View source for Neolithic Europe

{{Short description|Era of pre-history prior to copper & bronze ages in each region}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
[[File:Expansion of farming in western Eurasia, 9600–4000 BCE.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Map of the spread of farming into Europe up to about 3900 BC]]
[[File:Golemata Majka.jpg|thumb|right|160px|Female figure from [[Tumba Madžari]], [[North Macedonia]]]]
The '''European Neolithic''' is the period from the arrival of [[Neolithic]] (New Stone Age) technology and the associated population of [[Early European Farmers]] in [[Europe]], {{Circa|7000&nbsp;BC}} (the approximate time of the first farming societies in [[Greece]]) until {{Circa|2000}}–1700 BC (the beginning of [[Bronze Age Europe]] with the [[Nordic Bronze Age]]). The Neolithic overlaps the [[Mesolithic]] and [[Bronze Age]] periods in Europe as cultural changes moved from the southeast to northwest at about 1&nbsp;km/year – this is called the [[Neolithic Expansion]].{{sfn|Ammerman|Cavalli-Sforza|1971}}

The duration of the Neolithic varies from place to place, its end marked by the introduction of bronze tools: in [[southeast Europe]] it is approximately 4,000 years (i.e. 7000 BC–3000 BC) while in parts of Northwest Europe it is just under 3,000 years ({{Circa|4500 BC}}–1700 BC). In parts of Europe, notably the Balkans, the period after {{Circa|5000&nbsp;BC}} is known as the [[Chalcolithic Europe|Chalcolithic]] (Copper Age) due to the invention of [[copper smelting]] and the prevalence of copper tools, weapons and other artifacts.

The spread of the Neolithic from the [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic]] in the Near East to Europe was first studied quantitatively in the 1970s, when a sufficient number of [[Radiocarbon dating|<sup>14</sup>C age determinations]] for early Neolithic sites had become available.<ref name="AS1"/> [[Ammerman]] and [[Cavalli-Sforza]] discovered a linear relationship between the age of an Early Neolithic site and its distance from the conventional source in the Near East ([[Jericho]]), thus demonstrating that the Neolithic spread at an average speed of about 1&nbsp;km/yr.<ref name="AS1"/> More recent studies confirm these results and yield a speed of 0.6–1.3&nbsp;km/yr at a 95% confidence level.<ref name="AS1">Original text published under Creative Commons license CC BY 4.0: {{cite journal |last1=Shukurov |first1=Anvar |last2=Sarson |first2=Graeme R. |last3=Gangal |first3=Kavita |title=The Near-Eastern Roots of the Neolithic in South Asia |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=9 |issue=5 |article-number=e95714 |date=2014 |language=en|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0095714 |pmid=24806472 |pmc=4012948 |bibcode=2014PLoSO...995714G |doi-access=free }} [[File:CC-BY icon.svg|50px]] Material was copied from this source, which is available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License]</ref>

==Basic cultural characteristics==
[[Image:Néolithique 0001.jpg|thumb|left|240px|An array of [[Neolithic]] artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools]]
Regardless of specific chronology, many European Neolithic groups share basic characteristics, such as living in small-scale, family-based communities, subsisting on [[domesticated]] plants and animals supplemented with the collection of wild plant foods and with hunting, and producing hand-made pottery, that is, pottery made without the [[potter's wheel]]. Polished [[stone axe]]s lie at the heart of the neolithic (new stone) culture, enabling forest clearance for agriculture and production of wood for dwellings, as well as fuel.{{citation needed|date=November 2016}}

[[File:Ancient Greece Neolithic Pottery - 28421665976.jpg|thumb|240px|Ancient [[Neolithic Greece|Greek Early and Middle Neolithic]] pottery 6500–5300 BC. National Museum of Archaeology, Athens]]
There are also many differences, with some Neolithic communities in southeastern Europe living in heavily fortified settlements of 3,000–4,000 people (e.g., [[Sesklo]] in Greece) whereas Neolithic groups in [[Great Britain|Britain]] were small (possibly 50–100 people) and highly mobile cattle-herders.{{original research inline|date=November 2016}}

The details of the origin, chronology, social organization, subsistence practices and ideology of the peoples of Neolithic Europe are obtained from [[archaeology]], and not historical records, since these people left none. Since the 1970s, [[population genetics]] has provided independent data on the population history of Neolithic Europe, including migration events and genetic relationships with peoples in [[South Asia]].{{original research inline|date=November 2016}}

A further independent tool, [[linguistics]], has contributed hypothetical reconstructions of early European languages and family trees with estimates of dating of splits, in particular theories on the relationship between speakers of [[Indo-European languages]] and Neolithic peoples. Some archaeologists believe that the expansion of Neolithic peoples from southwest Asia into Europe, marking the eclipse of Mesolithic culture, coincided with the introduction of Indo-European speakers,{{sfn|Renfrew|1987|}}{{page needed|date=October 2013}}{{sfn|Bellwood|2004|}}{{page needed|date=October 2013}} whereas other archaeologists and many linguists believe the [[Indo-European languages]] were introduced from the [[Pontic–Caspian steppe]] during the succeeding [[Bronze Age]].{{sfn|Anthony|2007|}}{{page needed|date=October 2013}}

==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/}}</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=2 June 2008|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=13 April 2014}}</ref>

== 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|archive-url=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=15 November 2009|archive-date=1 November 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 |archive-date=19 March 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=10 January 2019|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=11 June 2015|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>

== Gallery ==
<gallery widths="150" heights="150" perrow="5">
File:Karanovo4.jpg|Pottery, 6th millennium BC ([[Karanovo culture|Karanovo]] I, [[Bulgaria]])<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://bulgarianheritage.bulgariana.eu/jspui/handle/pub/451 |website=Bulgarian Heritage |title=Ceramic vessel|date=18 October 2012 }}</ref> 
File:Female figurine marble Thessaly 5300-3300 BC, NAMA 8772 080802x.jpg|Female figurine, marble, Thessaly, 5300–3300 BC. [[Neolithic Greece]].
File:Ancient Greece Neolithic Stone Tools & Weapons.jpg|Ancient [[Neolithic Greece]] stone tools and weapons
File:Ancient Greece Neolithic Stone Grinder.jpg|Ancient Neolithic Greece stone grinder.
File:Clay vase with polychrome decoration, Dimini, Magnesia, Late or Final Neolithic (5300-3300 BC).jpg|Clay vase with polychrome decoration, [[Dimini]], [[Neolithic Greece]] (5300–3300 BC)
File:Nea Nikomedeia Excavation of an Early Neolithic house.png|Neolithic site of Nea Nikomedeia, Northern Greece
File:LBK house 1.jpg|[[Neolithic long house]], [[History of Germany|Germany]], 5000 BC
File:Goseck Circle 1.jpg|[[Goseck Circle]], Germany, 4900 BC
</gallery>

==Genetics==
{{see|Genetic history of Europe}}
[[File:Simplified model for the recent demographic history of Europeans.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Simplified model for the demographic history of Europeans during the [[Neolithic]] period in the [[Neolithic Revolution]]'s introduction of agriculture<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Sikora M, Carpenter ML, Moreno-Estrada A, Henn BM, Underhill PA, Sánchez-Quinto F, Zara I, Pitzalis M, Sidore C, Busonero F, Maschio A, Angius A, Jones C, Mendoza-Revilla J, Nekhrizov G, Dimitrova D, Theodossiev N, Harkins TT, Keller A, Maixner F, Zink A, Abecasis G, Sanna S, Cucca F, Bustamante CD | display-authors = 6 | title = Population genomic analysis of ancient and modern genomes yields new insights into the genetic ancestry of the Tyrolean Iceman and the genetic structure of Europe | journal = PLOS Genetics | volume = 10 | issue = 5 | article-number = e1004353 | date = May 2014 | pmid = 24809476 | pmc = 4014435 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pgen.1004353 | doi-access = free }}</ref>]]
Genetic studies since the 2010s have identified the genetic contribution of Neolithic farmers to modern European populations, providing quantitative results relevant to the long-standing "replacement model" vs. "demic diffusion" dispute in archaeology.

The earlier population of Europe were the Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, called the "[[Western Hunter-Gatherers]]" (WHG). Along with the [[Scandinavian Hunter-Gatherer]]s (SHG) and [[Eastern Hunter-Gatherer]]s (EHG), the WHGs constituted one of the three main genetic groups in the postglacial period of early [[Holocene]] Europe. Later, the Neolithic farmers expanded from the Aegean and Near East; in various studies, they are described as the [[Early European Farmers]] (EEF); Aegean Neolithic Farmers (ANF),<ref name="BraceDiekmann2019" /> First European Farmers (FEF), or also as the Early Neolithic Farmers (ENF).

A seminal 2014 study first identified the contribution of three main components to modern European lineages (the third being "[[Ancient North Eurasians]]", associated with the later [[Indo-European expansion]]). The EEF component was identified based on the genome of a woman buried c. 7,000 years ago in a [[Linear Pottery culture]] grave in [[Stuttgart]], Germany.<ref>Lazaridis et al., "Ancient human genomes suggest three ancestral populations for present-day Europeans", ''Nature'', 513(7518), 18 September 2014, 409–413, doi: 10.1038/nature13673.</ref>

This 2014 study found evidence for genetic mixing between WHG and EEF throughout Europe, with the largest contribution of EEF in Mediterranean Europe (especially in Sardinia, Sicily, Malta and among Ashkenazi Jews), and the largest contribution of WHG in Northern Europe and among Basque people.<ref>Lazaridis et al. (2014), [https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/suppl/2014/04/05/001552.DC4/001552-3.pdf Supplementary Information], p. 113.</ref>

Nevertheless, DNA studies show that when the Neolithic farmers arrived in Britain, these two groups did not seem to mix much. Instead, there was a substantial population replacement.<ref name="bbc.com"/><ref name="BraceDiekmann2019" />

Since 2014, further studies have refined the picture of interbreeding between EEF and WHG. In a 2017 analysis of 180 ancient DNA datasets of the Chalcolithic and Neolithic periods from Hungary, Germany and Spain, evidence was found of a prolonged period of interbreeding. Admixture took place regionally, from local hunter-gatherer populations, so that populations from the three regions (Germany, Iberia and Hungary) were genetically distinguishable at all stages of the Neolithic period, with a gradually increasing ratio of WHG ancestry of farming populations over time. This suggests that after the initial expansion of early farmers, there were no further long-range migrations substantial enough to homogenize the farming population, and that farming and hunter-gatherer populations existed side by side for many centuries, with ongoing gradual admixture throughout the 5th to 4th millennia BC (rather than a single admixture event on initial contact).<ref>Lipson et al., "Parallel palaeogenomic transects reveal complex genetic history of early European farmers", ''Nature'' 551, 368–372 (16 November 2017) doi:10.1038/nature24476.</ref> Admixture rates varied geographically; in the late Neolithic, WHG ancestry in farmers in Hungary was at around 10%, in Germany around 25% and in Iberia as high as 50%.<ref>Lipson et al. (2017), [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320948082_Parallel_palaeogenomic_transects_reveal_complex_genetic_history_of_early_European_farmers Fig 2.]</ref>

During late Neolithic and early [[Bronze Age]], the EEF-derived cultures of Europe were overwhelmed by successive invasions of [[Western Steppe Herders]] (WSHs) from the [[Pontic–Caspian steppe]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Goldberg |first1=Amy |last2=Günther |first2=Torsten |display-authors=1 |date=7 March 2017 |title=Ancient X chromosomes reveal contrasting sex bias in Neolithic and Bronze Age Eurasian migrations |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |publisher=[[National Academy of Sciences]] |volume=114 |issue=10 |pages=2657–2662 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1616392114 |pmc=5347611 |pmid=28223527 |bibcode=2017PNAS..114.2657G |ref={{harvid|Goldberg et al.|2017}}|doi-access=free }}</ref> These invasions led to EEF [[paternal]] DNA lineages in Europe being almost entirely replaced with WSH paternal DNA (mainly [[Haplogroup R1b|R1b]] and [[Haplogroup R1a|R1a]]). EEF mtDNA however remained frequent, suggesting admixture between WSH males and EEF females.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Juras |first1=Anna |last2=Chyleński |first2=Maciej |display-authors=1 |date=2 August 2018 |title=Mitochondrial genomes reveal an east to west cline of steppe ancestry in Corded Ware populations |url= |journal=[[Scientific Reports]] |publisher=[[Nature Research]] |volume=8 |issue=11603 |page=11603 |doi=10.1038/s41598-018-29914-5 |pmc=6072757 |pmid=30072694 |bibcode=2018NatSR...811603J |ref={{harvid|Juras et al.|2018}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Olalde |first1=Iñigo |last2=Mallick |first2=Swapan |display-authors=1 |date=15 March 2019 |title=The genomic history of the Iberian Peninsula over the past 8000 years |url= |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |publisher=[[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] |volume=363 |issue=6432 |pages=1230–1234 |doi=10.1126/science.aav4040  |pmc=6436108 |pmid=30872528 |bibcode=2019Sci...363.1230O |ref={{harvid|Olalde et al.|2019}}}}</ref> 

A 2025 study conducted by scientists from the [[University of Ferrara]] had found that many of the prehistoric Europeans retained dark skin of their African ancestors until the [[Bronze Age|Bronze]] and [[Iron Age|Iron Ages]]. The analysis suggested that lighter skin had evolved in Europe more sporadically than conventionally believed in academic scholarship.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Perretti |first1=Silvia |last2=Santos |first2=Patrícia |last3=Vizzari |first3=Maria Teresa |last4=Tassani |first4=Enrico |last5=Benazzo |first5=Andrea |last6=Ghirotto |first6=Silvia |last7=Barbujani |first7=Guido |title=Inference of human pigmentation from ancient DNA by genotype likelihoods |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=22 July 2025 |volume=122 |issue=29 |article-number=e2502158122 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2502158122 |pmid=40663601 |pmc=12304992 |bibcode=2025PNAS..12202158P }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Shemary |first1=Josef Al |title=Britons - including ones who built Stonehenge - 'were mostly black 5,000 years ago,' study suggests |url=https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/britons-including-ones-who-built-stonehenge-were-mostly-black-5000-years-ago-stu-5Hjd229_2/ |website=LBC |language=en |date=3 March 2025}}</ref> The study had analysed 348 samples pooled from human remains across the British Isles, mainland Europe, Russia, Central Asia, and the Middle East with a chronological range extending from 45,000 to 1,700 years ago.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Perretti |first1=Silvia |last2=Santos |first2=Patrícia |last3=Vizzari |first3=Maria Teresa |last4=Tassani |first4=Enrico |last5=Benazzo |first5=Andrea |last6=Ghirotto |first6=Silvia |last7=Barbujani |first7=Guido |title=Inference of human pigmentation from ancient DNA by genotype likelihoods |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=22 July 2025 |volume=122 |issue=29 |article-number=e2502158122 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2502158122 |pmid=40663601 |pmc=12304992 |bibcode=2025PNAS..12202158P }}</ref>
<!--belongs on [[Genetic history of Europe]], [[WP:UNDUE]] for the article about Neolithic Europe.
=== Y-chromosomal haplogroups ===
[[File:Cardial map.png|thumb|450px|Ancient DNA of early Neolithic men of the [[Cardium pottery|Cardial]] Pottery culture, found in cave burials, have been found to be mainly of Y-DNA haplogroup G2a.{{sfn|Lacan|Keyser|Ricaut|Brucato|2011}}]]

Later Y-DNA based studies, exploiting an increased understanding of the phylogenetic relationships, performing micro-regional haplogroup frequency analysis, revealed a more complicated demographic history.{{sfn|Di Giacomo|Luca|Popa|Akar|2004}} The studies suggest that "the large-scale clinal patterns of Hg E and Hg J reflect a mosaic of numerous small-scale, more regional population movements, replacements, and subsequent expansions overlying previous ranges".{{sfn|Semino|Magri|Benuzzi|Lin|2004}} Rather than a single, large-scale 'wave of advance' from the Near East, the apparent Hg J2 cline is produced by distinct populations movements emanating from different part of the Aegean and Near East, over a period stretching from the Neolithic to the Classical Period. Similarly, haplogroup E1b1b was also thought to have been introduced into the Balkans by Near Eastern agriculturalists.{{sfn|Semino|Passarino|Oefner|Lin|2000}} However, {{Harvcoltxt|Cruciani et al.|2007}} discovered that the large majority of haplogroup E1b1b lineages in Europe are represented by the sub-clade [[Haplogroup E1b1b (Y-DNA)|E1b1b1a2- V13]], which is rare outside Europe. Cruciani, Battaglia and King all predict that V13 expanded from the Balkans. However, there has been no consensus as to exact timing of this expansion (King and Battalia favour a neolithic expansion, possibly coinciding with the adoption of farming by indigenous Balkaners, whilst Cruciani favours a Bronze Age expansion), nor as to where V13 actually arose (but point to somewhere in the southern Balkans or Anatolia){{sfn|Battaglia|Fornarino|Al-Zahery|Olivieri|2008}} Overall, Y-chromosome data seems to support the "Pioneer model", whereby heterogeneous groups of Neolithic farmers colonized selected areas of southern Europe via a primarily maritime route. Subsequent expansion of agriculture was facilitated by the adoption of its methods by indigenous Europeans, a process especially prominent in the Balkans.{{sfn|Di Giacomo|Luca|Popa|Akar|2004}}

A 2010 study of modern genetic diversity suggested that the lineage [[Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA)|R1b1b2 (R-M269)]], like [[Haplogroup E1b1b (Y-DNA)|E1b1b]] or [[Haplogroup J (Y-DNA)|J]] lineages, spread together with farming from the Near East. Prior [[Archaeology|archaeological]]{{sfn|Zvelebil|2009a}}{{sfn|Zvelebil|2009b}}{{sfn|Bellwood|2004|}}{{page needed|date=October 2013}}{{sfn|Dokládal|Brožek|1961}}{{sfn|Bar-Yosef|1998}}{{sfn|Zvelebil|1989}} and [[Metrology|metrological]]{{sfn|Brace|Seguchi|Quintyn|Fox|2005}}{{sfn|Ricaut|Waelkens|2008}} studies had arrived at similar conclusions in support of the ''migrationist'' model. By this model, 80% of European Y chromosomes descend from incoming farmers, and most mtDNA from hunter-gatherers.{{sfn|Balaresque|Bowden|Adams|Leung|2010}}

In 2011, a study{{sfn|Busby|Brisighelli|Sánchez-Diz|Ramos-Luis|2011}} argued that the above migrationist model was flawed because of over-generalization in the studies of Baleresque 2010. Furthermore, Busby et al. 2012 point out "''For this haplogroup to be so ubiquitous, the population carrying R1b-S127 would have displaced most of the populations present in western Europe after the Neolithic agricultural transition''". Clearly common sense dictates that this did not happen. Also they go on to show that within the European specific R1b-M269 sub-lineage, defined by SNP S127, there exists distinct sub-haplogroups and at this level there exists several "''geographically localized pockets, with individual R1b-M269 sub- haplogroups dominating''". Their conclusions were that it is likely that R1b-S127 was already present in native European populations and grew into several geographically distinct sub-lineages across Europe before Neolithic expansion occurred.

In 2015, a study by Haak et al.about ancient DNA, concluded, however, that both R1a and R1b very likely spread into Europe from the [[Pontic-Caspian steppe]] after 3,000 BCE. They found there was a paucity of haplogroup R1b (or any other variant of R1) in the limited number of European population y-chromosome samples predating the Bronze Age, with only one of 70 individuals from Mesolithic and Neolithic Europe belonging to haplogroup R1. Among the analyzed male samples taken from [[Yamna culture]] sites, however, all possessed haplogroup R1b. Analysis of modern Europeans' autosomal DNA also gives support to a large [[Demic diffusion|population displacement]] from the steppe into Europe.<ref>« R1a and R1b are the most common haplogroups in many European populations today, and our results suggest that they spread into Europe from the East after 3,000 BCE. » in {{cite journal | author = Haak | year= 2015| title = Massive migration from the steppe was a source for Indo-European languages in Europe | doi = 10.1038/nature14317 | volume=522 | issue= 7555| journal=Nature | pages=207–211|display-authors=etal| bibcode= 2015Natur.522..207H | pmid=25731166 | pmc=5048219}}</ref>

In the 2016 Nature article 'The genetic history of Ice Age Europe', an individual from the [[Epigravettian]] cultural context in Italy (Villabruna) is mentioned, who lived circa 12,000 BCE and reportedly belonged to Y-DNA group R1b1a (L754).

===Mitochondrial haplogroups===
The data from [[Human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup|mtDNA]] is also interesting. European mtDNA haplogroup frequencies show little, if any, geographic patterning,{{sfn|Rosser|Zerjal|Hurles|Adojaan|2000}}{{sfn|Cavalli-Sforza|1997}} a result attributed to different molecular properties of mtDNA, as well as different migratory practices between females and males (Semino 2000). The vast majority of mtDNA lineages (60–70%) have been dated to have emerged either in the Mesolithic or Palaeolithic.{{sfn|Rosser|Zerjal|Hurles|Adojaan|2000}}{{sfn|Richards|Côrte-Real|Forster|MacAulay|1996}} whereas only 20% of mitochondrial lineages are "Neolithic". However, this conclusion has been questioned. Any undetected heterogeneity in the founder population would result in an overestimation in the age of the current population's molecular age. If this is true, then Europe could have been populated far more recently, e.g. during the Neolithic, by a more diverse founding population.{{sfn|Barbujani|Bertorelle|Chikhi|1998}}

As Chikhi states: "We argue that many mitochondrial lineages whose origin has been traced back to the Palaeolithic period probably reached Europe at a later time". However, Richards et al. (2000) maintain these findings even when founding population heterogeneity is considered. In one such study, Wolfgang Haak extracted [[ancient DNA|ancient]] mtDNA from what they present as early European farmers from the [[Linear Pottery Culture]] in central Europe. The bodies contained a 25% frequency of [[Haplogroup N1a (mtDNA)|mtDNA N1a]], a haplogroup which they assumed to be linked to the Neolithic. Today the frequency of this haplogroup is a mere 0.2%. Haak presented this as supportive evidence for a Palaeolithic European ancestry.{{sfn|Vandermeer|1975}}

A study of Neolithic skeletons in the [[Great Hungarian Plain]] in 2012 found a high frequency of eastern Asian maternal (mtDNA) haplogroups.{{sfn|Derenko|Malyarchuk|Denisova|Perkova|2012}}

===History of research [pre-2010]===
{{update}}
Perhaps the first scholar to posit a large-scale Neolithic migration, based on genetic evidence, was [[Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza]]. By applying [[principal component analysis]] to data from "classical genetic markers" (protein [[Polymorphism (biology)|polymorphisms]] from ABO blood groups, HLA loci, immunoglobulins, etc.), Cavalli-Sforza discovered interesting clues about the genetic makeup of Europeans. Although being very genetically homogeneous, several patterns did exist.{{sfn|Cavalli-Sforza|1997}} The most important one was a north-western to south-eastern [[cline (biology)|cline]] with a Near Eastern focus. Accounting for 28% of the overall genetic diversity in the European samples in his study, he attributed the cline to the spread of agriculture from the Middle East c. 10,000 to 6,000 years ago.{{sfn|Cavalli-Sforza|1997}}

