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129-661: The Pre-Pottery Neolithic ( PPN ) represents the early Neolithic in the Levantine and upper Mesopotamian region of the Fertile Crescent , dating to c.  12,000  – c.  8,500 years ago, (10000 – 6500 BCE). It succeeds the Natufian culture of the Epipalaeolithic Near East (also called Mesolithic ), as the domestication of plants and animals was in its formative stages, having possibly been induced by

258-563: A Circum Arabian Nomadic Pastoral Complex developed in the period from the climatic crisis of 6200 BC, partly as a result of an increasing emphasis in PPNB cultures upon domesticated animals, and a fusion with Harifian hunter gatherers in the Southern Levant, with affiliate connections with the cultures of Fayyum and the Eastern Desert of Egypt . Cultures practicing this lifestyle spread down

387-403: 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 domesticated animals, and a fusion with Harifian hunter-gatherers in the Southern Levant, with affiliate connections with the cultures of Fayyum and the Eastern Desert of Egypt . Cultures practicing this lifestyle spread down

516-524: 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 (1,000 m ; 0.10 ha), and the collection of Neolithic findings at the site encompasses two phases. Between 3000 and 1900 BC,

645-585: A database) to determine maternal lineage. Most often, the comparison is made with the revised Cambridge Reference Sequence . Vilà et al. have published studies tracing the matrilineal descent of domestic dogs from wolves. The concept of the Mitochondrial Eve is based on the same type of analysis, attempting to discover the origin of humanity by tracking the lineage back in time. Entities subject to uniparental inheritance and with little to no recombination may be expected to be subject to Muller's ratchet ,

774-511: A division into five periods. They also advanced the idea of a transitional stage between the PPNA and PPNB between 8800 and 8600 BC at sites like Jerf el Ahmar and Tell Aswad . Alluvial plains ( Sumer / Elam ). Low rainfall makes irrigation systems necessary. Ubaid culture originated from 6200 BC. The earliest evidence of Neolithic culture in northeast Africa was found in the archaeological sites of Bir Kiseiba and Nabta Playa in what

903-500: A donor female, and nuclear DNA from the mother and father. In the spindle transfer procedure, the nucleus of an egg is inserted into the cytoplasm of an egg from a donor female which has had its nucleus removed, but still contains the donor female's mtDNA. The composite egg is then fertilized with the male's sperm. The procedure is used when a woman with genetically defective mitochondria wishes to procreate and produce offspring with healthy mitochondria. The first known child to be born as

1032-412: A dramatic increase in social inequality in most of the areas where it occurred; New Guinea being a notable exception. Possession of livestock allowed competition between households and resulted in inherited inequalities of wealth. Neolithic pastoralists who controlled large herds gradually acquired more livestock, and this made economic inequalities more pronounced. However, evidence of social inequality

1161-435: A finding that has been rejected by other scientists. In sexual reproduction , mitochondria are normally inherited exclusively from the mother; the mitochondria in mammalian sperm are usually destroyed by the egg cell after fertilization. Also, mitochondria are present solely in the midpiece, which is used for propelling the sperm cells, and sometimes the midpiece, along with the tail, is lost during fertilization. In 1999 it

1290-545: A healthy human sperm has been reported to contain on average 5 molecules), degradation of sperm mtDNA in the male genital tract and in the fertilized egg; and, at least in a few organisms, failure of sperm mtDNA to enter the egg. Whatever the mechanism, this single parent ( uniparental inheritance ) pattern of mtDNA inheritance is found in most animals, most plants and also in fungi. In a study published in 2018, human babies were reported to inherit mtDNA from both their fathers and their mothers resulting in mtDNA heteroplasmy ,

1419-546: A living tradition in small and extremely remote and inaccessible pockets of West Papua . Polished stone adze and axes are used in the present day (as of 2008 ) in areas where the availability of metal implements is limited. This is likely to cease altogether in the next few years as the older generation die off and steel blades and chainsaws prevail. In 2012, news was released about a new farming site discovered in Munam-ri , Goseong , Gangwon Province , South Korea , which may be

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1548-542: A mutation in mtDNA has been used to help diagnose prostate cancer in patients with negative prostate biopsy . mtDNA alterations can be detected in the bio-fluids of patients with cancer. mtDNA is characterized by the high rate of polymorphisms and mutations. Some of which are increasingly recognized as an important cause of human pathology such as oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) disorders, maternally inherited diabetes and deafness (MIDD), Type 2 diabetes mellitus, Neurodegenerative disease , heart failure and cancer. Though

1677-626: A mutational (contrary to the selective one) explanation for the observation that long-lived species have GC-rich mtDNA: long-lived species become GC-rich simply because of their biased process of mutagenesis. An association between mtDNA mutational spectrum and species-specific life-history traits in mammals opens a possibility to link these factors together discovering new life-history-specific mutagens in different groups of organisms. Deletion breakpoints frequently occur within or near regions showing non-canonical (non-B) conformations, namely hairpins, cruciforms and cloverleaf-like elements. Moreover, there

1806-586: A non-hierarchical system of organization existed is debatable, and there is no evidence that explicitly suggests that Neolithic societies functioned under any dominating class or individual, as was the case in the chiefdoms of the European Early Bronze Age . Possible exceptions to this include Iraq during the Ubaid period and England beginning in the Early Neolithic (4100–3000 BC). Theories to explain

1935-627: A rarely used and not very useful concept in discussing Australian prehistory . During most of the Neolithic age of Eurasia , people lived in small tribes composed of multiple bands or lineages. There is little scientific evidence of developed social stratification in most Neolithic societies; social stratification is more associated with the later Bronze Age . Although some late Eurasian Neolithic societies formed complex stratified chiefdoms or even states , generally states evolved in Eurasia only with

2064-556: A region of the Near East known as the Fertile Crescent. According to the archaeological record this phenomenon, known as "Neolithic", rapidly expanded from these territories into Europe. However, whether this diffusion was accompanied or not by human migrations is greatly debated. 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

2193-521: A result of mitochondrial donation was a boy born to a Jordanian couple in Mexico on 6 April 2016. The concept that mtDNA is particularly susceptible to reactive oxygen species generated by the respiratory chain due to its proximity remains controversial. mtDNA does not accumulate any more oxidative base damage than nuclear DNA. It has been reported that at least some types of oxidative DNA damage are repaired more efficiently in mitochondria than they are in

