View source for Pre-Pottery Neolithic B

{{short description|Neolithic culture in upper Mesopotamia and the Levant c. 8800–6500 BC}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox archaeological culture
|name       = Pre-Pottery Neolithic B
|map        = Fertile crescent Neolithic B circa 7500 BC.jpg
|mapalt=
|mapcaption = Area of the [[Fertile Crescent]], {{Circa|7500 BC}}, with main [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic]] sites. The area of [[Mesopotamia]] proper was not fully settled by humans.
|mapsize    = 300
|altnames=
|horizon=
|region     = [[Fertile Crescent]]
|period     = [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic]]
|dates      = c. 10,800–8,500 BP<br />{{Circa|8800}}–6500 BC<ref name="MC" />
|typesite   = [[Jericho]], [[Byblos]]
|majorsites=
|extra=
|precededby = [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic A]]
|followedby = {{plainlist|
*[[Pre-Pottery Neolithic C]]
*[[Pottery Neolithic]]
*[[Halaf culture]]
*[[Hassuna culture]]
*[[Neolithic Greece]]
*[[Savanna Pastoral Neolithic]]
*[[Khirokitia]]
*[[Yarmukian]]
*[[Faiyum A culture]]}}
}}
'''Pre-Pottery Neolithic B''' ('''PPNB''') is part of the [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic]], a [[Neolithic]] culture centered in [[upper Mesopotamia]] and the [[Levant]], dating to {{c.|10,800|8,500|lk=on}} years ago, that is, 8800–6500 BC.<ref name=MC>{{Cite book |last= Chazan |first= Michael |title= World Prehistory and Archaeology: Pathways Through Time |date=2017 |publisher= Routledge |page=197 |isbn=978-1-351-80289-5 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=j3BQDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA197}}</ref> It was [[Type site|typed]] by British archaeologist [[Kathleen Kenyon]] during her [[archaeological excavation]]s at [[Jericho]] in the [[West Bank]], territory of [[Palestine]].

Like the earlier [[PPNA]] people, the PPNB culture developed from the [[Mesolithic]] [[Natufian culture]]. However, it shows evidence of having more northerly origins, possibly indicating an influx from the region of northeastern [[Anatolia]].

== Lifestyle ==
[[File:Jericho Statue.png|left|thumb|upright|Head of statue, [[Jericho]], from c. 9000 years ago. Displayed at the [[Rockefeller Archeological Museum]] in [[Jerusalem]].]]

Cultural tendencies of this period differ from that of the earlier [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic A]] (PPNA), in that people living during this phase began to depend more heavily upon [[domestication|domesticated animals]] to supplement their earlier mixed agrarian and [[hunter-gatherer]] diet. In addition, the [[flint]] tool kit of the period is new and quite disparate from that of the earlier period. One of its major elements is the [[wikt:naviform|naviform]] core. This is the first period in which architectural styles of the southern Levant became primarily [[rectilinear polygon|rectilinear]]; earlier typical dwellings were circular, elliptical and occasionally even octagonal. Pyrotechnology, the expanding capability to control fire, was highly developed in this period. During this period, one of the main features of houses is a thick layer of white clay plaster flooring, highly polished and made of lime produced from [[limestone]].

It is believed that the use of clay plaster for floor and wall coverings during PPNB led to the discovery of [[pottery]].<ref name=Mazar>Amihai Mazar (1992). ''Archaeology of the Land of the Bible: 10,000 – 586 BC'', Doubleday: New York, p. 45.</ref> The earliest proto-pottery was [[White Ware]] vessels, made from lime and gray ash, built up around baskets before firing, for several centuries around 7000 BC at sites such as Tell [[Neba'a Faour]] ([[Beqaa Valley]]).<ref>Chris Scarre. ''Timeline of the Ancient World'', p. 77.</ref> Sites from this period found in the Levant utilizing rectangular floor plans and plastered floor techniques were found at [[Ayn Ghazal (archaeological site)|Ain Ghazal]], [[Yiftahel]] (western [[Galilee]]), and [[Abu Hureyra]] (Upper [[Euphrates]]).<ref name="Mazar" /> The period is dated to between c. 10,700 and c. 8,000 [[before present|BP]] or 8,700–6,000 BC.

[[Plastered human skulls]] were reconstructed human skulls that were made in the ancient [[Levant]] between 9000 and 6000 BC in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period. They represent some of the oldest forms of art in the [[Middle East]] and demonstrate that the prehistoric population took great care in burying their [[ancestors]] below their homes. The skulls denote some of the earliest sculptural examples of [[portrait]]ure in the [[history of art]].<ref>{{Cite book |last= Kleiner |first=Fred S. |title= Gardner's Art through the Ages: Backpack Edition |date=2012 |publisher= Cengage Learning |isbn= 978-0-8400-3054-2 |page=42 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=neEzEpyuZ3AC&pg=PT42}}</ref>