Cavalli-Sforza's explanation of demic diffusions stipulated that the clines were due to the population expansion of neolithic farmers into a scarcely populated, hunter-gathering Europe, with little initial admixture between agriculturalists and foragers. The predicted route for this spread would have been from Anatolia to central Europe via the Balkans. However, given that the time depths of such patterns are not known, "associating them with particular demographic events is usually speculative".{{sfn|Rosser|Zerjal|Hurles|Adojaan|2000}} Apart from a demic Neolithic migration, the clines may also be compatible with other demographic scenarios (Barbujani and Bartorelle 2001), such as the initial Palaeolithic expansion, the Mesolithic (post-glacial) re-expansions{{sfn|Rosser|Zerjal|Hurles|Adojaan|2000}} or later (historic) colonizations.{{sfn|Di Giacomo|Luca|Popa|Akar|2004}}

Studies using direct DNA evidence have produced varying results. A notable proponent of Cavalli-Sforza's demic diffusion scenario is Chikhi. In his 1998 study, utilising polymorphic loci from seven hypervariable [[autosomal DNA]] loci, an autocorrelation analysis produced a clinal pattern closely matching that in Cavalli-Sforza's study. He calculated that the separation times were no older than 10,000 years. "The simplest interpretation of these results is that the current nuclear gene pool largely reflects the westward and northward expansion of a Neolithic group".{{sfn|Chikhi|Destro-Bisol|Bertorelle|Pascali|1998}}

Although the above studies propounded a 'significant' Neolithic genetic contribution, they did not quantify the exact magnitude of the genetic contribution. Dupanloup performed an admixture analysis based on several autosomal loci, mtDNA and NRY haplogroup frequencies. The study was based on the assumption that Basques were modern representatives of Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers' gene pool, and Near Eastern peoples were a proxy population for Neolithic farmers. Subsequently, they used admixture analysis to estimate the likely components of the contemporary European gene pool contributed by the two parental populations whose members hybridized at a certain moment in the past. The study suggested that the greatest Near Eastern admixture occurs in the Balkans (~80%) and Southern Italy (~60%), whilst it is least in peoples of the British Isles (estimating only a 20% contribution). The authors concluded that the Neolithic shift to agriculture entailed major population dispersal from the Near East.{{sfn|Dupanloup|Bertorelle|Chikhi|Barbujani|2004}}

Results derived from analysis of the non-recombining portion of the Y- chromosomes (NRY) produced, at least initially, similar gradients to the classic demic diffusion hypothesis. Two significant studies were Semino 2000 and Rosser 2000, which identified [[Haplogroup J2 (Y-DNA)|haplogroups J2]] and [[Haplogroup E1b1b (Y-DNA)|E1b1b (formerly E3b)]] as the putative genetic signatures of migrating Neolithic farmers from Anatolia,{{sfn|Rosser|Zerjal|Hurles|Adojaan|2000}} and therefore represent the Y-chromosomal components of a Neolithic demic diffusion.{{sfn|Semino|Passarino|Oefner|Lin|2000}}

This association was strengthened when King and Underhill (2002) found that there was a significant correlation between the distribution of Hg J2 and Neolithic painted pottery in European and Mediterranean sites. However, studies of the ancient Y-DNA from the earlier Neolithic cave burials of Cardium pottery culture shows they were mainly [[haplogroup G2]]a.{{sfn|Lacan|Keyser|Ricaut|Brucato|2011}} These 'Neolithic lineages' accounted for 22% of the total European Y chromosome gene pool, and were predominantly found in Mediterranean regions of Europe (Greece, Italy, southeastern Bulgaria, southeastern Iberia).
-->

==Language==
{{anchor|Language in the Neolithic}}{{Main|Paleo-European languages}}
[[File:European-late-neolithic-english.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|Neolithic cultures in Europe in c. 4000–3500 BC]]
There is no direct evidence of the languages spoken in the Neolithic. Some proponents of [[paleolinguistics]] attempt to extend the methods of [[historical linguistics]] to the Stone Age, but this has little academic support. Criticising scenarios which envision for the Neolithic only a small number of language families spread over huge areas of Europe (as in modern times), [[Donald Ringe]] has argued on general principles of [[language geography]] (as concerns "tribal", pre-state societies), and the scant remains of (apparently) native, non-Indo-European languages attested in ancient inscriptions, that Neolithic Europe must have been a place of great linguistic diversity, with many [[Language family|language families]] with no recoverable [[Genetic relationship (linguistics)|linguistic links]] to each other, much like western North America prior to European colonisation.{{sfn|Ringe|2009}}

Discussion of hypothetical languages spoken in the European Neolithic is divided into two topics, [[Indo-European languages]] and "Pre-Indo-European" languages.{{Source needed|date=July 2025}}

Early Indo-European languages are usually assumed to have reached Danubian (and maybe Central) Europe in the [[Chalcolithic]] or early [[Bronze Age Europe|Bronze Age]], e.g. with the [[Corded Ware]] or [[Beaker culture]]s (see also [[Kurgan hypothesis]] for related discussions). The [[Anatolian hypothesis]] postulates arrival of Indo-European languages with the early Neolithic. [[Old European hydronymy]] is taken by [[Hans Krahe]] to be the oldest reflection of the early presence of Indo-European in Europe.{{Source needed|date=July 2025}}

Theories of "Pre-Indo-European" languages in Europe are built on scant evidence. The [[Basque language]] is the best candidate for a descendant of such a language, but since Basque is a [[language isolate]], there is no comparative evidence to build upon. [[Theo Vennemann]] nevertheless postulates a "[[Vasconic substratum hypothesis|Vasconic]]" family, which he supposes had co-existed with an [[Atlantic (Semitic) languages|"Atlantic" or "Semitidic"]] (i.&nbsp;e., para-[[Semitic languages|Semitic]]) group. Another candidate is a [[Tyrrhenian languages|Tyrrhenian]] family which would have given rise to [[Etruscan language|Etruscan]] and [[Raetic language|Raetic]] in the Iron Age, and possibly also [[Aegean languages]] such as [[Minoan language|Minoan]] or [[Pelasgian language|Pelasgian]] in the Bronze Age.{{Source needed|date=July 2025}}

