Atlantic (period)
The Atlantic in palaeoclimatology was the warmest and moistest Blytt-Sernander period, pollen zone and chronozone of Holocene northern Europe. The climate was warmer than today, it was preceded by the Boreal, with a climate similar to today’s, was followed by the Subboreal, a transition to the modern. Because it was the warmest period of the Holocene, the Atlantic is referenced more directly as the Holocene climatic optimum, or just climatic optimum; the Atlantic is equivalent to Pollen Zone VII. Sometimes a Pre-atlantic or early Atlantic is distinguished, on the basis of an early dividing cold snap. Other scientists place the Atlantic after the cold snap, assigning the latter to the Boreal; the period is still in the process of definition. It is a question of definition and the criteria: Beginning with the temperatures, as derivable from Greenland ice core data, it is possible to define an'Early' or'Pre-Atlantic' period at around 8040 BC, where the 18O isotope line remains above 33 ppm in the combined curve after Rasmussen et al. which would end at the well-known 6.2 ka BC -cold-event.
Or one single Atlantic period is defined, starting at that just mentioned cold-event. After a lake-level criterion, Kul’kova and others define the Atlantic as running from 8000 to 5000 BP. Early Atlantic, or AT1, was a time of high lake levels, 8000–7000 BP; each period has its distinctive ratios of species. According to the ice-core criterion it is difficult to find a clear boundary, because the measurements still differ too much and alignments are still under construction. Many find a decline of temperature significant enough after 4800 BC. Another criterion comes from bio-stratigraphy: the elm-decline. However, this appears in different regions between 4300 and 3100 BC; the Atlantic was a time of rising temperature and marine transgression on the islands of Denmark and elsewhere. The sea rose to 3 m above its present level by the end of the period; the oysters found. Tides of up to 1 m were present. Inland, lake levels in all north Europe were higher, with fluctuations; the temperature rise had the effect of extending southern climates northward in a short period.
The treelines on northern mountains rose by 600 to 900 m. Thermophilous species migrated northward, they did not replace the species that shifted the percentages in their favor. Across middle Europe, the boreal forests were replaced by climax or "old growth" deciduous ones, though providing a denser canopy, were more open at the base; the dense canopy theory, has been questioned by F. Vera. Oak and hazel require more light. Vera hypothesizes that the lowlands were more open and that the low frequency of grass pollen was caused by the browsing of large herbivores, such as Bos primigenius and Equus ferus. During the Atlantic period the deciduous temperate zone forests of south and central Europe extended northward to replace the boreal mixed forest, which found refugia on the mountain slopes. Mistletoe, Water Chestnut and Ivy were present in Denmark. Grass pollen decreased. Softwood forests were replaced by hardwood. Quercus, both cordata and platyphyllos, oak, linden, Ulmus glabra and ash replaced Betula and Pinus, spreading to the north from further south.
The period is sometimes called "the alder-elm-lime period". In northeast Europe, the Early Atlantic forest was but affected by the rise in temperature; the forest had been pine with an underbrush of hazel, alder and willow. Only about 7% of the forest became broad-leaved deciduous, dropping to Boreal levels in the cooling of the Middle Atlantic. In the warmer Late Atlantic, the broad-leaved trees became 34% of the forest. Along the line of the Danube and the Rhine, extending northward in tributary drainage systems, a new factor entered the forest country: the Linear Pottery culture, clearing the arable land by slash and burn methods, it flourished about 5500–4500 BC, falling within the Atlantic. By the end of the Atlantic and pasture lands extended over much of Europe and the once virgin forests were contained within refugia; the end of the Atlantic is signaled by the "Elm decline", a sharp drop in Elm pollen, thought to be the result of climate, disease or human food-producing activities. In the subsequent cooler Sub-Boreal, forested country gave way to open range once more.
The best picture of Atlantic Period fauna comes from the kitchen middens of the Ertebølle culture of Denmark and others like it. Denmark was more of an archipelago. Humans lived on the shorelines, exploiting waters rich in marine life, marshes teeming with birds, forests where cervids and suids as well as numerous small species were plentiful; the higher water levels offset the effects of the submarine toxic zone in the Baltic Sea. It contained fish now rare there, such as the anchovy, Engraulis encrasicolus, the three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus. Available were pike, whitefish and ling. Three kinds of seals were found there, the ringed and grey. Mesolithic man whales in the estuaries; the main birds were maritime: the red-throated diver, the black-throated diver, the gannet. The Dalmatian pelican, now found only as far north as south-eastern Europe, has been found in Denmark; the capercaillie, as is the case now, was found in forested areas. In the lofty canopy could be found a continuous zone of smaller animals, such as the ubiquitous squirrel, Sciur
Trihedral Neolithic
Trihedral Neolithic is a name given by archaeologists to a style of striking spheroid and trihedral flint tools from the archaeological site of Joub Jannine II in the Beqaa Valley, Lebanon. The style appears to represent a specialized Neolithic industry. Little comment has been made of this industry
3rd millennium BC
The 3rd millennium BC spanned the years 3000 through 2001 BC. This period of time corresponds to the Early to Middle Bronze Age, characterized by the early empires in the Ancient Near East. In Ancient Egypt, the Early Dynastic Period is followed by the Old Kingdom. In Mesopotamia, the Early Dynastic Period is followed by the Akkadian Empire. World population growth relaxes after the burst due to the Neolithic Revolution. World population is stable, at 60 million, with a slow overall growth rate at 0.03% p.a. The Bronze Age occurred between 3000 BC and 2500 BC; the previous millennium had seen the emergence of advanced, urbanized civilizations, new bronze metallurgy extending the productivity of agricultural work, developed ways of communication in the form of writing. In the 3rd millennium BC, the growth of these riches, both intellectually and physically, became a source of contention on a political stage, rulers sought the accumulation of more wealth and more power. Along with this came the first appearances of mega architecture, organized absolutism and internal revolution.
The civilizations of Sumer and Akkad in Mesopotamia became a collection of volatile city-states in which warfare was common. Uninterrupted conflicts drained all available resources and populations. In this millennium, larger empires succeeded the last, conquerors grew in stature until the great Sargon of Akkad pushed his empire to the whole of Mesopotamia and beyond, it would not be surpassed in size until Assyrian times 1,500 years later. In the Old Kingdom of Egypt, the Egyptian pyramids were constructed and would remain the tallest and largest human constructions for thousands of years. In Egypt, pharaohs began to posture themselves as living gods made of an essence different from that of other human beings. In Europe, still neolithic during the same period, the builders of megaliths were constructing giant monuments of their own. In the Near East and the Occident during the 3rd millennium BC, limits were being pushed by architects and rulers. Towards the close of the millennium, Egypt became the stage of the first popular revolution recorded in history.
After lengthy wars, the Sumerians recognized the benefits of unification into a stable form of national government and became a peaceful, well-organized, complex technocratic state called the 3rd dynasty of Ur. This dynasty was to become involved with a wave of nomadic invaders known as the Amorites, who were to play a major role in the region during the following centuries. Near East c. 2900–2350 BC: Early Dynastic Period c. 2334–2154 BC: Akkadian Empire 3100–2686 BC: Early Dynastic Period c. 2700 BC–1600 BC: Old Elamite period. 2686–2181 BC Old Kingdom of Egypt 2181–2055 BC First Intermediate Period of Egypt c. 3000 BC: Nubian A-Group Culture comes to an end. C. 2300 BC: Nubian C-Group culture. Europe c. 3200 BC: Cycladic culture in Aegean islands of Greece. C. 3200 BC–3100 BC: Helladic culture in mainland Greece. C. 3200 BC–2800 BC: Ozieri culture. Corded Ware culture. Late Maikop culture. Late Vinca culture. Globular Amphora culture. Early Beaker culture. Yamnaya culture, Catacomb culture loci of Indo-European Satemization.
