istoryworld
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With the end of the most recent ice age, and the withdrawal of the ice sheet, there are drastic changes of climate and ecology in every region
Neolithic communities in eastern Anatolia make implements of hammered copper - the first tentative step out of the Stone Age
Barley is cultivated in the Middle East
Catal Huyuk, in Anatolia, is the most extensive surviving example of a neolithic town
The neolithic town of Catal Huyuk has rectangular rooms with windows, a design with lasting appeal
The neolithic town of Khirokitia in Cyprus has a paved public street with lanes leading off to courtyards of round tent-like houses
Pottery fragments of this date survive in the neolithic site of Catal Huyuk
Fragments of cloth, woven in Catal Huyuk, survive because they are carbonized in a fire
Human groups adapt to the conditions of northern Canada and then Greenland, living mainly as hunters of marine mammals
Squash and chili are the first plants to be cultivated in America, in the Tehuácan valley in modern Mexico
The Sahara, damp enough for the hippopotamus, supports neolithic communities until it begins to dry up in about 3000 BC
The first evidence of a loom comes from this period in Egypt, but some simple method of holding the warp must be as old as weaving
A passage grave with a superb corbelled dome is constructed on the Île Longue off the southern coast of Brittany
Oxen are the first draught animals, in use at this time in the Middle East and in Europe
In Mesopotamia, and on the grass steppes of southern Russia, oxen are used to pull heavy loads on sledges
A simple hand-held plough is in use in Egypt and Mesopotamia, at least 1000 years before a heavier version is pulled by oxen
Beer is brewed in Mesopotamia, where barley is an indigenous crop
Taro, probably the earliest plant cultivated in Papua New Guinea, has an edible root that needs to be mashed by pestle and mortar
A beautiful pestle in the shape of a bird is made in Papua New Guinea, clearly more for ceremonial occasions rather than everyday use
Grapes are cultivated in the region of the Caspian see, where the grape vine Vitis vinifera is indigenous
Copper is extracted from ore by smelting at various sites in Iran
Later selected by Hebrew scholars as the date when the world began, this becomes the first year (AM 1) in Jewish chronology
Olives are cultivated in Crete and will provide, in the form of olive oil, one of the main staples of Mediterranean trade
A neolithic herdsman dies high in the Alps - and is perfectly preserved in ice
Sumer develops as the first centre of Mesopotamian civilization
