View source for History:Pre-Pottery Neolithic B

{{Infobox archaeological culture
|name        = Pre-Pottery Neolithic B
|map         = Fertile crescent Neolithic B circa 7500 BC.jpg
|mapalt      =
|mapcaption=Area of the fertile crescent, c. 7500 BCE, with main Pre-Pottery Neolithic sites. The area of [[Place:Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]] proper was not yet settled by humans.
|mapsize=300
|altnames    =
|horizon     =
|region      = [[Place:Fertile Crescent|Fertile Crescent]]
|period      = Pre-Pottery Neolithic
|dates       = c. 10,800–8,500 BP<br>c. 8,800–6,500 BCE<ref name="MC"/>
|typesite    = [[Place:Jericho|Jericho]], [[Place:Byblos|Byblos]]
|majorsites  = 
|extra       =
|precededby  = Pre-Pottery Neolithic A
|followedby  = [[History:Pottery Neolithic|Pottery Neolithic]], Halaf culture, [[History:Hassuna culture|Hassuna culture]], Neolithic Greece, Khirokitia, Faiyum A culture
}}
'''Pre-Pottery Neolithic B''' ('''PPNB''') is part of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, a [[History:Neolithic|Neolithic]] culture centered in upper [[Place:Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]], dating to {{c.|10,800|8,500|lk=on}} years ago, that is, 8,800–6,500 BCE.<ref name="MC">{{cite book |last1=Chazan |first1=Michael |title=World Prehistory and Archaeology: Pathways Through Time |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1351802895 |page=197 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j3BQDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA197 |language=en}}</ref> It was [[Social:Type site|typed]] by Kathleen Kenyon during her [[Social:Archaeological excavation|archaeological excavation]]s at [[Place:Jericho|Jericho]] in the West Bank. Like the earlier PPNA people, the PPNB culture developed from the Mesolithic Natufian culture. However, it shows evidence of a northerly origin, possibly indicating an influx from the region of northeastern [[Earth:Anatolia|Anatolia]].

==Lifestyle==
Cultural tendencies of this period differ from that of the earlier Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) period in that people living during this period began to depend more heavily upon domesticated animals to supplement their earlier mixed agrarian and [[Biology:Hunter-gatherer|hunter-gatherer]] diet. In addition, the [[Earth:Flint|flint]] tool kit of the period is new and quite disparate from that of the earlier period. One of its major elements is the 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 [[Earth:Limestone|limestone]].

[[File:The three plastered skulls in situ at Yiftahel.jpg|thumb|left|Plastered skulls in situ at Yiftahel.]]
It is believed that the use of clay plaster for floor and wall coverings during PPNB led to the discovery of pottery.<ref name="Amihai Mazar 1992 p. 45">Amihai Mazar (1992). ''Archaeology of the Land of the Bible: 10,000 – 586 BCE'', 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 BCE at sites such as Tell [[Place:Neba'a Faour|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 Ain Ghazal, Yiftahel (western [[Religion:Galilee|Galilee]]), and Abu Hureyra (Upper [[Place:Euphrates|Euphrates]]).<ref name="Amihai Mazar 1992 p. 45"/> The period is dated to between c. 10,700 and c. 8,000 BP or 7000–6000 BCE.

Plastered human skulls were reconstructed human skulls that were made in the ancient [[Place:Levant|Levant]] between 9000 and 6000 BC in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period. They represent some of the oldest forms of art in the [[Place:Middle East|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 portraiture in the history of art.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kleiner |first1=Fred S. |title=Gardner's Art through the Ages: Backpack Edition |date=2012 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-0840030542 |page=42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=neEzEpyuZ3AC&pg=PT42 |language=en}}</ref>