The Sintashta-Petrovka-Arkaim culture emerges from the Catacomb culture from about 2200 BC locus of Proto-Indo-Iranian. Butmir culture. Late Funnelbeaker culture. Baden culture. Gaudo culture. South Asia2800 BC–2600 BC: Harappan 2. 2600 BC–1900 BC: Harappan 3. East and Southeast AsiaLongshan culture Baodun culture Shijiahe culture Liangzhu culture Majiayao culture Lower Xiajiadian culture c. 2500 BC: Austronesian peoples from Formosa colonize Luzon in northern Philippines. AmericasMesoamerican Archaic period Old Copper Complex Norte Chico civilization. Sub-Saharan AfricaSavanna Pastoral Neolithic Elmenteitan Certain 4th millennium BC events were precursors to the 3rd millennium BC: c. 3700 BC: Lothal: Indus Valley trade-port city in India. C. 3650 BC–3000 BC: Minoan culture appeared on Crete. C. 3200 BC/3100 BC: Helladic culture and Cycladic culture both emerge in Greece. The 3rd millennium BC included the following key events: c. 3000 BC: Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. C. 3000 BC: First evidence of gold being used in the Middle East.
C. 3000 BC: Nubian A-Group, Ta-Seeti "kingdom" came to an end due to raids by Egypt. C. 3000 BC–2000 BC: Vessels from Denmark are made. C. 2890 BC: Second Dynasty of Egypt, reign of Hotepsekhemwy. Syria: Foundation of the city of Mari. Semitic tribes occupy Assyria in northern part of the plain of Akkad. Phoenicians settle with centers at Tyre and Sidon. Beginning of the period of the mythical Sage Kings in China known as the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. C. 2879 BC: Rise of the mythical Văn Lang Kingdom and the Hồng Bàng Dynasty in northern Viet Nam. C. 2800 BC–2700 BC: Harp Player, from Keros, was made. It is now at the Metropolitan Museum of New York. Iran: Creation of the Kingdom of Elam. Germination of the Bristlecone pine tree "Methuselah" about 2700 BC, one of the oldest known trees still living now. C. 2686 BC: Third Dynasty of Egypt, reign of Sanakhte. C. 2613 BC: Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, reign of Sneferu. C. 2600 BC: Founding of the Chalcolithic Iberian civilizations of Los Millares and Zambujal.
2600 BC: Unified Indus Valley Civilisation. C. 2500 BC: The state of Assyria is established. C. 2500 BC: Excavation and development of the Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni at Paola, Malta, a subterranean temple complex subsequently used as a necropolis. C. 2500 BC–2200 BC: Incised panel "Frying pan", from Syros, Cyclades is made.
Subboreal
The Subboreal is a climatic period before the present one, of the Holocene. It lasted from 3710 to 450 BCE; the composite scientific term Subboreal, meaning "below the Boreal," is derived from the Latin sub and the Greek Βορέας, from Boreas, the god of the North Wind. The word was first introduced in 1889 by Rutger Sernander to distinguish it from Axel Blytt's Boreal, established in 1876; the Subboreal was followed by the Subatlantic. The Subboreal is equivalent to W. H. Zagwijn's pollen zones IVa and IVb and T. Litt's pollen zone VIII. In the pollen scheme of Fritz Theodor Overbeck, it occupies pollen zone X. In paleoclimatology, it is divided into a Younger Subboreal; the Subboreal is equivalent to most of the Neolithic and the entire Bronze Age, which started 4200 to 3800 years ago. The Subboreal is defined as 3710 to 5660 years BP; the lower limit is flexible, as some authors prefer to use 4400 BCE, or 6350 BP in northwestern Poland 4830 BC, or 6780 BP, And others use 5000 calendar years, or 3050 BCE.
The upper limit of the Subboreal and, therefore the beginning of the Subatlantic, is flexible and can be attributed to 1170 to 830 BCE, but it is fixed at 450 BCE. In varve years, the Subboreal corrsponds to 5660 to 2750 years BP; the boundary between the older and the younger Subboreal is considered to be 1350 BCE. The climate was dryer and cooler than in the preceding Atlantic but still warmer than today; the temperatures were 0.7 °C higher than during the following Subatlantic. In Scandinavia the lower limit of glaciers was 100 to 200 m higher than during the Subatlantic. On the whole, the oscillating temperatures receded in the course of the Subboreal by about 0.3 °C. In the Aegean, the beginning of the Subboreal was marked by a pronounced drought, centered around 5600 years BP. Of far greater importance as the coming to an end of the African Humid Period, reflected in the lakes of subtropical Africa experiencing a rapid fall in their water levels. During the interval 6200 to 5000 years BP, drier conditions were in southern Mesopotamia, causing great demographic changes and instigating the end of Uruk.
