Transition

Note on “Transition”: 

• Roughly the time period when the "BCE" usage often begins. 

• Some scholars believe this is still prehistoric; others argue that this is historic. 

• Grinding stones: ~12 kya → Earlier use may be as far back as ~30–20 kya among late Pleistocene foragers.

• Agricultural transition: ~11.95 to 9.95 kya [10,000–8,000 BCE] → independent domestications in multiple regions. 

  • Fertile Crescent at Jericho, Abu Hureyra, Çayönü: ~9,500 BCE → wheat, barley, sheep, goats; 

  • Yellow & Yangtze River basins at China: ~9,000 BCE → millet and rice; 

  • Indus Valley region at India-Pakistan: ~8,000 BCE → cultivation and pastoralism; 

  • Mesoamerica: ~7,000 BCE → maize; 

  • Andes/Amazonia: ~5,000 BCE → tubers and crops; 

  • Saharan Africa: ~5,000 BCE → sorghum, pearl millet.

• Permanent and Semi-permanent Settlements: 

  • Göbekli Tepe: ~9,600 BCE → ritual/monumental center;

  • Jericho: ~9,000 BCE → early walled settlement; 

  • Çatalhöyük: ~7,500 BCE → large, dense village.

Indian Plate (sutured):

• Early Holocene climate stabilization

• Strengthening monsoon.

• Improved conditions for early cultivation and herding

• Settlement in the Indus and adjacent regions.

• Widespread expansion of agriculture

• Herding beyond core hearths

• Horse domestication: ~3500–3000 BCE → 

  • Botai culture, northern Kazakhstan (Central Asia); 

  • evidence: horse bones, bit wear on teeth, milk residues.

• Permanent village life becomes dominant

• Pottery, polished stone tools, weaving

• Long-distance exchange networks

• Population growth and social differentiation

• Chalcolithic/Copper Age: ~5000–3300 BCE → 

  • Early copper use for tools + stone tools; 

  • Occasional, experimental bronze; 

  • Mesopotamia and early Indus sites.

Indian Plate (sutured):

• Strengthened monsoon supports farming and settlement

• Mehrgarh, Ganges, Deccan—Neolithic villages expand

• Wheat, barley, rice, and millet cultivation

• Cattle-based pastoralism (South India ash mounds)

• Early copper use; craft specialization

• Foundations of Pre-Harappan cultures