2322-507: A role in the mitochondrial bottleneck, exploiting cell-to-cell variability to ameliorate the inheritance of damaging mutations. According to Justin St. John and colleagues, "At the blastocyst stage, the onset of mtDNA replication is specific to the cells of the trophectoderm . In contrast, the cells of the inner cell mass restrict mtDNA replication until they receive the signals to differentiate to specific cell types." The two strands of

2451-511: A significant portion of their ancestry from the Anatolian hunter-gatherers (AHG), suggesting that agriculture was adopted in site by these hunter-gatherers and not spread by demic diffusion into the region. The Neolithic 1 (PPNA) 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

2580-435: A species and also for identifying and quantifying the phylogeny (evolutionary relationships; see phylogenetics ) among different species. To do this, biologists determine and then compare the mtDNA sequences from different individuals or species. Data from the comparisons is used to construct a network of relationships among the sequences, which provides an estimate of the relationships among the individuals or species from which

2709-623: A stabilisation or reduction in mutant load between generations. The mechanism underlying the bottleneck is debated, with a recent mathematical and experimental metastudy providing evidence for a combination of the random partitioning of mtDNAs at cell divisions and the random turnover of mtDNA molecules within the cell. Male mitochondrial DNA inheritance has been discovered in Plymouth Rock chickens . Evidence supports rare instances of male mitochondrial inheritance in some mammals as well. Specifically, documented occurrences exist for mice, where

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2838-752: A term coined in the 1920s by the Australian archaeologist Vere Gordon Childe . One potential benefit of the development and increasing sophistication of farming technology was the possibility of producing surplus crop yields, in other words, food supplies in excess of the immediate needs of the community. Surpluses could be stored for later use, or possibly traded for other necessities or luxuries. Agricultural life afforded securities that nomadic life could not, and sedentary farming populations grew faster than nomadic. However, early farmers were also adversely affected in times of famine , such as may be caused by drought or pests . In instances where agriculture had become

2967-538: Is a large body of evidence for fortified settlements at Linearbandkeramik sites along the Rhine , as at least some villages were fortified for some time with a palisade and an outer ditch. Settlements with palisades and weapon-traumatized bones, such as those found at the Talheim Death Pit , have been discovered and demonstrate that "...systematic violence between groups" and warfare was probably much more common during

3096-532: Is a linear genome made up of homogeneous DNA molecules (type 5). Great variation in mtDNA gene content and size exists among fungi and plants, although there appears to be a core subset of genes present in all eukaryotes (except for the few that have no mitochondria at all). In Fungi, however, there is no single gene shared among all mitogenomes. Some plant species have enormous mitochondrial genomes, with Silene conica mtDNA containing as many as 11,300,000 base pairs. Surprisingly, even those huge mtDNAs contain

3225-467: Is a well-established marker of oxidative DNA damage. In persons with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the enzymes that normally repair 8-oxoG DNA damages in the mtDNA of spinal motor neurons are impaired. Thus oxidative damage to mtDNA of motor neurons may be a significant factor in the etiology of ALS. Over the past decade, an Israeli research group led by Professor Vadim Fraifeld has shown that strong and significant correlations exist between

3354-549: Is better explained by lineal fission and polygyny. The shelter of early people changed dramatically from the Upper Paleolithic to the Neolithic era. In the Paleolithic, people did not normally live in permanent constructions. In the Neolithic, mud brick houses started appearing that were coated with plaster. The growth of agriculture made permanent houses far more common. At Çatalhöyük 9,000 years ago, doorways were made on

3483-487: Is data supporting the involvement of helix-distorting intrinsically curved regions and long G-tetrads in eliciting instability events. In addition, higher breakpoint densities were consistently observed within GC-skewed regions and in the close vicinity of the degenerate sequence motif YMMYMNNMMHM. Unlike nuclear DNA, which is inherited from both parents and in which genes are rearranged in the process of recombination , there

3612-541: Is limited to Northern Levant and Southern Turkey. A detailed satellite map study of a few archaeological sites in the Baluchistan and Khybar Pakhtunkhwa regions also suggests similarities in early phases of farming with sites in Western Asia. Pottery prepared by sequential slab construction, circular fire pits filled with burnt pebbles, and large granaries are common to both Mehrgarh and many Mesopotamian sites. The postures of

3741-653: Is mostly Natufian ancestry, every millennium, starting from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic to the Medieval period. It was replaced by Caucasus -related and Anatolian -related ancestries, from the north and west respectively. However, despite the decline in the Natufian component, this key ancestry source made an important contribution to peoples of later periods, continuing until the present. Neolithic The Neolithic began about 12,000 years ago, when farming appeared in

3870-531: Is now southwest Egypt. Domestication of sheep and goats reached Egypt from the Near East possibly as early as 6000 BC. Graeme Barker states "The first indisputable evidence for domestic plants and animals in the Nile valley is not until the early fifth millennium BC in northern Egypt and a thousand years later further south, in both cases as part of strategies that still relied heavily on fishing, hunting, and

3999-514: Is observed in bivalve mollusks. In those species, females have only one type of mtDNA (F), whereas males have F type mtDNA in their somatic cells, but M type of mtDNA (which can be as much as 30% divergent) in germline cells. Paternally inherited mitochondria have additionally been reported in some insects such as fruit flies , honeybees , and periodical cicadas . An IVF technique known as mitochondrial donation or mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) results in offspring containing mtDNA from

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4128-509: Is one hypothesis for why some genes are retained in mtDNA; colocalisation for redox regulation is another, citing the desirability of localised control over mitochondrial machinery. Recent analysis of a wide range of mtDNA genomes suggests that both these features may dictate mitochondrial gene retention. Across all organisms, there are six main mitochondrial genome types, classified by structure (i.e. circular versus linear), size, presence of introns or plasmid like structures , and whether