In Germany, a drastic climatic cooling can be observed around 5000 varve years BP in the maars of the Eifel. In the preceding interval lasting from 8200 till 5000 varve years, the July temperatures were on average still 1 °C higher. At the same time, the January temperatures were rising and the yearly precipitation increased. In Northern Africa and in the Near East, the interval from 4700 to 4100 years BP had renewed and lasting dry conditions, as is indicated by lake level minima. Between 4500 and 4100 years BP, monsoonal precipitations weakened, a possible cause for the upheavals that led to the end of the Old Kingdom of Egypt; the Levant shows a similar climatic evolution. The dry conditions prevailing in Mesopotamia around 4200 years BP resulted in the downfall of the Akkadian Empire. Levels of carbon dioxide had reached beginning of the Subboreal its Holocene minimal value of 260 ppm. During the Subboreal, it reached 293 ppm at the end of the period; as a comparison, today's value is over 400 ppm.
In Scandinavia, the Atlantic/Subboreal boundary shows a distinct vegetational change. Tat is less pronounced in Western Europe, but its typical mixed oak forest shows quite a fast decline in elm and linden; the decline in linden is not understood. The decline in elm is most due to elm disease, caused by the ascomycete Ceratocystis ulmi, but climatic changes and anthropogenic pressure on the forests must be considered as well; the decline in elm, with a recession from 20 to 4%, as observed in Eifel maar pollen, has been dated in Central and Northern Europe as 4000 years BC, but it more was diachronous over the interval 4350 to 3780 BC. Another important event was the immigration of European beech and hornbeam from their retreats on the Balkan and south of the Apennines; this happened diachronously: beech pollen are found for the first time in the interval 4340 to 3540 BC, hornbeam pollen somewhat between 3400 and 2900 BC. With the start of the Younger Subboreal is the massive spreading of beech.
The establishment of beech and hornbeam was accompanied by indicator plants for human settlements and agriculture like cereals and plantain, hazel was receding. The relatively-dry climate during the subboreal furthered the spreading of heath plants. Like in the Atlantic, the global sea level kept on rising during the Subboreal but at a much slower rate; the increase amounted to about 1 m. At the end of the Subboreal, the sea level was about 1 m below the current value. In the Baltic the Litorina Sea had established itself before the onset of the Subboreal. During the Older Subboreal the second Litorina transgression raised the sea level to 1 m below the actual value. After an intermediate Post-litorine Regression the third Litorina transgression reached 60 cm below present and during the beginning Subatlantic, it reached today's value. In the North Sea region, the Flandrian transgression of the Atlantic was followed by a slight regression or standstill at the beginning of the Subboreal
Neolithic
The Neolithic, the final division of the Stone Age, began about 12,000 years ago when the first development of farming appeared in the Epipalaeolithic Near East, in other parts of the world. The division lasted until the transitional period of the Chalcolithic from about 6,500 years ago, marked by the development of metallurgy, leading up to the Bronze Age and Iron Age. In Northern Europe, the Neolithic lasted until about 1700 BC, while in China it extended until 1200 BC. Other parts of the world remained broadly in the Neolithic stage of development, although this term may not be used, until European contact; the Neolithic comprises a progression of behavioral and cultural characteristics and changes, including the use of wild and domestic crops and of domesticated animals. The term Neolithic derives from the Greek νέος néos, "new" and λίθος líthos, "stone" meaning "New Stone Age"; the term was coined by Sir John Lubbock in 1865 as a refinement of the three-age system. Following the ASPRO chronology, the Neolithic started in around 10,200 BC in the Levant, arising from the Natufian culture, when pioneering use of wild cereals evolved into early farming.
