\[ **BT: [[Holocene]] | [[prehistory]]** ] --- # Neolithic (lit. New Stone Age) The timeframe of the Neolithic period depends on the specific geological group of people being discussed. In most of Europe, Asia, and Africa, it is generally considered to have started approx. 10,000 years ago and ended around 2,000 years ago.[^1] The term *Neolithic* was coined by John Lubbock (1865) as a refinement of the [[history#three-age system|three-age system]].[^2] Cultural markers of the Neolithic tend to be the development of agriculture and pottery, and the founding of permanent settlements. *Note*: [[The terms ‘Neolithic’ and ‘Bronze Age’ are culture-specific and mostly limited to Old World cultures.]][^3] #### Neolithic Revolution In [[countries of the world#Eurasia|Eurasian]] cultures. --- ## Neolithic cultures around the world *Note*: [[The terms ‘Neolithic’ and ‘Bronze Age’ are culture-specific and mostly limited to Old World cultures.]][^3] ### Neolithic cultures in China #### defining the Chinese Neolithic [[The characteristics of Neolithic cultures in China (c. 12,000 – c. 4,000 years ago) vary significantly.]][^4] [[Some Chinese Neolithic cultures were created by farmers and characterised by divisions of labour, social segmentation, and fortified settlements; other cultures were mobile hunters and gatherers with more egalitarian social structures.]][^5] [[Debate continues about how, exactly, to be define the Neolithic era within a Chinese context—e.g. whether the line between Mesolithic and Neolithic is best drawn by settlements, or perhaps by pottery, etc.]][^6] [[Most Chinese archaeologists now use pottery as the indicator Neolithic cultures within a Chinese context, rather than following the European definition (which involves settlements vs. mobility).]][^7] - see also: [[Pleistocene#the problem of Euro-centric periodism]] --- #### food habits and agriculture in Neolithic Chinese cultures > [[‘The origin of agriculture in China by no later than 9000 years ago is an important issue in prehistoric archaeology. Agriculture is the foundation of Chinese civilization.’]][^8] [[In prehistoric China, when farmers first settled in villages, the staple crop was millet and the pig had newly been domesticated; farm-based foods were supplemented with hunting and fishing.]][^9] [[Many scholars agree that China is one of the centres for an indigenous origin of agriculture, with broomcorn, foxtail millets, and rice being the major domesticated crops, and dog and pig as the primary domesticated animals.]][^10] [[In prehistoric China, as in the 1980s, ‘the chief crop in northern China was millet and in the central and southern provinces rice held sway.’]][^11] [[Chicken and water buffalo may have been indigenously domesticated in China.]][^12] > [[Some time ‘after 5000 BC they also started to manufacture clay pots for the preparation of their meals. … Even at this early stage of development we can observer some of the characteristics of Chinese cookery.’|‘Some time after 5000 BC they also started to manufacture clay pots for the preparation of their meals. … Even at this early stage of development we can observer some of the characteristics of Chinese cookery: sophisticated methods and fuel economy.’]][^13] Early, specialised clay pots: - the *ding* - [[The ‘ding’ was an early Chinese clay pot—constructed with three pots joined like a tripod—which enabled the cooking of several things at once.]][^14] - the *hsien* - [[The ‘hsien’ was a clay pot not unlike the ‘ding’, but which added an extra pot with a perforated bottom and cover—which allowed food to be steamed.]][^15] #### specific Neolithic cultures in China **Kuahuqiao culture** was an early Neolithic settlement in the [[Hangzhou]] area (in [[Zhejiang province]]), extant in 6000–5000 BCE.[^16] [[Zhejiang province]] was also the site of the Neolithic cultures of the **Hemudu** (starting in 5500 BC) and **Liangzhu** (starting in 3400 BCE).[^17] [^1]: ‘Neolithic’, Wikipedia, last edited 23 March 2026, 19:35 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic. [^2]: Oxford English Dictionary (online), ‘Neolithic (adj. & n.)’, revised 2003, accessed 4 April 2026, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/5443423296. [^3]: ‘Timeline of Human Prehistory’, Scholarly Community Encyclopedia, updated 2 November 2022, https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/32192.’ [^4]: Tracey L-D Lu, ‘[[Lu, ‘Neolithic Cultures in China’, 2013|Neolithic Cultures in China]]’, Oxford Bibliographies, last modified 22 April 2013, https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199920082/obo-9780199920082-0004.xml. [^5]: Tracey L-D Lu, ‘[[Lu, ‘Neolithic Cultures in China’, 2013|Neolithic Cultures in China]]’, Oxford Bibliographies, last modified 22 April 2013, https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199920082/obo-9780199920082-0004.xml. [^6]: Tracey L-D Lu, ‘[[Lu, ‘Neolithic Cultures in China’, 2013|Neolithic Cultures in China]]’, Oxford Bibliographies, last modified 22 April 2013, https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199920082/obo-9780199920082-0004.xml. [^7]: Tracey L-D Lu, ‘[[Lu, ‘Neolithic Cultures in China’, 2013|Neolithic Cultures in China]]’, Oxford Bibliographies, last modified 22 April 2013, https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199920082/obo-9780199920082-0004.xml. [^8]: Tracy L-D Lu, ‘[[Lu, ‘The Occurrence of Cereal Cultivation in China’, 2006|The Occurrence of Cereal Cultivation in China]]’, *Asian Perspectives*, vol. 45, no. 2 (2006), p. 129, [https://doi.org/10.1353/asi.2006.0022](https://doi.org/10.1353/asi.2006.0022). [^9]: Yong Yap Cotterell, *[[Cotterell, The Chinese Kitchen, 1986|The Chinese Kitchen: A Traditional Approach to Eating]]* (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1986), p. xi. [^10]: Tracy L-D Lu, ‘[[Lu, ‘The Occurrence of Cereal Cultivation in China’, 2006|The Occurrence of Cereal Cultivation in China]]’, *Asian Perspectives*, vol. 45, no. 2 (2006), p. 129, [^11]: Yong Yap Cotterell, *[[Cotterell, The Chinese Kitchen, 1986|The Chinese Kitchen: A Traditional Approach to Eating]]* (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1986), p. 1. [^12]: Tracy L-D Lu, ‘[[Lu, ‘The Occurrence of Cereal Cultivation in China’, 2006|The Occurrence of Cereal Cultivation in China]]’, *Asian Perspectives*, vol. 45, no. 2 (2006), p. 129, [https://doi.org/10.1353/asi.2006.0022](https://doi.org/10.1353/asi.2006.0022). [^13]: Yong Yap Cotterell, *[[Cotterell, The Chinese Kitchen, 1986|The Chinese Kitchen: A Traditional Approach to Eating]]* (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1986), p. 1. [^14]: Yong Yap Cotterell, *[[Cotterell, The Chinese Kitchen, 1986|The Chinese Kitchen: A Traditional Approach to Eating]]* (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1986), p. 1. [^15]: Yong Yap Cotterell, *[[Cotterell, The Chinese Kitchen, 1986|The Chinese Kitchen: A Traditional Approach to Eating]]* (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1986), p. 1. [^16]: ‘Zhejiang’, Wikipedia, last edited 20 March 2026, 10:59 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhejiang. [^17]: ‘Zhejiang’, Wikipedia, last edited 20 March 2026, 10:59 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhejiang.