or mass migration. A study of twelve European regions found most experienced [[boom and bust]] patterns and suggested an "endogenous, not climatic cause".<ref name="JAS1409">{{cite journal|last1=Timpson|first1=Adrian|last2=Colledge|first2=Sue|date=September 2014|title=Reconstructing regional population fluctuations in the European Neolithic using radiocarbon dates: a new case-study using an improved method|journal=Journal of Archaeological Science|volume=52|pages=549–557|doi=10.1016/j.jas.2014.08.011|bibcode=2014JArSc..52..549T |doi-access=free}}</ref> Recent archaeological evidence suggests the possibility of [[Plague (disease)|plague]] causing this population collapse, as mass graves dating from {{circa|2900&nbsp;BCE}} were discovered containing fragments of ''[[Yersinia pestis]]'' genetic material consistent with [[pneumonic plague]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Rascovan|first1=Nicolás|last2=Sjögren|first2=Karl-Göran|last3=Kristiansen|first3=Kristian|last4=Nielsen|first4=Rasmus|last5=Willerslev|first5=Eske|last6=Desnues|first6=Christelle|last7=Rasmussen|first7=Simon|date=2019-01-10|title=Emergence and Spread of Basal Lineages of Yersinia pestis during the Neolithic Decline|journal=Cell|language=en|volume=176|issue=1|pages=295–305.e10|doi=10.1016/j.cell.2018.11.005|issn=0092-8674|pmid=30528431|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The Chalcolithic Age in Europe started from about 3500 BC, followed soon after by the European [[Bronze Age Europe|Bronze Age]]. This also became a period of increased megalithic construction. From 3500 BC, copper was being used in the Balkans and eastern and central Europe. Also, the [[domestication of the horse]] took place during that time, resulting in the increased mobility of cultures.

Nearing the close of the Neolithic, {{circa|2500&nbsp;BC}}, large numbers of [[Western Steppe Herders|Eurasian steppe peoples]] migrated in [[Southeast Europe|Southeast]] and [[Central Europe|Central]] from eastern Europe, from the [[Pontic–Caspian steppe]] north of the [[Black Sea]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Haak|first1=Wolfgang|last2=Lazaridis|first2=Iosif|last3=Patterson|first3=Nick|last4=Rohland|first4=Nadin|last5=Mallick|first5=Swapan|last6=Llamas|first6=Bastien|last7=Brandt|first7=Guido|last8=Nordenfelt|first8=Susanne|last9=Harney|first9=Eadaoin|last10=Stewardson|first10=Kristin|last11=Fu|first11=Qiaomei|date=2015-06-11|title=Massive migration from the steppe was a source for Indo-European languages in Europe|journal=Nature|volume=522|issue=7555|pages=207–211|doi=10.1038/nature14317|issn=0028-0836|pmc=5048219|pmid=25731166|bibcode=2015Natur.522..207H|arxiv=1502.02783}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Steppe migrant thugs pacified by Stone Age farming women |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170404084429.htm |work=[[ScienceDaily]] |publisher=Faculty of Science - University of Copenhagen |date=4 April 2017}}</ref>