4257-540: Is severely degraded. Autosomal cells only have two copies of nuclear DNA, but can have hundreds of copies of mtDNA due to the multiple mitochondria present in each cell. This means highly degraded evidence that would not be beneficial for STR analysis could be used in mtDNA analysis. mtDNA may be present in bones, teeth, or hair, which could be the only remains left in the case of severe degradation. In contrast to STR analysis, mtDNA sequencing uses Sanger sequencing . The known sequence and questioned sequence are both compared to

4386-1017: Is still disputed, as settlements such as Çatalhöyük reveal a lack of difference in the size of homes and burial sites, suggesting a more egalitarian society with no evidence of the concept of capital, although some homes do appear slightly larger or more elaborately decorated than others. Families and households were still largely independent economically, and the household was probably the center of life. However, excavations in Central Europe have revealed that early Neolithic Linear Ceramic cultures (" Linearbandkeramik ") were building large arrangements of circular ditches between 4800 and 4600 BC. These structures (and their later counterparts such as causewayed enclosures , burial mounds , and henge ) required considerable time and labour to construct, which suggests that some influential individuals were able to organise and direct human labour – though non-hierarchical and voluntary work remain possibilities. There

4515-558: Is taken to overlap with the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) of 10,200–8800 BC. As the Natufians had become dependent on wild cereals in their diet, and a sedentary way of life had begun among them, the climatic changes associated with the Younger Dryas (about 10,000 BC) are thought to have forced people to develop farming. The founder crops of the Fertile Crescent were wheat , lentil , pea , chickpeas , bitter vetch, and flax. Among

4644-518: Is the DNA located in the mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the DNA contained in a eukaryotic cell; most of the DNA is in the cell nucleus , and, in plants and algae, the DNA also is found in plastids , such as chloroplasts . Human mitochondrial DNA was the first significant part of

4773-459: Is the earliest Neolithic site in the north-west Indian subcontinent, dated as early as 8500 BCE. Neolithic domesticated crops in Mehrgarh include more than barley and a small amount of wheat. There is good evidence for the local domestication of barley and the zebu cattle at Mehrgarh, but the wheat varieties are suggested to be of Near-Eastern origin, as the modern distribution of wild varieties of wheat

4902-485: Is the first multicellular organism known to have this absence of aerobic respiration and live completely free of oxygen dependency. There are three different mitochondrial genome types in plants and fungi. The first type is a circular genome that has introns (type 2) and may range from 19 to 1000 kbp in length. The second genome type is a circular genome (about 20–1000 kbp) that also has a plasmid-like structure (1 kb) (type 3). The final genome type found in plants and fungi

5031-452: Is used in an analogous way to determine the patrilineal history.) This is usually accomplished on human mitochondrial DNA by sequencing the hypervariable control regions (HVR1 or HVR2), and sometimes the complete molecule of the mitochondrial DNA, as a genealogical DNA test . HVR1, for example, consists of about 440 base pairs. These 440 base pairs are compared to the same regions of other individuals (either specific people or subjects in

5160-510: Is usually no change in mtDNA from parent to offspring. Although mtDNA also recombines, it does so with copies of itself within the same mitochondrion. Because of this and because the mutation rate of animal mtDNA is higher than that of nuclear DNA, mtDNA is a powerful tool for tracking ancestry through females ( matrilineage ) and has been used in this role to track the ancestry of many species back hundreds of generations. mtDNA testing can be used by forensic scientists in cases where nuclear DNA

5289-517: The POLG2 gene. The replisome machinery is formed by DNA polymerase, TWINKLE and mitochondrial SSB proteins . TWINKLE is a helicase , which unwinds short stretches of dsDNA in the 5' to 3' direction. All these polypeptides are encoded in the nuclear genome. During embryogenesis , replication of mtDNA is strictly down-regulated from the fertilized oocyte through the preimplantation embryo. The resulting reduction in per-cell copy number of mtDNA plays

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5418-542: The Bronze Age began about 3500 BC, replacing the Neolithic cultures. Around 10,000 BC the first fully developed Neolithic cultures belonging to the phase Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) appeared in the Fertile Crescent. Around 10,700–9400 BC a settlement was established in Tell Qaramel , 10 miles (16 km) north of Aleppo . The settlement included two temples dating to 9650 BC. Around 9000 BC during

5547-544: The Epipalaeolithic Near East and Mesopotamia , and later in other parts of the world. It lasted in the Near East until the transitional period of the Chalcolithic (Copper Age) from about 6,500 years ago (4500 BC), marked by the development of metallurgy , leading up to the Bronze Age and Iron Age . In other places, the Neolithic followed the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) and then lasted until later. In Ancient Egypt ,

5676-610: The Jordan Valley ; Israel (notably Ain Mallaha , Nahal Oren , and Kfar HaHoresh ); and in Byblos , Lebanon . The start of Neolithic 1 overlaps the Tahunian and 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, and perhaps early seed selection and re-seeding occurred. The grain

5805-695: The Kachi plain of Baluchistan , Pakistan; the site has evidence of farming (wheat and barley) and herding (cattle, sheep and goats). There is strong evidence for causal connections between the Near-Eastern Neolithic and that further east, up to the Indus Valley. There are several lines of evidence that support the idea of a connection between the Neolithic in the Near East and in the Indian subcontinent. The prehistoric site of Mehrgarh in Baluchistan (modern Pakistan)

5934-543: The Longshan culture existed in the middle and lower Yellow River valley areas of northern China. Towards the end of the 3rd millennium BC, the population decreased sharply in most of the region and many of the larger centres were abandoned, possibly due to environmental change linked to the end of the Holocene Climatic Optimum . The 'Neolithic' (defined in this paragraph as using polished stone implements) remains

6063-457: The Middle East , cultures identified as Neolithic began appearing in the 10th millennium BC. Early development occurred in the Levant (e.g. Pre-Pottery Neolithic A and Pre-Pottery Neolithic B ) and from there spread eastwards and westwards. Neolithic cultures are also attested in southeastern Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia by around 8000 BC. Anatolian Neolithic farmers derived

6192-579: The Red Sea shoreline and moved east from Syria into southern Iraq . The Late Neolithic began around 6,400 BC in the Fertile Crescent . By then distinctive cultures emerged, with pottery like the Halafian (Turkey, Syria, Northern Mesopotamia) and Ubaid (Southern Mesopotamia). This period has been further divided into PNA (Pottery Neolithic A) and PNB (Pottery Neolithic B) at some sites. The Chalcolithic (Stone-Bronze) period began about 4500 BC, then