==Society==
{{
Location map+|Mediterranean east|width=300|float=right|caption=Map of the modern-day eastern [[Place:Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] showing important sites that were occupied in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B  (clickable map)|places=
{{Location map~|Mediterranean east|lat=31.85|long=35.45|position=left|label_size=75|label=[[Place:Jericho|Jericho]]}}
{{Location map~|Mediterranean east|lat=33.4|long=36.55|position=right|label_size=75|label=[[Place:Tell Aswad|Tell Aswad]]}}
{{Location map~|Mediterranean east|lat=34.008889|long=36.145278|position=right|label_size=75|label=[[Place:Neba'a Faour|Neba'a Faour]]}}
{{Location map~|Mediterranean east|lat=31.988|long=35.976|position=right|label_size=75|label='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's recent work at [[Place:Tell Aswad|Tell Aswad]], a large agricultural village between Mount Hermon and [[Place:Damascus|Damascus]] could not validate 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 [[Place:Tell Aswad|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 [[Place:Levant|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 | editor1-last=Vila | editor1-first=E. | editor2-last=Gourichon | editor2-first=L. | editor3-last=Buitenhuis | editor3-first=H. |display-editors = 3 | editor4-last=Choyke | editor4-first=A. | title=Archaeozoology of the Southwest Asia and Adjacent Areas VIII. Actes du 8e colloque de l'ASWA | location=Lyon | publisher=Travaux de la Maison de l'Orient | chapter=49 | volume=1 | pages=119–151 | year=2008}}</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>

==Extent==
Work at the site of '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 BCE, 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 [[Place:Faiyum|Fayyum]] and the Eastern Desert of [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]]. Cultures practicing this lifestyle spread down the Red Sea shoreline and moved east from [[Place:Syria|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 [[Earth:8.2 kiloyear event|8.2 kiloyear event]], a term that [[Earth:Climatology|climatologists]] have adopted for a sudden decrease in global temperatures that occurred approximately 8,200 years before the present, or c. 6200 BCE, and which lasted for the next two to four centuries. In the following 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.

==Artifacts==
Around 8000 BCE, before the invention of pottery, several early settlements became experts in crafting beautiful and highly sophisticated containers from stone, using materials such as [[Chemistry:Alabaster|alabaster]] or [[Chemistry:Granite|granite]], and employing sand to shape and polish. Artisans used the veins in the material to maximum visual effect. Such object 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 |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/327124 |website=www.metmuseum.org}}</ref> These form the early stages of the development of the Art of Mesopotamia.
<gallery widths="150px" heights="150px">
File:Jar MET VS1985 356 16.jpg|Jar in calcite alabaster, Syria, late 8th millennium BCE.
File:Footed bowl MET vs1985 356 20.jpg|Footed bowl in [[Chemistry:Granite|granite]], Syria, end of 8th millennium BCE.
File:Green aragonite tripod vase Mid-Euphrates 6000 BCE Louvre Museum AO 28386.jpg|Green [[Chemistry:Aragonite|aragonite]] tripod vase Mid-Euphrates 6000 BCE Louvre Museum AO 28386
File:Calcite tripod vase, mid-Euphrates probably from Tell Buqras, 6000 BCE, Louvre Museum AO 31551.jpg|[[Chemistry:Calcite|Calcite]] tripod vase, mid-Euphrates, probably from Tell Buqras, 6000 BCE, 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 BCE Louvre Museum AO 28519
File:Alabaster pot Mid-Euphrates region 6500 BCE Louvre Museum.jpg|Alabaster pot Mid-Euphrates region, 6500 BCE, Louvre Museum
File:Alabaster pot, Mid-Euphrates region 6500 BCE Louvre Museum.jpg|Alabaster pot, Mid-Euphrates region, 6500 BCE, Louvre Museum
File:Bead MET vs1985 356 36.jpg|Bead with human form. 8th millennium BCE.
</gallery>