In the north, a similar scenario to Indo-European is thought to have occurred with [[Uralic languages]] expanding in from the east. In particular, while the [[Sami languages]] of the [[Sami people]] from parts of Northern Europe and Russia belong in the Uralic family, they show considerable [[Substrata (linguistics)|substrate]] influence, thought to represent one or more extinct languages spoken before the arrival of the Uralic speakers. The Sami are estimated to have adopted a Uralic language less than 2,500 years ago.{{sfn|Aikio|2004}} Some traces of pre-Uralic and pre-Indo-European languages of the Baltic area have been suspected in the [[Finnic languages]] as well, but these are much more modest. There are early loanwords from unidentified non-IE languages in other Uralic languages of Europe as well.{{sfn|Häkkinen|2012}}

Guus Kroonen brought up the so-called "Agricultural Substrate Hypothesis", based on the comparison of presumable Pre-Germanic and Pre-Greek substrate lexicon (especially agricultural terms without clear IE etymologies). Kroonen links that substrate to the gradual spread of agriculture in Neolithic Europe from Anatolia and the Balkans, and associates the Pre-Germanic agricultural substrate language with the [[Linear Pottery culture]]. The prefix ''*a-'' and the suffix ''*-it-'' are the most apparent linguistic markers by which a small group of "Agricultural" substrate words – i.e. ''*arwīt'' ("pea") or ''*gait'' ("goat") – can be isolated from the rest of the Proto-Germanic lexicon.<ref>''Guus Kroonen'' «[http://www.sgr.fi/sust/sust266/sust266_kroonen.pdf Non-Indo-European root nouns in Germanic: evidence in support of the Agricultural Substrate Hypothesis]». Department of Scandinavian Studies and Linguistics, Copenhagen University</ref> According to Aljoša Šorgo, there are at least 36 Proto-Germanic lexical items very likely originating from the "agricultural" substrate language (or a group of closely related languages). It is proposed by Šorgo that the Agricultural substrate was characterized by a four-vowel system of */æ/ */ɑ/ */i/ */u/, the presence of pre-nasalized stops, the absence of a semi-vowel */j/, a mobile stress accent, and reduction of unstressed vowels.<ref>''Šorgo, Aljoša.'' 2020. [https://www.aljosasorgo.si/_files/ugd/fa844c_dc718ff01140403bba0d43a6443a59e0.pdf?index=true Characteristics of Lexemes of a Substratum Origin in Proto-Germanic.] In Romain Garnier (ed.): Loanwords and substrata: proceedings of the colloquium held in Limoges, 5th–7 June 2018. Institut für Sprachwissenschaft der Universität Innsbruck: Innsbruck. Pages 427—472</ref>

==List of cultures and sites==
[[File:Skara Brae house 1 5.jpg|thumb|right|Excavated dwellings at [[Skara Brae]] (Orkney, Scotland), Europe's most complete Neolithic village]]

