Neolithic
![upright=1.5](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Asikli_Hoyuk_sarah_c_murray_6176.jpg)
The Neolithic began about 12,000 years ago, when farming appeared in the Epipalaeolithic Near East, 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, the Neolithic lasted until the Protodynastic period, 3150 BC. In China, it lasted until circa 2000 BC with the rise of the pre-Shang Erlitou culture, as it did in Scandinavia. Provided by Wikipedia