The Natufian period or "proto-Neolithic" lasted from 12,500 to 9,500 BC, is taken to overlap with the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of 10,200–8800 BC. As the Natufians had become dependent on wild cereals in their diet, a sedentary way of life had begun among them, the climatic changes associated with the Younger Dryas are thought to have forced people to develop farming. By 10,200–8800 BC farming communities had arisen in the Levant and spread to Asia Minor, North Africa and North Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BC. Early Neolithic farming was limited to a narrow range of plants, both wild and domesticated, which included einkorn wheat and spelt, the keeping of dogs and goats. By about 6900–6400 BC, it included domesticated cattle and pigs, the establishment of permanently or seasonally inhabited settlements, the use of pottery. Not all of these cultural elements characteristic of the Neolithic appeared everywhere in the same order: the earliest farming societies in the Near East did not use pottery.
In other parts of the world, such as Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia, independent domestication events led to their own regionally distinctive Neolithic cultures, which arose independently of those in Europe and Southwest Asia. Early Japanese societies and other East Asian cultures used pottery before developing agriculture. In the Middle East, cultures identified as Neolithic began appearing in the 10th millennium BC. Early development occurred from there spread eastwards and westwards. Neolithic cultures are attested in southeastern Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia by around 8000 BC; the prehistoric Beifudi site near Yixian in Hebei Province, contains relics of a culture contemporaneous with the Cishan and Xinglongwa cultures of about 6000–5000 BC, neolithic cultures east of the Taihang Mountains, filling in an archaeological gap between the two Northern Chinese cultures. The total excavated area is more than 1,200 square yards, the collection of neolithic findings at the site encompasses two phases.
The Neolithic 1 period began around 10,000 BC in the Levant. A temple area in southeastern Turkey at Göbekli Tepe, dated to around 9500 BC, may be regarded as the beginning of the period; this site was developed by nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes, as evidenced by the lack of permanent housing in the vicinity, may be the oldest known human-made place of worship. At least seven stone circles, covering 25 acres, contain limestone pillars carved with animals and birds. Stone tools were used by as many as hundreds of people to create the pillars, which might have supported roofs. Other early PPNA sites dating to around 9500–9000 BC have been found in Jericho, West Bank, Gilgal in the Jordan Valley, Byblos, Lebanon; the start of Neolithic 1 overlaps the Heavy Neolithic periods to some degree. The major advance of Neolithic 1 was true farming. In the proto-Neolithic Natufian cultures, wild cereals were harvested, early seed selection and re-seeding occurred; the grain was ground into flour. Emmer wheat was domesticated, animals were herded and domesticated.
In 2006, remains of figs were discovered in a house in Jericho dated to 9400 BC. The figs are of a mutant variety that cannot be pollinated by insects, therefore the trees can only reproduce from cuttings; this evidence suggests that figs were the first cultivated crop and mark the invention of the technology of farming. This occurred centuries before the first cultivation of grains. Settlements became more permanent, with circular houses, much like those of the Natufians, with single rooms. However, these houses were for the first time made of mudbrick; the settlement had a surrounding stone wall and a stone tower. The wall served as protection from nearby groups, as protection from floods, or to keep animals penned; some of the enclosures suggest grain and meat storage. The Neolithic 2 began around 8800 BC according to the ASPRO chronology in the Levant; as with the PPNA dates, there are two versions from the same laboratories noted above. This system of terminology, however, is not convenient for southeast Anatolia and settlements of the middle Anatolia basin.
A settlement of 3,000 inhabitants was found in th
Hamangia culture
The Hamangia culture is a Late Neolithic archaeological culture of Dobruja between the Danube and the Black Sea and Muntenia in the south. It is named after the site of Baia-Hamangia, discovered in 1952 along Golovița Lake; the Hamangia culture began around 5250/5200 BC and lasted until around 4550/4500 BC. It was absorbed by the expanding Boian culture in its transition towards the Gumelniţa, its cultural links with Anatolia suggest that it was the result of a settlement by people from Anatolia, unlike the neighbouring cultures, which appear descended from earlier Neolithic settlement. The Hamangia culture attracted and attracts the attention of many art historians because of its exceptional clay figures. Painted vessels with complex geometrical patterns based on spiral-motifs are typical; the shapes include: cylindric glasses. They are decorated with dots, staight parallel lines and zig-zags, which make Hamangia pottery original. Pottery figurines are extremely stylized and show standing naked faceless women with emphasized breasts and buttocks.