6321-512: The Red Sea shoreline and moved east from Syria into southern Iraq . In Israel , PPNC sites are rather rare. By 2008, only four sites had been clearly identified: Ashkelon (Afridar) and  'Atlit Yam on the coast, stratum II at  Tel 'Ali one mile south of the  Sea of Galilee , and Ha-Gosherim in the north. The spread of the Neolithic in Europe was first studied quantitatively in

6450-525: The Rift Valley of East Africa and surrounding areas during a time period known as the Pastoral Neolithic . They were South Cushitic speaking pastoralists, who tended to bury their dead in cairns whilst their toolkit was characterized by stone bowls, pestles, grindstones and earthenware pots. Through archaeology, historical linguistics and archaeogenetics, they conventionally have been identified with

6579-508: The Younger Dryas . The Pre-Pottery Neolithic culture came to an end around the time of the 8.2-kiloyear event , a cool spell centred on 6200 BCE that lasted several hundred years. It is succeeded by the Pottery Neolithic . The Pre-Pottery Neolithic is divided into Pre-Pottery Neolithic A ( PPNA 10000–8800 BCE) and the following Pre-Pottery Neolithic B ( PPNB 8800–6500 BCE). These were originally defined by Kathleen Kenyon in

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6708-413: The eukaryotic nucleus during evolution . The reasons mitochondria have retained some genes are debated. The existence in some species of mitochondrion-derived organelles lacking a genome suggests that complete gene loss is possible, and transferring mitochondrial genes to the nucleus has several advantages. The difficulty of targeting remotely-produced hydrophobic protein products to the mitochondrion

6837-586: The human genome to be sequenced. This sequencing revealed that human mtDNA has 16,569 base pairs and encodes 13 proteins . As in other vertebrates, the human mitochondrial genetic code differs slightly from nuclear DNA. Since animal mtDNA evolves faster than nuclear genetic markers, it represents a mainstay of phylogenetics and evolutionary biology . It also permits tracing the relationships of populations, and so has become important in anthropology and biogeography . Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA are thought to have separate evolutionary origins, with

6966-510: The type site of Jericho (Palestine). The Pre-Pottery Neolithic precedes the ceramic Neolithic ( Yarmukian culture , 6400 – 6200 BCE). At 'Ain Ghazal , in Jordan, the culture continued a few more centuries as the so-called Pre-Pottery Neolithic C culture. Around 11000 years ago (9000 BCE), during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA), the "world's first town", Jericho , appeared in the Levant , although

7095-446: The 1970s, when a sufficient number of 14C age determinations for early Neolithic sites had become available. 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 ( Jericho ), thus demonstrating that, on average, the Neolithic spread at a constant speed of about 1 km/yr. More recent studies confirm these results and yield

7224-709: The Balkans from 6000 BC, and in Central Europe by around 5800 BC ( La Hoguette ). Among the earliest cultural complexes of this area are the Sesklo culture in Thessaly, which later expanded in the Balkans giving rise to Starčevo-Körös (Cris), Linearbandkeramik , and Vinča . Through a combination of cultural diffusion and migration of peoples , the Neolithic traditions spread west and northwards to reach northwestern Europe by around 4500 BC. The Vinča culture may have created

7353-516: The Bronze Age, eventually giving rise to permanently settled farming towns , and later cities and states whose larger populations could be sustained by the increased productivity from cultivated lands. The profound differences in human interactions and subsistence methods associated with the onset of early agricultural practices in the Neolithic have been called the Neolithic Revolution ,

7482-491: The Maltese archipelago) and of Mnajdra (Malta) are notable for their gigantic Neolithic structures, the oldest of which date back to around 3600 BC. The Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni , Paola , Malta, is a subterranean structure excavated around 2500 BC; originally a sanctuary, it became a necropolis , the only prehistoric underground temple in the world, and shows a degree of artistry in stone sculpture unique in prehistory to

7611-443: The Maltese islands. After 2500 BC, these islands were depopulated for several decades until the arrival of a new influx of Bronze Age immigrants, a culture that cremated its dead and introduced smaller megalithic structures called dolmens to Malta. In most cases there are small chambers here, with the cover made of a large slab placed on upright stones. They are claimed to belong to a population different from that which built

7740-624: The Middle East. The neolithization of Northwestern Africa was initiated by Iberian , Levantine (and perhaps Sicilian ) migrants around 5500-5300 BC. During the Early Neolithic period, farming was introduced by Europeans and was subsequently adopted by the locals. During the Middle Neolithic period, an influx of ancestry from the Levant appeared in Northwestern Africa, coinciding with

7869-706: 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. 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 Cyprus and the Aegean Islands . The earliest Neolithic sites in South Asia are Bhirrana in Haryana, dated to 7570–6200 BCE, and Mehrgarh , dated to between 6500 and 5500 BCE, in

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7998-538: 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 completely independently of those in Europe and Southwest Asia . Early Japanese societies and other East Asian cultures used pottery before developing agriculture. In

8127-549: The Neolithic began by 6500 BCE and lasted until around 1400 BCE when the Megalithic transition period began. South Indian Neolithic is characterized by Ash mounds from 2500 BCE in Karnataka region, expanded later to Tamil Nadu . Lazaridis et al. (2022) stated that ancient Levantines (i.e. inhabitants of Jordan , Israel , Syria , Lebanon ) and their descendants exhibit a decrease of ~8% local Neolithic ancestry, which

8256-636: The Neolithic lasted until the Protodynastic period , c. 3150 BC. In China , it lasted until circa 2000 BC with the rise of the pre-Shang Erlitou culture , as it did in Scandinavia . 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, and

8385-465: The Neolithic than in the preceding Paleolithic period. This supplanted an earlier view of the Linear Pottery Culture as living a "peaceful, unfortified lifestyle". Control of labour and inter-group conflict is characteristic of tribal groups with social rank that are headed by a charismatic individual – either a ' big man ' or a proto- chief – functioning as a lineage-group head. Whether