== Society ==
{{Location map+|Mediterranean east|width=300|float=right|caption=Clickable map of the modern-day eastern [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] showing important sites that were occupied in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B|places=
{{Location map~|Mediterranean east|lat=31.85|long=35.45|position=left|label_size=75|label=[[Jericho]]}}
{{Location map~|Mediterranean east|lat=33.4|long=36.55|position=right|label_size=75|label=[[Tell Aswad]]}}
{{Location map~|Mediterranean east|lat=34.008889|long=36.145278|position=right|label_size=75|label=[[Neba'a Faour]]}}
{{Location map~|Mediterranean east|lat=31.988|long=35.976|position=right|label_size=75|label=[[Ayn Ghazal (archaeological site)|'Ain Ghazal]]}}
{{Location map~|Mediterranean east|lat=32.755375|long=35.227725|position=left|label_size=75|label=[[Yiftahel]]}}
{{Location map~|Mediterranean east|lat=35.866|long=38.4|position=right|label_size=75|label=[[Tell Abu Hureyra]]}}
{{Location map~|Mediterranean east|lat=33.360178|long=35.948949|position=left|label_size=75|label=[[Tell Ramad]]}}
{{Location map~|Mediterranean east|lat=33.532|long=36.531|position=bottom|label_size=75|label=[[Tell Ghoraifé]]}}
{{Location map~|Mediterranean east|lat=36.2|long=36.15|position=bottom|label_size=75|label=[[Tell Judaidah]]}}
{{Location map~|Mediterranean east|lat=36.2475|long=36.376389|position=right|label_size=75|label=[[Tell Tayinat]]}}
{{Location map~|Mediterranean east|lat=36.237778|long=36.384722|position=top|label_size=75|label=[[Alalakh]]}}
}}
[[File:Asikli Hoyuk sarah c murray 6176.jpg|thumb|left|Reconstitution of housing in [[Aşıklı Höyük]], modern [[Turkey]]]]

[[Danielle Stordeur|Danielle Stordeur's]] recent work at [[Tell Aswad]], a large agricultural village between [[Mount Hermon]] and [[Damascus]] could not validate [[Henri de Contenson|Henri de Contenson's]] earlier suggestion of a PPNA ''Aswadian'' culture. Instead, they found evidence of a fully established PPNB culture at 8700 BC at Aswad, pushing back the period's generally accepted start date by 1,200 years. Similar sites to [[Tell Aswad]] in the Damascus Basin of the same age were found at [[Tell Ramad]] and [[Tell Ghoraifé]]. How a PPNB culture could spring up in this location, practicing domesticated farming from 8700 BC has been the subject of speculation. Whether it created its own culture or imported traditions from the North East or [[Southern Levant]] has been considered an important question for a site that poses a problem for the scientific community.<ref>Helmer D.; Gourichon L., Premières données sur les modalités de subsistance dans les niveaux récents de Tell Aswad (Damascène, Syrie) – fouilles 2001-2005., 2008.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Archaeozoology of the Southwest Asia and Adjacent Areas VIII. Actes du 8e colloque de l'ASWA |publisher=Travaux de la Maison de l'Orient |year=2008 |editor-last=Vila |editor-first=E. |volume=1 |location=Lyon |pages=119–151 |chapter=49 |editor-last2=Gourichon |editor-first2=L. |editor-last3=Buitenhuis |editor-first3=H. |editor-last4=Choyke |editor-first4=A. |display-editors=3}}</ref><ref>Helmer D. et Gourichon L., Premières données sur les modalités de subsistances dans les niveaux récents (PPNB moyen à Néolithique à Poterie) de Tell Aswad en Damascène (Syrie), Fouilles 2001–2005, in Vila E. et Gourichon L. (eds), ASWA Lyon June 2006., 2007.</ref><ref>Stordeur D. Tell Aswad. Résultats préliminaires des campagnes 2001 et 2002. Neo Lithics 1/03, 7-15, 2003.</ref><ref>Stordeur D. Des crânes surmodelés à Tell Aswad de Damascène. (PPNB – Syrie). Paléorient, CNRS Editions, 29/2, 109-116., 2003.</ref><ref>Stordeur D.; Jammous B.; Khawam R.; Morero E. L'aire funéraire de Tell Aswad (PPNB). In HUOT J.-L. et STORDEUR D. (Eds) Hommage à H. de Contenson. Syria, n° spécial, 83, 39-62., 2006.</ref><ref>Stordeur D., Khawam R. Les crânes surmodelés de Tell Aswad (PPNB, Syrie). Premier regard sur l'ensemble, premières réflexions. Syria, 84, 5-32., 2007.</ref><ref>Stordeur D., Khawam R. Une place pour les morts dans les maisons de Tell Aswad (Syrie). (Horizon PPNB ancien et PPNB moyen). Workshop Houses for the living and a place for the dead, Hommage à J. Cauvin. Madrid, 5ICAANE., 2008.</ref>

