<Tr> <Td> ↓ Chalcolithic </Td> </Tr> <P> The Neolithic (/ ˌniːəˈlɪθɪk / (listen)) was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 10,200 BC, according to the ASPRO chronology, in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world and ending between 4500 and 2000 BC . </P> <P> Traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age or The New Stone Age, the Neolithic followed the terminal Holocene Epipaleolithic period and commenced with the beginning of farming, which produced the "Neolithic Revolution". It ended when metal tools became widespread (in the Copper Age or Bronze Age; or, in some geographical regions, in the Iron Age). The Neolithic is a progression of behavioral and cultural characteristics and changes, including the use of wild and domestic crops and of domesticated animals . </P> <P> The beginning of the Neolithic culture is considered to be in the Levant (Jericho, modern - day West Bank) about 10,200--8800 BC . It developed directly from the Epipaleolithic Natufian culture in the region, whose people pioneered the use of wild cereals, which then evolved into true farming . The Natufian period lasted between 12,500 and 9,500 BC, and the so - called "proto - Neolithic" is now included in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPNA) between 10,200 and 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 are thought to have forced people to develop farming . </P>

The key invention of the neolithic era was the development of