8514-769: The PPNA, one of the world's first towns, Jericho , appeared in the Levant. It was surrounded by a stone wall, may have contained a population of up to 2,000–3,000 people, and contained a massive stone tower. Around 6400 BC the Halaf culture appeared in Syria and Northern Mesopotamia. In 1981, a team of researchers from the Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée , including Jacques Cauvin and Oliver Aurenche, divided Near East Neolithic chronology into ten periods (0 to 9) based on social, economic and cultural characteristics. In 2002, Danielle Stordeur and Frédéric Abbès advanced this system with

8643-558: The Revised Cambridge Reference Sequence to generate their respective haplotypes. If the known sample sequence and questioned sequence originated from the same matriline, one would expect to see identical sequences and identical differences from the rCRS. Cases arise where there are no known samples to collect and the unknown sequence can be searched in a database such as EMPOP. The Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods recommends three conclusions for describing

8772-543: The accumulation of deleterious mutations until functionality is lost. Animal populations of mitochondria avoid this through a developmental process known as the mtDNA bottleneck . The bottleneck exploits random processes in the cell to increase the cell-to-cell variability in mutant load as an organism develops: a single egg cell with some proportion of mutant mtDNA thus produces an embryo in which different cells have different mutant loads. Cell-level selection may then act to remove those cells with more mutant mtDNA, leading to

8901-419: The accumulation of mtDNA damage in several organs of rats. For example, dietary restriction prevented age-related accumulation of mtDNA damage in the cortex and decreased it in the lung and testis. Increased mt DNA damage is a feature of several neurodegenerative diseases . The brains of individuals with Alzheimer's disease have elevated levels of oxidative DNA damage in both nuclear DNA and mtDNA, but

9030-466: The adequacy of this title has since been challenged. The Pre-Pottery Neolithic is divided into Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (10000 – 8800 BCE) and the following Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (8800 – 6500 BCE). PPNB differed from PPNA in showing greater use of domesticated animals, a different set of tools, and new architectural styles. Work at the site of 'Ain Ghazal in Jordan has indicated a later Pre-Pottery Neolithic C period. Juris Zarins has proposed that

9159-519: The apparent implied egalitarianism of Neolithic (and Paleolithic) societies have arisen, notably the Marxist concept of primitive communism . Genetic evidence indicates that a drop in Y-chromosomal diversity occurred during the Neolithic. Initially believed to be a result of high incidence of violence and high rates of male mortality, more recent analysis suggests that the reduced Y-chromosomal diversity

9288-670: The area". The research team will perform accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating to retrieve a more precise date for the site. In Mesoamerica , a similar set of events (i.e., crop domestication and sedentary lifestyles) occurred by around 4500 BC in South America, but possibly as early as 11,000–10,000 BC. These cultures are usually not referred to as belonging to the Neolithic; in North America, different terms are used such as Formative stage instead of mid-late Neolithic, Archaic Era instead of Early Neolithic, and Paleo-Indian for

9417-549: The area's first Afroasiatic -speaking settlers. Archaeological dating of livestock bones and burial cairns has also established the cultural complex as the earliest center of pastoralism and stone construction in the region. In southeast Europe agrarian societies first appeared in the 7th millennium BC , attested by one of the earliest farming sites of Europe, discovered in Vashtëmi , southeastern Albania and dating back to 6500 BC. In most of Western Europe in followed over

9546-592: The arrival of pastoralism in the region. The earliest evidence for pottery, domestic cereals and animal husbandry is found in Morocco, specifically at Kaf el-Ghar . The Pastoral Neolithic was a period in Africa's prehistory marking the beginning of food production on the continent following the Later Stone Age . In contrast to the Neolithic in other parts of the world, which saw the development of farming societies,

9675-423: The bow and arrow and ceramic pottery were also introduced. In later periods cities of considerable size developed, and some metallurgy by 700 BC. Australia, in contrast to New Guinea , has generally been held not to have had a Neolithic period, with a hunter-gatherer lifestyle continuing until the arrival of Europeans. This view can be challenged in terms of the definition of agriculture, but "Neolithic" remains

9804-456: The coding instructions for some proteins, which may have an effect on organism metabolism and/or fitness. Mutations of mitochondrial DNA can lead to a number of illnesses including exercise intolerance and Kearns–Sayre syndrome (KSS), which causes a person to lose full function of heart, eye, and muscle movements. Some evidence suggests that they might be major contributors to the aging process and age-associated pathologies . Particularly in

9933-714: The context of disease, the proportion of mutant mtDNA molecules in a cell is termed heteroplasmy . The within-cell and between-cell distributions of heteroplasmy dictate the onset and severity of disease and are influenced by complicated stochastic processes within the cell and during development. Mutations in mitochondrial tRNAs can be responsible for severe diseases like the MELAS and MERRF syndromes. Mutations in nuclear genes that encode proteins that mitochondria use can also contribute to mitochondrial diseases. These diseases do not follow mitochondrial inheritance patterns, but instead follow Mendelian inheritance patterns. Recently

10062-447: The dead, which were plastered with mud to make facial features. The rest of the corpse could have been left outside the settlement to decay until only the bones were left, then the bones were buried inside the settlement underneath the floor or between houses. Work at the site of 'Ain Ghazal in Jordan has indicated a later Pre-Pottery Neolithic C period. Juris Zarins has proposed that

10191-403: The differences between a known mtDNA sequence and a questioned mtDNA sequence: exclusion for two or more differences between the sequences, inconclusive if there is one nucleotide difference, or cannot exclude if there are no nucleotide differences between the two sequences. The rapid mutation rate (in animals) makes mtDNA useful for assessing genetic relationships of individuals or groups within

10320-626: The differences in animal species maximum life spans in a multiplicative manner (i.e., species maximum life span = their mtDNA GC% * metabolic rate). To support the scientific community in carrying out comparative analyses between mtDNA features and longevity across animals, a dedicated database was built named MitoAge . De novo mutations arise either due to mistakes during DNA replication or due to unrepaired damage caused in turn by endogenous and exogenous mutagens. It has been long believed that mtDNA can be particularly sensitive to damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS), however G>T substitutions,

10449-600: The earliest farmland known to date in east Asia. "No remains of an agricultural field from the Neolithic period have been found in any East Asian country before, the institute said, adding that the discovery reveals that the history of agricultural cultivation at least began during the period on the Korean Peninsula ". The farm was dated between 3600 and 3000 BC. Pottery, stone projectile points, and possible houses were also found. "In 2002, researchers discovered prehistoric earthenware , jade earrings, among other items in

10578-561: The earliest system of writing, the Vinča signs , though archaeologist Shan Winn believes they most likely represented pictograms and ideograms rather than a truly developed form of writing. The Cucuteni-Trypillian culture built enormous settlements in Romania, Moldova and Ukraine from 5300 to 2300 BC. The megalithic temple complexes of Ġgantija on the Mediterranean island of Gozo (in

10707-446: The enclosures also suggest grain and meat storage. The Neolithic 2 (PPNB) began around 8800 BC according to the ASPRO chronology in the Levant ( Jericho , West Bank). 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 called 'Ain Ghazal

10836-624: The ends of the linear DNA ) with different modes of replication, which have made them interesting objects of research because many of these unicellular organisms with linear mtDNA are known pathogens . Most ( bilaterian ) animals have a circular mitochondrial genome. Medusozoa and calcarea clades however include species with linear mitochondrial chromosomes. With a few exceptions, animals have 37 genes in their mitochondrial DNA: 13 for proteins , 22 for tRNAs , and 2 for rRNAs . Mitochondrial genomes for animals average about 16,000 base pairs in length. The anemone Isarachnanthus nocturnus has

10965-570: 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 perhaps a stone tower (as in Jericho). The wall served as protection from nearby groups, as protection from floods, or to keep animals penned. Some of

11094-545: The first form of African food production was mobile pastoralism , or ways of life centered on the herding and management of livestock. The term "Pastoral Neolithic" is used most often by archaeologists to describe early pastoralist periods in the Sahara , as well as in eastern Africa . The Savanna Pastoral Neolithic or SPN (formerly known as the Stone Bowl Culture ) is a collection of ancient societies that appeared in

11223-451: The gathering of wild plants" and suggests that these subsistence changes were not due to farmers migrating from the Near East but was an indigenous development, with cereals either indigenous or obtained through exchange. Other scholars argue that the primary stimulus for agriculture and domesticated animals (as well as mud-brick architecture and other Neolithic cultural features) in Egypt was from

11352-403: The genetic distances of distantly related species. Statistical models that treat substitution rates among codon positions separately, can thus be used to simultaneously estimate phylogenies that contain both closely and distantly related species Mitochondrial DNA was admitted into evidence for the first time ever in a United States courtroom in 1996 during State of Tennessee v. Paul Ware . In

11481-422: The genetic material is a singular molecule or collection of homogeneous or heterogeneous molecules. In many unicellular organisms (e.g., the ciliate Tetrahymena and the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii ), and in rare cases also in multicellular organisms (e.g. in some species of Cnidaria ), the mtDNA is linear DNA . Most of these linear mtDNAs possess telomerase -independent telomeres (i.e.,

11610-477: The hallmark of the oxidative damage in the nuclear genome, are very rare in mtDNA and do not increase with age. Comparing the mtDNA mutational spectra of hundreds of mammalian species, it has been recently demonstrated that species with extended lifespans have an increased rate of A>G substitutions on single-stranded heavy chain. This discovery led to the hypothesis that A>G is a mitochondria-specific marker of age-associated oxidative damage. This finding provides

11739-421: The human mitochondrial DNA are distinguished as the heavy strand and the light strand. The heavy strand is rich in guanine and encodes 12 subunits of the oxidative phosphorylation system, two ribosomal RNAs (12S and 16S), and 14 transfer RNAs (tRNAs). The light strand encodes one subunit, and 8 tRNAs. So, altogether mtDNA encodes for two rRNAs, 22 tRNAs, and 13 protein subunits , all of which are involved in

11868-524: The idea is controversial, some evidence suggests a link between aging and mitochondrial genome dysfunction. In essence, mutations in mtDNA upset a careful balance of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and enzymatic ROS scavenging (by enzymes like superoxide dismutase , catalase , glutathione peroxidase and others). However, some mutations that increase ROS production (e.g., by reducing antioxidant defenses) in worms increase, rather than decrease, their longevity. Also, naked mole rats , rodents about

11997-442: The increase in population above the carrying capacity of the land and a high sedentary local population concentration. In some cultures, there would have been a significant shift toward increased starch and plant protein. The relative nutritional benefits and drawbacks of these dietary changes and their overall impact on early societal development are still debated. Mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA ( mtDNA and mDNA )

12126-462: The initiation of the transcription of the heavy and light strands are located in the main non-coding region of the mtDNA called the displacement loop, the D-loop . There is evidence that the transcription of the mitochondrial rRNAs is regulated by the heavy-strand promoter 1 (HSP1), and the transcription of the polycistronic transcripts coding for the protein subunits are regulated by HSP2. Measurement of

12255-558: The largest mitochondrial genome of any animal at 80,923 bp. The smallest known mitochondrial genome in animals belongs to the comb jelly Vallicula multiformis , which consist of 9,961 bp. In February 2020, a jellyfish-related parasite – Henneguya salminicola – was discovered that lacks a mitochondrial genome but retains structures deemed mitochondrion-related organelles. Moreover, nuclear DNA genes involved in aerobic respiration and in mitochondrial DNA replication and transcription were either absent or present only as pseudogenes . This

12384-415: The levels of the mtDNA-encoded RNAs in bovine tissues has shown that there are major differences in the expression of the mitochondrial RNAs relative to total tissue RNA. Among the 12 tissues examined the highest level of expression was observed in heart, followed by brain and steroidogenic tissue samples. As demonstrated by the effect of the trophic hormone ACTH on adrenal cortex cells, the expression of

12513-443: The longevity of species. The application of a mitochondrial-specific ROS scavenger, which lead to a significant longevity of the mice studied, suggests that mitochondria may still be well-implicated in ageing. Extensive research is being conducted to further investigate this link and methods to combat ageing. Presently, gene therapy and nutraceutical supplementation are popular areas of ongoing research. Bjelakovic et al. analyzed