==Domestication of animals==
[[File:Origin and dispersal of domestic livestock species in the Fertile Crescent (dates Before Present).png|thumb|upright=1.2|Origin and dispersal of domestic livestock species in the Fertile Crescent (dates Before Present).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zeder |first1=Melinda A. |title=Domestication and early agriculture in the Mediterranean Basin: Origins, diffusion, and impact |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=19 August 2008 |volume=105 |issue=33 |pages=11597–11604, Fig.1 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0801317105 |pmid=18697943 |pmc=2575338 |bibcode=2008PNAS..10511597Z |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ayaz |first1=Orhan |title=An Alternative View on Animal Symbolism in The Göbekli Tepe Neolithic Cultural Region in the Light of New Data (Göbekli Tepe, Sayburç) |journal=Iğdır Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi |date=1 January 2023 |issue=33 |page=372 |doi=10.54600/IGDIRSOSBILDER.1252928 |url=https://www.academia.edu/102894828}}</ref>]]
The first Pre-Pottery Neolithic A societies, such as the [[Taş Tepeler culture]] had not yet developed the herding of animals or agriculture: their subsistence depended on hunting and selective harvesting of wild cereal grasses.<ref name="PT">{{cite book |last1=Taracha |first1=Piotr |title=Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia |date=2009 |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn=978-3-447-05885-8 |pages=12–14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xTE7o8aKI7IC&pg=PA13 |language=en}}</ref> There have been no findings of domesticated species of plant or animals at [[Göbekli Tepe]] or [[Karahan Tepe]], some of the two most important Taş Tepeler sites.<ref name="MBS">{{cite journal |last1=Sweatman |first1=Martin B. |title=Representations of calendars and time at Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe support an astronomical interpretation of their symbolism |journal=Time and Mind |date=October 2024 |volume=17 |issue=3–4 |pages=191–247 |doi=10.1080/1751696X.2024.2373876 |quote=The Taş Tepeler culture of upper Mesopotamia (...)|doi-access=free }}</ref> But initial efforts towards the [[domestication of animals]] seems to have started there, such as early efforts at animal 
management, especially symbolic representations and entrapment methods.<ref name="OAOA"/> The earliest dates for the actual domestication of animals are {{circa}} 9000 BCE for goats and sheep, {{circa}} 8500 BCE for pigs, and {{circa}} 8000 BCE for cattle, all in the area of Northern Mesopotamia.<ref name="OAOA">{{cite journal |last1=Ayaz |first1=Orhan |title=An Alternative View on Animal Symbolism in The Göbekli Tepe Neolithic Cultural Region in the Light of New Data (Göbekli Tepe, Sayburç) |journal=Iğdır Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi |date=1 January 2023 |issue=33 |page=271-272, Fig.6 |doi=10.54600/IGDIRSOSBILDER.1252928 |url=https://www.academia.edu/102894828}}</ref> [[Çayönü Tepe]] for example, a typical Pre-Pottery Neolithic B site, may be where some of the first [[animal domestication]] occurred, as the [[pig]] may have first been domesticated there in 8,500 BCE.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ervynck |first1=A. |last2=Dobney |first2=K. |last3=Hongo |first3=H. |last4=Meadow |first4=R. |display-authors=1 |title=Born Free? New Evidence for the Status of ''Sus scrofa'' at Neolithic Çayönü Tepesi (Southeastern Anatolia, Turkey) |journal=Paléorient |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=47–73 |year=2001 |doi=10.3406/paleo.2001.4731 |jstor=41496617 }}</ref>

Sites such as [[Çayönü Tepe]] developed from the cultural tradition of [[Gobekli Tepe]], and started to implement agriculture from the 9th millennium BCE, as well as other sites such as [[Neva Çori]] or [[Cafer Höyük]], [[Hallan Çemi]], [[Abu Hureyra]] and [[Jerf al Amar]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Taracha |first1=Piotr |title=Religions of Second Millennium Anatolia |date=2009 |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn=978-3-447-05885-8 |page=8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xTE7o8aKI7IC&pg=PA8 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="MBS"/>

==Crop cultivation and granaries==
{{further|Origins of agriculture in West Asia}}
[[File:Domestications des céréales au Proche Orient.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|Location of identified foci of cereal domestication in the Near East: pre-domestic agriculture (italics) and morphological domestication (right).<ref>From {{Harvtxt|Willcox|2014a|p=[https://www.academia.edu/39000170/Les_premiers_indices_de_la_culture_des_c%C3%A9r%C3%A9ales_au_Proche_Orient 46]}} fig. 1</ref> [[Ohalo II]] is a hypothetical early-stage developer.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Snir |first1=Ainit |last2=Nadel |first2=Dani |last3=Groman-Yaroslavski |first3=Iris |last4=Melamed |first4=Yoel |last5=Sternberg |first5=Marcelo |last6=Bar-Yosef |first6=Ofer |last7=Weiss |first7=Ehud |title=The Origin of Cultivation and Proto-Weeds, Long Before Neolithic Farming |journal=PLOS ONE |date=22 July 2015 |volume=10 |issue=7 |article-number=e0131422 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0131422 |pmid=26200895 |bibcode=2015PLoSO..1031422S |doi-access=free |language=en |issn=1932-6203|pmc=4511808 }}</ref>]]
[[Sedentism]] of this time allowed for the [[Horticulture|cultivation]] of local grains, such as [[barley]] and [[Avena|wild oats]], and for storage in [[Granary|granaries]]. Sites such as [[Dhra′]] and [[Jericho]] retained a hunting lifestyle until the PPNB period, but granaries allowed for year-round occupation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Qu |first1=Yating |last2=Zhu |first2=Junxiao |last3=Yang |first3=Han |last4=Zhou |first4=Longlong |date=2023-05-17 |title=Food, cooking and potteries in the Neolithic Mijiaya site, Guanzhong area, North China, revealed by multidisciplinary approach |journal=Heritage Science |language=en |volume=11 |issue=1 |page=107 |doi=10.1186/s40494-023-00950-3 |issn=2050-7445 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

