Neolithic Age

After the Last Ice Age ended 11.7 ka to begin the Holocene Epoch, tribal communities in the Middle East began to form settlements based on farming and so gradually advanced culturally from the Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age) to the Neolithic (New Stone Age). This was a huge leap forward by the Middle East communities and other parts of the world could not follow their lead until much later. Essentially, the Neolithic was characterised by the beginning of farming via primitive crop growing and the domestication of animals. Other advancements were the development of crafts such as pottery and textiles, and the making of polished stone tools and weapons. In due course, metallurgy began and bronze was discovered in the Middle East, probably in the early part of the 4th millennium BCE. The Bronze Age, as such, superseded the Neolithic gradually, at different times in different places, as bronze became the primary component in manufacture.