12642-424: The male-inherited mitochondria were subsequently rejected. It has also been found in sheep, and in cloned cattle. Rare cases of male mitochondrial inheritance have been documented in humans. Although many of these cases involve cloned embryos or subsequent rejection of the paternal mitochondria, others document in vivo inheritance and persistence under lab conditions. Doubly uniparental inheritance of mtDNA

12771-525: The mitochondrial genes may be strongly regulated by external factors, apparently to enhance the synthesis of mitochondrial proteins necessary for energy production. Interestingly, while the expression of protein-encoding genes was stimulated by ACTH, the levels of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA showed no significant change. In most multicellular organisms , mtDNA is inherited from the mother (maternally inherited). Mechanisms for this include simple dilution (an egg contains on average 200,000 mtDNA molecules, whereas

12900-480: The mtDNA base composition and animal species-specific maximum life spans. As demonstrated in their work, higher mtDNA guanine + cytosine content ( GC% ) strongly associates with longer maximum life spans across animal species. An additional observation is that the mtDNA GC% correlation with the maximum life spans is independent of the well-known correlation between animal species metabolic rate and maximum life spans. The mtDNA GC% and resting metabolic rate explain

13029-448: The mtDNA derived from the circular genomes of bacteria engulfed by the ancestors of modern eukaryotic cells. This theory is called the endosymbiotic theory . In the cells of extant organisms, the vast majority of the proteins in the mitochondria (numbering approximately 1500 different types in mammals ) are coded by nuclear DNA , but the genes for some, if not most, of them are thought to be of bacterial origin, having been transferred to

13158-833: The mtDNA has approximately 10-fold higher levels than nuclear DNA. It has been proposed that aged mitochondria is the critical factor in the origin of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease. Analysis of the brains of AD patients suggested an impaired function of the DNA repair pathway, which would cause reduce the overall quality of mtDNA. In Huntington's disease , mutant huntingtin protein causes mitochondrial dysfunction involving inhibition of mitochondrial electron transport , higher levels of reactive oxygen species and increased oxidative stress . Mutant huntingtin protein promotes oxidative damage to mtDNA, as well as nuclear DNA, that may contribute to Huntington's disease pathology . The DNA oxidation product 8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG)

13287-558: The mtDNAs were taken. mtDNA can be used to estimate the relationship between both closely related and distantly related species. Due to the high mutation rate of mtDNA in animals, the 3rd positions of the codons change relatively rapidly, and thus provide information about the genetic distances among closely related individuals or species. On the other hand, the substitution rate of mt-proteins is very low, thus amino acid changes accumulate slowly (with corresponding slow changes at 1st and 2nd codon positions) and thus they provide information about

13416-436: The next 1,500 years. Populations began to rise after 3500 BC, with further dips and rises occurring between 3000 and 2500 BC but varying in date between regions. Around this time is the Neolithic decline , when populations collapsed across most of Europe, possibly caused by climatic conditions, plague, or mass migration. Settled life, encompassing the transition from foraging to farming and pastoralism, began in South Asia in

13545-440: The next two thousand years, but in some parts of Northwest Europe it is much later, lasting just under 3,000 years from c. 4500 BC–1700 BC. Recent advances in archaeogenetics have confirmed that the spread of agriculture from the Middle East to Europe was strongly correlated with the migration of early farmers from Anatolia about 9,000 years ago, and was not just a cultural exchange. Anthropomorphic figurines have been found in

13674-472: The nucleus. mtDNA is packaged with proteins which appear to be as protective as proteins of the nuclear chromatin. Moreover, mitochondria evolved a unique mechanism which maintains mtDNA integrity through degradation of excessively damaged genomes followed by replication of intact/repaired mtDNA. This mechanism is not present in the nucleus and is enabled by multiple copies of mtDNA present in mitochondria. The outcome of mutation in mtDNA may be an alteration in

13803-502: The other major crop domesticated were rice, millet, maize (corn), and potatoes. Crops were usually domesticated in a single location and ancestral wild species are still found. [1] Early Neolithic farming was limited to a narrow range of plants, both wild and domesticated, which included einkorn wheat , millet and spelt , and the keeping of dogs . By about 8000 BC, it included domesticated sheep and goats , cattle and pigs . Not all of these cultural elements characteristic of

13932-487: The oxidative phosphorylation process. Between most (but not all) protein-coding regions, tRNAs are present (see the human mitochondrial genome map ). During transcription, the tRNAs acquire their characteristic L-shape that gets recognized and cleaved by specific enzymes. With the mitochondrial RNA processing, individual mRNA, rRNA, and tRNA sequences are released from the primary transcript. Folded tRNAs therefore act as secondary structure punctuations. The promoters for

14061-691: The period. This site was developed by nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes, as evidenced by the lack of permanent housing in the vicinity, and may be the oldest known human-made place of worship. At least seven stone circles, covering 25 acres (10 ha), contain limestone pillars carved with animals, insects, and birds. Stone tools were used by perhaps 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 Palestine , notably in Tell es-Sultan (ancient Jericho ) and Gilgal in

14190-466: The plant and fungal genomes also exist in some protists, as do two unique genome types. One of these unique types is a heterogeneous collection of circular DNA molecules (type 4) while the other is a heterogeneous collection of linear molecules (type 6). Genome types 4 and 6 each range from 1–200 kbp in size. The smallest mitochondrial genome sequenced to date is the 5,967 bp mtDNA of the parasite Plasmodium falciparum . Endosymbiotic gene transfer,

14319-474: The preceding period. The Formative stage is equivalent to the Neolithic Revolution period in Europe, Asia, and Africa. In the southwestern United States it occurred from 500 to 1200 AD when there was a dramatic increase in population and development of large villages supported by agriculture based on dryland farming of corn (maize), and later, beans, squash, and domesticated turkeys. During this period

14448-454: The predominant way of life, the sensitivity to these shortages could be particularly acute, affecting agrarian populations to an extent that otherwise may not have been routinely experienced by prior hunter-gatherer communities. Nevertheless, agrarian communities generally proved successful, and their growth and the expansion of territory under cultivation continued. Another significant change undergone by many of these newly agrarian communities

14577-417: The previous megalithic temples. It is presumed the population arrived from Sicily because of the similarity of Maltese dolmens to some small constructions found there. With some exceptions, population levels rose rapidly at the beginning of the Neolithic until they reached the carrying capacity . This was followed by a population crash of "enormous magnitude" after 5000 BC, with levels remaining low during