This period of cultivation is considered "pre-[[domestication]]", but may have begun to develop plant species into the domesticated forms they are today. Deliberate, extended-period storage was made possible by the use of "suspended floors for air circulation and protection from rodents". This practice "precedes the emergence of domestication and large-scale sedentary communities by at least 1,000 years".<ref name="PNAS09">{{Cite journal |last1=Kuijt |first1=I. |last2=Finlayson |first2=B. |date=Jun 2009 |title=Evidence for food storage and predomestication granaries 11,000 years ago in the Jordan Valley |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=106 |issue=27 |pages=10966–10970 |bibcode=2009PNAS..10610966K |doi=10.1073/pnas.0812764106 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=2700141 |pmid=19549877 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Granaries are positioned in places between other buildings early on {{c.|11,500}} BP, however, beginning around 10,500 BP, they were moved inside houses, and by 9,500 BP, storage occurred in special rooms.<ref name="PNAS09" /> This change might reflect changing systems of ownership and property as granaries shifted from communal use and ownership to become under the control of households or individuals.<ref name="PNAS09" />

It has been observed of these granaries that their "sophisticated storage systems with subfloor ventilation are a precocious development that precedes the emergence of almost all of the other elements of the Near Eastern Neolithic package—domestication, large scale sedentary communities, and the entrenchment of some degree of social differentiation". Moreover, "building granaries may [...] have been the most important feature in increasing sedentism that required active community participation in new life-ways".<ref name="PNAS09" />

== Extent ==
Work at the site of [[Ayn Ghazal (archaeological site)|'Ain Ghazal]] in [[Jordan]] has indicated a later [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic C]] period, which existed between 8,200 and 7,900 BP. [[Juris Zarins]] has proposed that a Circum Arabian Nomadic Pastoral Complex developed in the period from the climatic crisis of 6200 BC, partly as a result of an increasing emphasis in PPNB cultures upon animal domesticates, and a fusion with [[Harifian]] hunter gatherers in Southern Palestine, with affiliate connections with the cultures of [[Faiyum|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]].<ref>Zarins, Juris (1992) "Pastoral Nomadism in Arabia: Ethnoarchaeology and the Archaeological Record," in O. Bar-Yosef and A. Khazanov, eds. "Pastoralism in the Levant"</ref>

The culture disappeared during the [[8.2 kiloyear event]], a term that [[Climatology|climatologists]] have adopted for a sudden decrease in global temperatures that occurred approximately 8,200 years before the present, or c. 6200 BC, and which lasted for the next two to four centuries. In the following [[Munhata|Munhatta]] and [[Yarmukian]] post-pottery Neolithic cultures that succeeded it, rapid cultural development continues, although PPNB culture continued in the [[Amuq valley]], where it influenced the later development of the [[Ghassulian]] culture.<gallery widths="170" heights="170">
File:Jordan Amman 2013 0307.jpg|Left side-view of an Ain Ghazal statue from the [[The Jordan Museum|Archaeological Museum of Amman]]
File:Ain Ghazal Statues Jordan Archaeological Museum Amman Jordan0822.jpg|The [[ʿAin Ghazal statues|ʿAin Ghazal]] [[Polycephaly|bicephalous]] statues, c. 6500 BC.
File:Ain Ghazal statue frontal.jpg|[[Musée du Louvre]], Paris, Ain Ghazal statue frontal closeup
File:Side view. Double-headed human statue from Ain Ghazal city, Amman, Jordan. Pre-pottery Neolithic period B, c. 6500 BCE. Jordan Archaeological Museum, Amman.jpg|Right side-view of an Ain Ghazal statue
</gallery>

== Artifacts ==
[[File:Totemlike head from Nevalı Çori. Urfa Museum object, with tentative reconstruction.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|"Totem head", with tentative reconstruction. [[Nevalı Çori]] (8400-8100 BCE).<ref name="KS">{{cite journal |last1=Schmidt |first1=Klaus |title=Göbekli Tepe – the Stone Age Sanctuaries.New results of ongoing excavations with a special focuson sculptures and high reliefs |journal=Documenta Praehistorica |date=2010 |issue=XXXVII |page=248 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270030960}}</ref>]]
Around 8000 BC, before the invention of pottery, several early settlements became experts in crafting beautiful and highly sophisticated containers from stone, using materials such as [[alabaster]] or [[granite]], and employing sand to shape and polish. Artisans used the veins in the material to maximum visual effect. Such objects have been found in abundance on the upper [[Euphrates river]], in what is today eastern Syria, especially at the site of [[Bouqras]].<ref>{{Cite web |title= Metropolitan Museum of Art |website= metmuseum.org |url= https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/327124}}</ref> These form the early stages of the development of the [[art of Mesopotamia]].
<gallery widths="150" heights="150">
File:Decorated stone vessel from Ayanlar Höyük (cropped).jpg|Stone vessel decorated with animal motif, [[Ayanlar Höyük]] (8800-7000 BC)
File:Jar MET VS1985 356 16.jpg|Jar in [[Alabaster#Calcite alabaster|calcite alabaster]], Syria, late 8th millennium BC.
File:Calcite tripod vase, mid-Euphrates probably from Tell Buqras, 6000 BCE, Louvre Museum AO 31551.jpg|[[Calcite]] tripod vase, mid-Euphrates, probably from Tell Buqras, 6000 BC, Louvre Museum AO 31551
File:Alabaster pot with handles, Buqras region 6500 BCE Louvre Museum AO 28519.jpg|Alabaster pot with handles, Buqras region, 6500 BC Louvre Museum AO 28519
File:Plastered face modeled on a human skull. From Ain Ghazal, Jordan. Pre-Pottery Neolithic B, c. 6500 BCE. The Jordan Archaeological Museum, Amman.jpg|Plastered face mold from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B, Amman, Jordan
File:Stone figurine, a primitive representation of a human figure. From Nimrik village, now submerged, Mosul Dam, Iraq. 8000-5000 BCE. Iraq Museum.jpg|Phallic sculpture with engraved human figure. [[Nemrik]] - Iraq (7800–6500 BC). National Museum of Iraq - Baghdad.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nemrik |url=https://pcma.uw.edu.pl/en/2019/02/14/nemrik-2/ |website=pcma.uw.edu.pl |publisher=Polish Center of Mediterranean Archaeology}}</ref>
</gallery>

== Genetics ==
{{further|Genetic history of the Middle East}}
[[File:Urfa museum Head plus gear - Nevali Çori - Neolithic age - 4857.jpg|thumb|upright|Sculpted head from [[Nevalı Çori]], 8400-8100 BC ([[Urfa Museum]])]]
Pre-Pottery Neolithic B fossils that were analysed for uniparentals via ancient DNA, were found to carry the Y-DNA (paternal) haplogroups [[Haplogroup E-M215 (Y-DNA)|E1b1b]] (2/7; ~29%), [[Haplogroup CT (Y-DNA)|CT]] (2/7; ~29%), [[Haplogroup E (Y-DNA)|E(xE2,E1a,E1b1a1a1c2c3b1,E1b1b1b1a1,E1b1b1b2b)]] (1/7; ~14%), [[Haplogroup T (Y-DNA)|T(xT1a1,T1a2a)]] (1/7; ~14%), and [[Haplogroup H (Y-DNA)|H2]] (1/7; ~14%). The CT clade was also observed in a Pre-Pottery Neolithic C specimen (1/1; 100%).<ref>{{Cite bioRxiv |biorxiv=10.1101/059311 |last=Lazaridis |first=Iosif |title=The genetic structure of the world's first farmers |date=17 June 2016 |display-authors=et al.}} – [http://biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/suppl/2016/06/16/059311.DC1/059311-1.pdf Table S6.1 – Y-chromosome haplogroups]</ref> Maternally, the rare basal haplogroup [[Haplogroup N (mtDNA)|N*]] has been found among skeletal remains belonging to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B,<ref name=DNA>{{Cite journal |last=Fernández |first=Eva |display-authors=etal |date=2014 |title=Ancient DNA analysis of 8000 BC near eastern farmers supports an early neolithic pioneer maritime colonization of Mainland Europe through Cyprus and the Aegean Islands |journal=PLOS Genetics |volume=10 |issue=6 |article-number=e1004401 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1004401 |pmc=4046922 |pmid=24901650 |doi-access=free }}</ref> as have the mtDNA clades [[Haplogroup L3 (mtDNA)|L3]]<ref name="DNA" /> and [[Haplogroup K (mtDNA)|K]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fernández Domínguez |first=Eva |url=http://diposit.ub.edu/dspace/handle/2445/35896 |title=Polimorfismos de DNA mitocondrial en poblaciones antiguas de la cuenca mediterránea |date=16 December 2005 |publisher=Universitat de Barcelona |isbn=978-84-689-6479-9 |access-date=19 October 2017}}</ref>