* Mesolithic/Para-Neolithic
** [[Franchthi Cave]] (Greece, 20th to 3rd millennium BC) First European Neolithic site.
** [[Lepenski Vir|Lepenski Vir culture]] (Serbia, 10th/8th to 6th millennium BC)
** [[Megalith|Megalithic culture]] (8th to 2nd millennium BC)
** [[Elshanka culture]] (Russia, 7th millennium BC) Oldest European pottery.
** [[Bug–Dniester culture|Bug-Dniester culture]] (Moldova, Ukraine, 7th to 6th millennium BC)
** [[Ertebølle culture]] (Denmark, 6th to 4th millennium BC)
** [[Swifterbant culture]] (Netherlands, 6th to 4th millennium BC)
** [[Neman culture]] (Poland, Lithuania, 6th to 3rd millennium BC)
** [[Dnieper–Donets culture|Dnieper-Donets culture]] (Ukraine, 5th millennium BC)
* Early Neolithic
** [[Khirokitia]] (Cyprus, 7th to 4th millennium BC)
** [[Sesklo]] culture (Greece, 7th to 5th millennium BC)
** [[Cardium pottery|Cardium pottery culture]] (Mediterranean coast, 7th to 6th millennium BC)
** [[Kakanj culture]] (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 7th to 5th millennium BC)
** [[Starčevo culture|Starčevo-Criș culture]] (''Starčevo I, Körös, Criş'', Central Balkans, 7th to 5th millennium BC)
** [[Karanovo culture]] (Bulgaria, 7th to 5th millennium BC)
** [[Dudești culture]] (Romania, 6th millennium BC)
** [[Katundas Cavern]] (Albania, 6th millennium BC)
* Middle Neolithic[[File:Maidanetske Cucuteni-Trypilla mega site, illustration.png|thumb|Reconstruction of the main occupation phase of the [[Maidanetske]] mega-site, c. 3800 BC]]
** [[La Hoguette#Archeology|La Hoguette]] culture (France, 6th millennium BC)
** [[Körös culture]] (Hungary, Romania, 6th millennium BC)
** [[La Almagra pottery|La Almagra pottery culture]] ([[Prehistoric Iberia#Neolithic|Andalusia]], 6th to 5th millennium BC)
** [[Linear Pottery culture]] (6th to 5th millennium BC)
*** [[Circular ditches|Circular enclosures]]
** [[Sopot culture]] (Croatia, Hungary, 6th to 4th millennium BC)
** [[Vinča culture]] (Balkans, 6th to 5th millennium BC)
** [[Cucuteni-Trypillian culture]] (Moldova, Ukraine, Romania, 6th to 3rd millennium BC)
** [[Tisza culture]] (Central Europe, 6th to 5th millennium BC)
** [[Langweiler (archaeological site)|Langweiler]] (Germany, 6th to 5th millennium BC)
** [[Hamangia culture]] (Romania, Bulgaria, 6th to 5th millennium BC)
** [[Butmir culture]] (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 6th to 5th millennium BC)
** [[Bonu Ighinu culture]] (Sardinia, 6th to 5th millennium BC)
** [[Għar Dalam phase]] (Malta, 5th millennium BC)
** [[Lengyel culture]] (Central Europe, 5th millennium BC)
*** A culture in [[Central Europe]] produced monumental arrangements of [[circular ditches]] between 4800 BC and 4600 BC. [[File:Museum Quintana - Unternberg 1.jpg|thumb|Reconstruction (model) of the Künzing-Unternberg circular ditch, Museum Quintana, [[Künzing]], Lower Bavaria, Germany]]
** [[Hinkelstein culture]] (Germany, 5th millennium BC)
** [[Stroke-ornamented ware culture]] (5th millennium BC)
** [[Dimini]] culture (Greece, 5th to 4th millennium BC)
** [[Cerny culture]] (France, 5th millennium BC)
** [[Danilo culture]] (Croatia, 5th to 4th millennium BC)
** [[Rössen culture]] (Central Europe, 5th millennium BC)
** [[San Ciriaco culture]] (Sardinia, 5th millennium BC)
** [[Chasséen culture]] (France, 5th to 4th millennium BC)
** [[Sredny Stog culture]] (Ukraine, Russia, 5th to 4th millennium BC)
** [[Michelsberg culture]] (Central Europe, 5th to 4th millennium BC)
** [[Boian culture]] (Romania, Bulgaria, 5th to 4th millennium BC)
** [[Pfyn culture]] (Switzerland, 5th to 4th millennium BC)
** [[Pit–Comb Ware culture]], a.k.a. Comb Ceramic culture (Northeast Europe, 5th to 3rd millennium BC)
** [[Mariupol culture]] (Pontic Steppe, 5th millennium BC)
** [[Hembury]] culture (Britain, 5th to 4th millennium BC)
** [[Baalberge group]] (Germany, Czechia, 4th millennium BC)
** [[Cortaillod culture]] (Switzerland, 4th millennium BC)
** [[Mondsee group]] (Austria, 4th to 3rd millennium BC)
** [[Horgen culture]] (Switzerland, 4th to 3rd millennium BC)
** [[Hvar culture]] (Eastern Adriatic coast, 4th to 3rd millennium BC)
** [[Windmill Hill culture]] (Britain, 4th millennium BC)
* Eneolithic ([[Chalcolithic]])[[File:Los Millares recreacion cuadro.jpg|thumb|A model of the prehistoric town of [[Los Millares]], with its walls (Andalusia, Spain)]]
** [[Samara culture]] (Russia, 5th millennium BC)
** [[Khvalynsk culture]] (Russia, 5th to 4th millennium BC)
** [[Gumelnița culture|Gumelniţa culture]] (Romania, 5th millennium BC)
** [[Varna culture]] (Bulgaria, 5th millennium BC)
** [[Tiszapolgár culture]] (Central Europe, 5th millennium BC)
** [[Suvorovo culture]] (North-west Black Sea, 5th millennium BC)
** [[Novodanilovka group|Novodanilovka culture]] (Ukraine, 5th to 4th millennium BC)
** [[Funnelbeaker culture]] (5th to 3rd millennium BC)
** [[Cernavodă culture]] (Bulgaria, Romania, 5th to 4th millennium BC)
** [[Repin culture]] (East European forest steppe, 4th millennium BC)
** [[Rinaldone culture]] (Italy, 4th to 3rd millennium BC)
** [[Baden culture]] (Central Europe, 4th to 3rd millennium BC)
** [[Usatove culture]] (North-west Black Sea, 4th to 3rd millennium BC)
** [[Globular Amphora culture]] (Central Europe, 4th to 3rd millennium BC)
** [[Yamnaya culture]] (Pontic-Caspian steppe, 4th to 3rd millennium BC)
**[[Eutresis culture]] (Greece, 4th to 3rd millennium BC)
** [[Vučedol culture]] (North-west Balkans, Pannonian Plain, late 4th to 3rd millennium BC)
** [[Los Millares|Los Millares culture]] (Almería, Spain, 4th to 2nd millennium BC)
** [[Corded Ware culture]], a.k.a. Battle-axe or Single Grave culture (Northern Europe, 3rd millennium BC)
** [[Gaudo culture]] (Italy, 4th to 3rd millennium BC, early [[Bronze Age]])
** [[Beaker culture]] (3rd to 2nd millennium BC, early [[Bronze Age]])
*** [[Stonehenge]], [[Skara Brae]]

===Megalithic===
[[File:Klekkende Høj barrow.jpg|thumb|[[Klekkende Høj]] passage grave, Denmark, {{circa}}&nbsp;3500-2800 BC]]
Some Neolithic cultures listed above are known for constructing [[megaliths|megalith]]s. These occur primarily on the Atlantic coast of Europe, but there are also megaliths on western Mediterranean islands.
* {{circa|5000&nbsp;BCE}}: Constructions in [[Portugal]] ([[Almendres Cromlech|Évora]]). Emergence of the [[Atlantic]] [[Neolithic]] period, the age of agriculture along the fertile shores of [[Europe]].
* {{circa|4800&nbsp;BCE}}: Constructions in [[Brittany]] ([[Barnenez]]) and [[Poitou]] ([[Tumulus of Bougon|Bougon]]).
* {{circa|4000&nbsp;BCE}}: Constructions in Brittany ([[Carnac]]), Portugal ([[Lisbon]]), Spain ([[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] and [[Andalusia]]), [[France]] (central and southern), [[Corsica]], England, [[Wales]], Northern Ireland ([[Legananny Dolmen|Banbridge]]) and elsewhere.
* {{circa|3700&nbsp;BCE}}: Constructions in Ireland ([[Carrowmore]] and elsewhere) and Spain ([[Dolmen of Menga]], [[Antequera Dolmens Site]], Málaga).
* {{circa|3600&nbsp;BCE}}: Constructions in England ([[Maumbury Rings]] and [[Godmanchester]]), and [[Malta]] ([[Ġgantija]] and [[Mnajdra]] temples).
* {{circa|3500&nbsp;BCE}}: Constructions in [[Spain]] ([[Dolmen de Viera|Dolmen of Viera]], [[Antequera Dolmens Site]], [[Málaga]], and [[Guadiana]]), Ireland (south-west), France ([[Arles]] and the north), north-west and central Italy ([[Piedmont]], [[Valle d'Aosta]], [[Liguria]] and [[Tuscany]]), Mediterranean islands ([[Sardinia]], [[Sicily]], [[Malta]]) and elsewhere in the [[Mediterranean]], [[Belgium]] (north-east) and [[Germany]] (central and south-west).
* {{circa|3400&nbsp;BCE}}: Constructions in Ireland ([[Newgrange]]), [[Netherlands]] (north-east), Germany (northern and central) [[Sweden]] and [[Denmark]].
* {{circa|3200&nbsp;BCE}}: Constructions in Malta ([[Ħaġar Qim]] and [[Tarxien]]).
* {{circa|3000&nbsp;BCE}}: Constructions in France ([[Saumur]], [[Dordogne]], [[Languedoc]], [[Biscay]], and the Mediterranean coast), Spain ([[Los Millares]]), Belgium ([[Ardennes]]), and [[Orkney]], as well as the first [[henge]]s (circular earthworks) in [[Great Britain|Britain]].
* {{circa|2900&nbsp;BCE}}: Constructions in Spain ([[Tholos de El Romeral|Tholos of El Romeral]], [[Antequera Dolmens Site]], Málaga)
* {{circa|2800&nbsp;BCE}}: Construction of the henge at Stonehenge.