14706-496: The previous reliance on an essentially nomadic hunter-gatherer subsistence technique or pastoral transhumance was at first supplemented, and then increasingly replaced by, a reliance upon the foods produced from cultivated lands. These developments are also believed to have greatly encouraged the growth of settlements, since it may be supposed that the increased need to spend more time and labor in tending crop fields required more localized dwellings. This trend would continue into

14835-495: The process by which genes that were coded in the mitochondrial genome are transferred to the cell's main genome, likely explains why more complex organisms such as humans have smaller mitochondrial genomes than simpler organisms such as protists. Mitochondrial DNA is replicated by the DNA polymerase gamma complex which is composed of a 140 kDa catalytic DNA polymerase encoded by the POLG gene and two 55 kDa accessory subunits encoded by

14964-422: The region of Balochistan , Pakistan, around 7,000 BC. At the site of Mehrgarh , Balochistan, presence can be documented of the domestication of wheat and barley, rapidly followed by that of goats, sheep, and cattle. In April 2006, it was announced in the scientific journal Nature that the oldest (and first Early Neolithic ) evidence for the drilling of teeth in vivo (using bow drills and flint tips)

15093-409: The results of 78 studies between 1977 and 2012, involving a total of 296,707 participants, and concluded that antioxidant supplements do not reduce all-cause mortality nor extend lifespan, while some of them, such as beta carotene, vitamin E, and higher doses of vitamin A, may actually increase mortality. In a recent study, it was shown that dietary restriction can reverse ageing alterations by affecting

15222-674: The rise of metallurgy, and most Neolithic societies on the whole were relatively simple and egalitarian. Beyond Eurasia, however, states were formed during the local Neolithic in three areas, namely in the Preceramic Andes with the Caral-Supe Civilization , Formative Mesoamerica and Ancient Hawaiʻi . However, most Neolithic societies were noticeably more hierarchical than the Upper Paleolithic cultures that preceded them and hunter-gatherer cultures in general. The domestication of large animals (c. 8000 BC) resulted in

15351-743: The roof, with ladders positioned both on the inside and outside of the houses. Stilt-house settlements were common in the Alpine and Pianura Padana ( Terramare ) region. Remains have been found in the Ljubljana Marsh in Slovenia and at the Mondsee and Attersee lakes in Upper Austria , for example. A significant and far-reaching shift in human subsistence and lifestyle was to be brought about in areas where crop farming and cultivation were first developed:

15480-442: The same number and kinds of genes as related plants with much smaller mtDNAs. The genome of the mitochondrion of the cucumber ( Cucumis sativus ) consists of three circular chromosomes (lengths 1556, 84 and 45 kilobases), which are entirely or largely autonomous with regard to their replication . Protists contain the most diverse mitochondrial genomes, with five different types found in this kingdom. Type 2, type 3 and type 5 of

15609-500: The size of mice , live about eight times longer than mice despite having reduced, compared to mice, antioxidant defenses and increased oxidative damage to biomolecules. Once, there was thought to be a positive feedback loop at work (a 'Vicious Cycle'); as mitochondrial DNA accumulates genetic damage caused by free radicals, the mitochondria lose function and leak free radicals into the cytosol . A decrease in mitochondrial function reduces overall metabolic efficiency. However, this concept

15738-621: The skeletal remains in graves at Mehrgarh bear a strong resemblance to those at Ali Kosh in the Zagros Mountains of southern Iran. Despite their scarcity, the 14C and archaeological age determinations for early Neolithic sites in Southern Asia exhibit remarkable continuity across the vast region from the Near East to the Indian Subcontinent, consistent with a systematic eastward spread at a speed of about 0.65 km/yr. In South India,

15867-474: The speed of 0.6–1.3 km/yr at 95% confidence level. Since the original human expansions out of Africa 200,000 years ago, different prehistoric and historic migration events have taken place in Europe. 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. Agricultural and husbandry practices originated 10,000 years ago in

15996-410: Was conclusively disproved when it was demonstrated that mice, which were genetically altered to accumulate mtDNA mutations at accelerated rate do age prematurely, but their tissues do not produce more ROS as predicted by the 'Vicious Cycle' hypothesis. Supporting a link between longevity and mitochondrial DNA, some studies have found correlations between biochemical properties of the mitochondrial DNA and

16125-685: Was found in Mehrgarh. In South India, the Neolithic began by 6500 BC and lasted until around 1400 BC when the Megalithic transition period began. South Indian Neolithic is characterized by Ash mounds from 2500 BC in Karnataka region, expanded later to Tamil Nadu . In East Asia, the earliest sites include the Nanzhuangtou culture around 9500–9000 BC, Pengtoushan culture around 7500–6100 BC, and Peiligang culture around 7000–5000 BC. The prehistoric Beifudi site near Yixian in Hebei Province, China, contains relics of

16254-409: Was found in the outskirts of Amman , Jordan . Considered to be one of the largest prehistoric settlements in the Near East , it was continuously inhabited from approximately 7250 BC to approximately 5000 BC. Settlements have rectangular mud-brick houses where the family lived together in single or multiple rooms. Burial findings suggest an ancestor cult where people preserved skulls of

16383-450: Was ground into flour. Emmer wheat was domesticated, and animals were herded and domesticated ( animal husbandry and selective breeding ). 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, and therefore the trees can only reproduce from cuttings. This evidence suggests that figs were

16512-402: Was one of diet . Pre-agrarian diets varied by region, season, available local plant and animal resources and degree of pastoralism and hunting. Post-agrarian diet was restricted to a limited package of successfully cultivated cereal grains, plants and to a variable extent domesticated animals and animal products. Supplementation of diet by hunting and gathering was to variable degrees precluded by

16641-460: Was reported that paternal sperm mitochondria (containing mtDNA) are marked with ubiquitin to select them for later destruction inside the embryo . Some in vitro fertilization techniques, particularly injecting a sperm into an oocyte , may interfere with this. The fact that mitochondrial DNA is mostly maternally inherited enables genealogical researchers to trace maternal lineage far back in time. ( Y-chromosomal DNA , paternally inherited,

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