DNA analysis has also confirmed ancestral ties between the Pre-Pottery Neolithic culture bearers and the makers of the Epipaleolithic [[Iberomaurusian]] culture of North Africa,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=van de Loosdrecht |display-authors=etal |date=2018-03-15 |title=Pleistocene North African genomes link Near Eastern and sub-Saharan African human populations |journal=Science |publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |volume=360 |issue=6388 |pages=548–552 |bibcode=2018Sci...360..548V |doi=10.1126/science.aar8380 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=29545507 |doi-access=free}}</ref> the Mesolithic [[Natufian culture]] of the Levant, the [[Savanna Pastoral Neolithic]] culture of East Africa,<ref name=Skoglund>{{Cite journal |last=Skoglund |display-authors=etal |date=21 September 2017 |title=Reconstructing Prehistoric African Population Structure |journal=Cell |volume=171 |issue=1 |pages=59–71 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2017.08.049 |pmc=5679310 |pmid=28938123}}</ref> the Early Neolithic [[Cardium pottery|Cardium]] culture of Morocco,<ref name=Fregel>{{Cite journal |last=Fregel |display-authors=etal |year=2018 |title=Ancient genomes from North Africa evidence prehistoric migrations to the Maghreb from both the Levant and Europe |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=115 |issue=26 |pages=6774–6779 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1800851115|biorxiv=10.1101/191569 |pmid=29895688 |pmc=6042094 |s2cid=214727201 |url= https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/02/20/191569.full.pdf |doi-access=free |bibcode=2018PNAS..115.6774F }}</ref> and the [[Ancient Egypt]]ian culture of the Nile Valley,<ref>{{Cite journal |last= Schuenemann |first= Verena J. |display-authors=et al. |date=2017 |title= Ancient Egyptian mummy genomes suggest an increase of Sub-Saharan African ancestry in post-Roman periods |journal=Nature Communications |volume=8 |article-number=15694 |bibcode=2017NatCo...815694S |doi=10.1038/ncomms15694 |pmc=5459999 |pmid=28556824}}</ref> with fossils associated with these early cultures all sharing a common genomic West Eurasian/Near-Eastern component.<ref name="Fregel" /> A paper from 2021 would find that the Mesolithic Natufians cluster the closest with modern Saudi Arabians, Desert Bedouins and Yemenis. The Natufians were also close to, and ancestral to the ancient Levant PPNB/C and the later Levantine Bronze Age samples.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ferreira |first1=Joana C. |last2=Alshamali |first2=Farida |display-authors=etal |title=Projecting Ancient Ancestry in Modern-Day Arabians and Iranians: A Key Role of the Past Exposed Arabo-Persian Gulf on Human Migrations |journal=[[Genome Biology and Evolution]] |volume=13 |issue=9 |date=September 2021 |article-number=evab194 |url=https://academic.oup.com/gbe/article/13/9/evab194/6364187 |access-date=28 May 2024 |via=Oxford Academic |doi=10.1093/gbe/evab194 |pmid=34480555 |doi-access=free |hdl=10216/154869 |hdl-access=free |pmc=8435661 }}</ref>

[[File:JRSLM 300116 Yarmoukian figurines 01.jpg|thumb|left|Yarmukian figurines, [[Yarmukian culture]] (5500–5000 BC), Pre-Pottery Neolithic B]]
Mathieson et al. (2015) & Lazardis et al. (2016), discovered that the Levant Neolithic samples from PPNB to PPNC were a mix of a component related to Natufians, and another lineage related to [[Early European Farmers|Anatolian farmers]] from Barcin and Mentese.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lazaridis |first1=Iosif |last2=Nadel |first2=Dani |last3=Rollefson |first3=Gary |last4=Merrett |first4=Deborah C. |last5=Rohland |first5=Nadin |last6=Mallick |first6=Swapan |last7=Fernandes |first7=Daniel |last8=Novak |first8=Mario |last9=Gamarra |first9=Beatriz |last10=Sirak |first10=Kendra |last11=Connell |first11=Sarah |last12=Stewardson |first12=Kristin |last13=Harney |first13=Eadaoin |last14=Fu |first14=Qiaomei |last15=Gonzalez-Fortes |first15=Gloria |date=August 2016 |title=Genomic insights into the origin of farming in the ancient Near East |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=536 |issue=7617 |pages=419–424 |doi=10.1038/nature19310 |pmid=27459054 |pmc=5003663 |bibcode=2016Natur.536..419L |issn=1476-4687}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mathieson |first1=Iain |last2=Lazaridis |first2=Iosif |last3=Rohland |first3=Nadin |last4=Mallick |first4=Swapan |last5=Patterson |first5=Nick |last6=Roodenberg |first6=Songül Alpaslan |last7=Harney |first7=Eadaoin |last8=Stewardson |first8=Kristin |last9=Fernandes |first9=Daniel |last10=Novak |first10=Mario |last11=Sirak |first11=Kendra |last12=Gamba |first12=Cristina |last13=Jones |first13=Eppie R. |last14=Llamas |first14=Bastien |last15=Dryomov |first15=Stanislav |date=2015-12-24 |title=Genome-wide patterns of selection in 230 ancient Eurasians |journal=Nature |volume=528 |issue=7583 |pages=499–503 |doi=10.1038/nature16152 |issn=1476-4687 |pmc=4918750 |pmid=26595274|bibcode=2015Natur.528..499M }}</ref> In another study from 2021, the populations of the PPNB Levant were modelled as having 60.5% Israel Natufian Epipaleolithic related ancestry, and 39.5% Turkey Barcin Neolithic ancestry. Later, geneticists in 2022 using 1.2 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), discovered that the ancient DNA of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Mesopotamia and Anatolia, showed that these populations were formed through admixture of pre-Neolithic sources related to [[Anatolian hunter-gatherers|Anatolian]], [[Caucasus hunter-gatherer|Caucasus]], and Levantine hunter-gatherers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lazaridis |first1=Iosif |last2=Alpaslan-Roodenberg |first2=Songül |last3=Acar |first3=Ayşe |last4=Açıkkol |first4=Ayşen |last5=Agelarakis |first5=Anagnostis |last6=Aghikyan |first6=Levon |last7=Akyüz |first7=Uğur |last8=Andreeva |first8=Desislava |last9=Andrijašević |first9=Gojko |last10=Antonović |first10=Dragana |last11=Armit |first11=Ian |last12=Atmaca |first12=Alper |last13=Avetisyan |first13=Pavel |last14=Aytek |first14=Ahmet İhsan |last15=Bacvarov |first15=Krum |date=2022-08-26 |title=Ancient DNA from Mesopotamia suggests distinct Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic migrations into Anatolia |journal=Science |language=en |volume=377 |issue=6609 |pages=982–987 |doi=10.1126/science.abq0762 |pmid=36007054 |bibcode=2022Sci...377..982L |issn=0036-8075|hdl=20.500.12684/12352 |hdl-access=free |pmc=9983685 }}</ref>

Altınışık, N Ezgi et al. (2022) studied 13 genomes from the PPNB at [[Cayonu]], Turkey, and found they were formed by an admixture event between western and eastern populations of early Holocene Southwest Asia.{{sfn|Altınışık|Kazancı|Aydoğan|Gemici|2022}}

In 2023, Xiaoran Wang and team found that their six genetically analyzed PPNB individuals, were having ancestry from Levantine Epipaleolithic, Anatolian Neolithic, [[Ganj Dareh|Iranian Neolithic]], and [[Caucasus Hunter-Gatherer]]s. The PPNB in general exhibited strong evidence of gene flow from populations related to Anatolia compared to the earlier Natufian hunter-gatherers. PPN individuals from Ain Ghazal further to the north in Jordan had a stronger genetic affinity with Anatolia than the PPN of Ba'ja, although not significantly so.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Xiaoran |last2=Skourtanioti |first2=Eirini |last3=Benz |first3=Marion |last4=Gresky |first4=Julia |last5=Ilgner |first5=Jana |last6=Lucas |first6=Mary |last7=Morsch |first7=Michael |last8=Peters |first8=Joris |last9=Pöllath |first9=Nadja |last10=Ringbauer |first10=Harald |last11=le Roux |first11=Petrus |last12=Schultz |first12=Michael |last13=Krause |first13=Johannes |last14=Roberts |first14=Patrick |last15=Stockhammer |first15=Philipp W. |date=2023-01-24 |title=Isotopic and DNA analyses reveal multiscale PPNB mobility and migration across Southeastern Anatolia and the Southern Levant |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=120 |issue=4 |article-number=e2210611120 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2210611120 |doi-access=free |pmid=36649412 |bibcode=2023PNAS..12010611W |issn=0027-8424|pmc=9942848 }}</ref>

According to a 2025 study, the Levant Neolithic populations from 10,000 years ago had 1.86% of [[Neanderthal ancestry]] (Fig. 4: Neanderthal ancestry and admixture graph.).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Salem |first=Nada |last2=van de Loosdrecht |first2=Marieke S. |last3=Sümer |first3=Arev Pelin |last4=Vai |first4=Stefania |last5=Hübner |first5=Alexander |last6=Peter |first6=Benjamin |last7=Bianco |first7=Raffaela A. |last8=Lari |first8=Martina |last9=Modi |first9=Alessandra |last10=Al-Faloos |first10=Mohamed Faraj Mohamed |last11=Turjman |first11=Mustafa |last12=Bouzouggar |first12=Abdeljalil |last13=Tafuri |first13=Mary Anne |last14=Manzi |first14=Giorgio |last15=Rotunno |first15=Rocco |date=May 2025 |title=Ancient DNA from the Green Sahara reveals ancestral North African lineage |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08793-7 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=641 |issue=8061 |pages=144–150 |doi=10.1038/s41586-025-08793-7 |issn=1476-4687|pmc=12043513 }}</ref>

== Diffusion ==
=== Carbon-14 dating ===
[[File:Expansion of farming in western Eurasia, 9600–4000 BCE.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Neolithic expansions from the 10th to the 5th millennium BCE]]
The spread of the [[Neolithic]] in Europe was first studied quantitatively in the 1970s, when a sufficient number of 14C 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, on average, the Neolithic spread at a constant speed of about 1&nbsp;km/yr.<ref name="AS1" /> More recent studies confirm these results and yield the speed of 0.6–1.3&nbsp;km/yr at 95% confidence level.<ref name=AS1>Original text from {{Cite journal |last1=Shukurov |first1=Anvar |last2=Sarson |first2=Graeme R. |last3=Gangal |first3=Kavita |date=2014 |title=The Near-Eastern Roots of the Neolithic in South Asia |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=9 |issue=5 |article-number=e95714 |bibcode=2014PLoSO...995714G |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0095714 |pmc=4012948 |pmid=24806472 |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>

=== Analysis of mitochondrial DNA ===
Since the original human expansions out of Africa 200,000 years ago, different prehistoric and historic migration events have taken place in Europe.<ref name="DT" /> Considering that the movement of the people implies a consequent movement of their genes, it is possible to estimate the impact of these migrations through the genetic analysis of human populations.<ref name="DT" /> Agricultural and husbandry practices originated 10,000 years ago in a region of the Near East known as the Fertile Crescent.<ref name="DT" /> According to the archaeological record this phenomenon, known as "Neolithic", rapidly expanded from these territories into Europe.<ref name="DT" /> However, whether this diffusion was accompanied or not by human migrations is greatly debated.<ref name="DT" /> [[Mitochondrial DNA]] – a type of maternally inherited DNA located in the cell cytoplasm- was recovered from the remains of Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) farmers in the Near East and then compared to available data from other Neolithic populations in Europe and also to modern populations from South Eastern Europe and the Near East.<ref name="DT" /> The obtained results show that substantial human migrations were involved in the Neolithic spread and suggest that the first Neolithic farmers entered Europe following a maritime route through [[Cyprus]] and the [[Aegean Islands]].<ref name=DT>[[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] {{Cite journal |last1=Turbón |first1=Daniel |last2=Arroyo-Pardo |first2=Eduardo |date=5 June 2014 |title=Ancient DNA Analysis of 8000 B.C. Near Eastern Farmers Supports an Early Neolithic Pioneer Maritime Colonization of Mainland Europe through Cyprus and the Aegean Islands |journal=PLOS Genetics |language=en |volume=10 |issue=6 |article-number=e1004401 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1004401 |issn=1553-7404 |pmc=4046922 |pmid=24901650 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Recent genetical research confirms that "the main driver behind European Neolithization has been recognized as mass population movements from Anatolia and/or Southeast Europe".{{sfn|Altınışık|Kazancı|Aydoğan|Gemici|2022|p=10}}

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="4">
File:Modern distribution of the haplotypes of PPNB farmers.jpg|Modern distribution of the haplotypes of PPNB farmers
File:Genetic distance between PPNB farmers and modern populations.jpg|Genetic distance between PPNB farmers and modern populations
</gallery>
{{clear}}

== Relative chronology ==
{{center| {{Near East Neolithic}}}}

== See also ==
{{Commons category|Pre-Pottery Neolithic B}}
{{Neolithic}}
* [[Holocene climatic optimum]]
* [[Levantine archaeology#Ceramics analysis]]
* [[Prehistory of the Levant]]
* [[Upper Mesopotamia#Prehistory]]

==Sources==
* {{cite journal |last1=Altınışık |first1=N. Ezgi |last2=Kazancı |first2=Duygu Deniz |last3=Aydoğan |first3=Ayça |last4=Gemici |first4=Hasan Can |last5=Erdal |first5=Ömür Dilek |last6=Sarıaltun |first6=Savaş |last7=Vural |first7=Kıvılcım Başak |last8=Koptekin |first8=Dilek |last9=Gürün |first9=Kanat |last10=Sağlıcan |first10=Ekin |last11=Fernandes |first11=Daniel |last12=Çakan |first12=Gökhan |last13=Koruyucu |first13=Meliha Melis |last14=Lagerholm |first14=Vendela Kempe |last15=Karamurat |first15=Cansu |last16=Özkan |first16=Mustafa |last17=Kılınç |first17=Gülşah Merve |last18=Sevkar |first18=Arda |last19=Sürer |first19=Elif |last20=Götherström |first20=Anders |last21=Atakuman |first21=Çiğdem |last22=Erdal |first22=Yılmaz Selim |last23=Özer |first23=Füsun |last24=Erim Özdoğan |first24=Aslı |last25=Somel |first25=Mehmet |title=A genomic snapshot of demographic and cultural dynamism in Upper Mesopotamia during the Neolithic Transition |journal=Science Advances |date=4 November 2022 |volume=8 |issue=44 |article-number=eabo3609 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.abo3609 |pmid=36332018 |issn=2375-2548|pmc=9635823 |bibcode=2022SciA....8O3609A }}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category-inline}}

{{Neolithic Southwest Asia}}
{{Prehistoric Asia}}
{{Prehistoric technology| state=expanded}}

[[Category:Pre-Pottery Neolithic B| ]]
[[Category:Neolithic cultures of Asia]]
[[Category:Archaeological cultures of the Near East]]
[[Category:9th-millennium BC establishments]]
[[Category:7th-millennium BC disestablishments]]
[[Category:Pre-Pottery Neolithic]]