Two figurines known as "The Thinker" and "The Sitting woman" are considered masterpieces of Neolithic art. Settlements consist of rectangular houses with one or two rooms, built of wattle and daub, sometimes with stone foundations, they are arranged on a rectangular grid and may form small tells. Settlements are located along the coast, at the coast of lakes, on the lower and middle river-terraces, sometimes in caves. Crouched or extended inhumation in cemeteries. Grave-goods tend to be without pottery in Hamangia I. Grave-goods include flint, worked shells, bone tools and shell-ornaments; the Durankulak lake settlement commenced on a small island 7000 BC and around 4700/4600 BC the stone architecture was in general use and became a characteristic phenomenon, unique in Europe. Cernavodă, the necropolis where the famous statues “The Thinker” and “The Sitting Woman” were discovered The eponymous site of Baia-Hamangia, discovered in 1953 along Lake Golovița, close to the Black Sea coast, in the Romanian province of Dobrogea.
Cycladic art Varna culture Vinča culture Cucuteni-Trypillia culture Old Europe History of Bulgaria Prehistoric Romania Prehistoric art List of Stone Age art Media related to Hamangia culture at Wikimedia Commons
Cardium pottery
Cardium pottery or Cardial ware is a Neolithic decorative style that gets its name from the imprinting of the clay with the shell of the cockle, an edible marine mollusk known as Cardium edulis. These forms of pottery are in turn used to define the Neolithic culture which produced and spread them commonly called the "Cardial culture"; the alternative name impressed ware is given by some archaeologists to define this culture, because impressions can be with sharp objects other than cockle shell, such as a nail or comb. Impressed pottery is much more widespread than the Cardial. Impressed ware is found in the zone "covering Italy to the Ligurian coast" as distinct from the more western Cardial extending from Provence to western Portugal; the sequence in prehistoric Europe has traditionally been supposed to start with widespread Cardial ware, to develop other methods of impression locally, termed "epi-Cardial". However the widespread Cardial and Impressed pattern types overlap and are now considered more to be contemporary.
This pottery style gives its name to the main culture of the Mediterranean Neolithic: Cardium pottery culture or Cardial culture, or impressed ware culture, which extended from the Adriatic sea to the Atlantic coasts of Portugal and south to Morocco. The earliest impressed ware sites, dating to 6400 -- 6200 BC, are in Corfu. Settlements appear in Albania and Dalmatia on the eastern Adriatic coast dating to between 6100 and 5900 BC; the earliest date in Italy comes from Coppa Nevigata on the Adriatic coast of southern Italy as early as 6000 cal B. C. During Su Carroppu culture in Sardinia in its early stages early examples of cardial pottery appear. Northward and westward all secure radiocarbon dates are identical to those for Iberia c. 5500 cal BC, which indicates a rapid spread of Cardial and related cultures: 2,000 km from the gulf of Genoa to the estuary of the Mondego in no more than 100–200 years. This suggests a seafaring expansion by planting colonies along the coast. Older Neolithic cultures existed at this time in eastern Greece and Crete having arrived from the Levant, but they appear distinct from the Cardial or impressed ware culture.
The ceramic tradition in the central Balkans remained distinct from that along the Adriatic coastline in both style and manufacturing techniques for 1,000 years from the 6th millennium BC. Early Neolithic impressed pottery is found in the Levant, certain parts of Anatolia, including Mezraa-Teleilat, in North Africa at Tunus-Redeyef, Tunisia. So the first Cardial settlers in the Adriatic may have come directly from the Levant. Of course it might well have come directly from North Africa, impressed pottery appears in Egypt. Along the East Mediterranean coast impressed ware has been found in North Syria and Lebanon. Cardial and Epicardial fossils that were analysed for ancient DNA were found to carry the rare mtDNA basal haplogroup N*. Byblos Prehistoric Iberia Prehistoric Italy Prehistory of Corsica Stone Age