==Genetics==
[[File:JRSLM 300116 Yarmoukian figurines 01.jpg|thumb|Yamourkian figurines, Yamourkian culture (5500–5000 BCE), Pre-Pottery Neolithic B.]]
[[File:Seated female MET vs1985 356 32.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Female statuette, 8th millennium BCE, Syria.]]
Pre-Pottery Neolithic B fossils that were analysed for ancient DNA were found to carry the Y-DNA (paternal) haplogroups [[Biology:Haplogroup E-M215 (Y-DNA)|E1b1b]] (2/7; ~29%), CT (2/7; ~29%), E(xE2,E1a,E1b1a1a1c2c3b1,E1b1b1b1a1,E1b1b1b2b) (1/7; ~14%), T(xT1a1,T1a2a) (1/7; ~14%), and [[Biology: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|last=Lazaridis |display-authors=et al.|first=Iosif|date=17 June 2016|title=The genetic structure of the world's first farmers |biorxiv=10.1101/059311}} – [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 [[Biology:Haplogroup N (mtDNA)|N*]] has been found among skeletal remains belonging to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B,<ref name="Ancient DNA analysis of 8000 BC nea">{{cite journal|last1=Fernández, Eva|display-authors=0|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|date=2014|volume=10|issue=6|pmc=4046922|pmid=24901650|doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1004401|page=e1004401}}</ref> as have the mtDNA clades [[Biology:Haplogroup L3 (mtDNA)|L3]]<ref name="Ancient DNA analysis of 8000 BC nea"/>  and [[Biology:Haplogroup K (mtDNA)|K]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Fernández Domínguez|first1=Eva|title=Polimorfismos de DNA mitocondrial en poblaciones antiguas de la cuenca mediterránea|url=http://diposit.ub.edu/dspace/handle/2445/35896|publisher=Universitat de Barcelona|accessdate=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|authors=van de Loosdrecht|display-authors=0|title=Pleistocene North African genomes link Near Eastern and sub-Saharan African human populations|journal=Science|volume=360|issue=6388|pages=548–552|publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)|date=2018-03-15|issn=0036-8075|doi=10.1126/science.aar8380|pmid=29545507|doi-access=free}}</ref> the Mesolithic Natufian culture of the Levant, the Savanna Pastoral Neolithic culture of East Africa,<ref name="Skoglund2017">{{cite journal|last1=Skoglund|display-authors=0|title=Reconstructing Prehistoric African Population Structure|journal=Cell|date=September 21, 2017|volume=171|issue=1|pages=59–71|url=http://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(17)31008-5|doi=10.1016/j.cell.2017.08.049|pmid=28938123|pmc=5679310}}</ref> the Early Neolithic Cardium culture of Morocco,<ref name="Fregel">{{cite biorxiv|last1=Fregel|display-authors=0|year=2018|title=Ancient genomes from North Africa evidence prehistoric migrations to the Maghreb from both the Levant and Europe|url=https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/02/20/191569.full.pdf|biorxiv=10.1101/191569}}</ref> and the Ancient Egyptian culture of the Nile Valley,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Schuenemann, Verena J.|display-authors=0|title=Ancient Egyptian mummy genomes suggest an increase of Sub-Saharan African ancestry in post-Roman periods|journal=Nature Communications|date=2017|volume=8|page=15694|pmid=28556824|doi=10.1038/ncomms15694|pmc=5459999}}</ref> with fossils associated with these early cultures all sharing a common genomic component.<ref name="Fregel"/>
{{clear}}

==Diffusion==
===Carbon 14 datation===
[[File:Map of the spread of Neolithic farming cultures in Europe.jpg|thumb|upright=2|Map of the spread of Neolithic farming cultures from the Near-East to Europe, with dates in year BCE.]]
The spread of the [[History:Neolithic|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 ([[Place:Jericho|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 |title=The Near-Eastern Roots of the Neolithic in South Asia |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=9 |issue=5 |pages=e95714 |date=2014 |language=en|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0095714 |pmid=24806472 |pmc=4012948 }} [[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"/> [[Biology:Mitochondrial DNA|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 [[Place:Cyprus|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 |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 |date=5 June 2014 |volume=10 |issue=6 |pages=e1004401 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1004401 |pmid=24901650 |language=en |issn=1553-7404|pmc=4046922 }}</ref>

<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}}</center>

==See also==
*Plastered Human Skull 
*Pre-Pottery Neolithic A preceded PPNB
*Pre-history of the Southern Levant
*[[Place:Upper Mesopotamia|Prehistory of Upper Mesopotamia]]
*History of pottery in the Southern Levant
*[[Earth:Holocene climatic optimum|Holocene climatic optimum]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}


[[Category:9th millennium BC]]

{{Sourceattribution|Pre-Pottery Neolithic B|1}}