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Prehistoric Europe]]
* [[Chalcolithic Europe]]
* [[Germanic substrate hypothesis]]
* [[Indo-Iranians]]
* [[Neolithic tomb]]
* [[Old Europe (archaeology)|Old European culture]]
* [[Pre-Indo-European languages]]
* [[Proto-Indo-European language]]
* [[Proto-Indo-Europeans]]
* [[Vinča symbols]]
* [[Neolithic in Switzerland]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

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{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|40em}}
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1146/annurev.anthro.30.1.181 |title=Early Agriculturalist Population Diasporas? Farming, Languages, and Genes |year=2001 |last1=Bellwood |first1=Peter |journal=[[Annual Review of Anthropology]] |volume=30 |pages=181–207 |jstor=3069214|s2cid=12157394 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Cavalli-Sforza |first1=Luigi Luca |first2=Paolo |last2=Menozzi |first3=Alberto |last3=Piazza |year=1994 |title=The History and Geography of Human Genes |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-08750-4}}
* {{cite book |last1=Cavalli-Sforza |first1=Luigi Luca |year=2001 |title=Genes, Peoples, and Languages |location=Berkeley |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-22873-3 }}
* {{cite book |last=Gimbutas |first=Marija |year=1989 |title=The Language of the Goddess |publisher=Harper & Row |isbn=978-0-06-250356-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/languageofgoddes00gimb }}
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Fu Q, Posth C, Hajdinjak M, Petr M, Mallick S, Fernandes D, Furtwängler A, Haak W, Meyer M, Mittnik A, Nickel B, Peltzer A, Rohland N, Slon V, Talamo S, Lazaridis I, Lipson M, Mathieson I, Schiffels S, Skoglund P, Derevianko AP, Drozdov N, Slavinsky V, Tsybankov A, Cremonesi RG, Mallegni F, Gély B, Vacca E, Morales MR, Straus LG, Neugebauer-Maresch C, Teschler-Nicola M, Constantin S, Moldovan OT, Benazzi S, Peresani M, Coppola D, Lari M, Ricci S, Ronchitelli A, Valentin F, Thevenet C, Wehrberger K, Grigorescu D, Rougier H, Crevecoeur I, Flas D, Semal P, Mannino MA, Cupillard C, Bocherens H, Conard NJ, Harvati K, Moiseyev V, Drucker DG, Svoboda J, Richards MP, Caramelli D, Pinhasi R, Kelso J, Patterson N, Krause J, Pääbo S, Reich D | display-authors = 6 | title = The genetic history of Ice Age Europe | journal = Nature | volume = 534 | issue = 7606 | pages = 200–5 | date = June 2016 | pmid = 27135931 | pmc = 4943878 | doi = 10.1038/nature17993 | bibcode = 2016Natur.534..200F | hdl = 10211.3/198594 }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category-inline}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Hofmanová|first1=Zuzana|last2=Kreutzer|first2=Susanne|last3=Hellenthal|first3=Garrett |display-authors=etal |title=Early farmers from across Europe directly descended from Neolithic Aegeans|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=113|issue=25|year=2016|pages=6886–6891|issn=0027-8424|doi=10.1073/pnas.1523951113|pmid=27274049|pmc=4922144|bibcode=2016PNAS..113.6886H |doi-access=free}}
* [http://biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2016/06/16/059311.full.pdf The genetic structure of the world's first farmers, Lazaridis et al, 2016]
* [http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2015/02/10/013433 Massive migration from the steppe is a source for Indo-European languages in Europe, Haak et al, 2015]
* [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v522/n7555/full/nature14507.html Population genomics of Bronze Age Eurasia, Allentoft et al, 2015]
* [http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2015/03/13/016477 Eight thousand years of natural selection in Europe, Mathieson et al, 2015]
* [https://archive.org/details/horsewheelandlanguage "The Horse, the Wheel and Language, How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes shaped the Modern World", David W Anthony, 2007]
* [http://www.eliznik.org.uk/EastEurope/History/timeline/index.htm General table of Neolithic sites in Europe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224171213/http://www.eliznik.org.uk/EastEurope/History/timeline/index.htm |date=24 December 2018 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080405085514/http://www.continuitas.com/intro.html Mario Alinei, et al., Paleolithic Continuity Theory of Indo-European Origins]
* [http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/harsova/en/index.html culture.gouv.fr: Life along the Danube 6500 years ago]

{{Neolithic Europe|state=expanded}}
{{Prehistoric Europe}}
{{History of Europe}}
{{Prehistoric technology}}
{{Neolithic Chronology}}

[[Category:Neolithic Europe| ]]
[[Category:Prehistoric Europe]]
[[Category:Pre-Indo-Europeans]]
[[Category:Stone Age Europe|.03]]