The period in the Old World where humans first learned to tend and eventually plant crops is known as the Neolithic period.
Ancient farming methods used by farmers throughout the world varied quite a bit. Farmers developed many ways to maintain soils, ward off frost and freeze cycles and protect their crops from animals. Here are a selection of ways ancient farming was conducted
You can't go visit the stones at Stonehenge on any given day--it's only open to visitors to wander through on the Solstices. But what amazing pictures professional photographers have taken!
The site of 'Ain Ghazal is an early Neolithic village site located along the banks of the Zarqa River near Amman, Jordan.
Abbot's Way is a Neolithic trackway, first built about 2000 BC as a footpath to cross a lowland mire in the Somerset Levels and Moors wetland region of Somerset, England.
The Middle Neolithic archaeological site of Dadiwan is located within the upper reaches of the Yellow River near Shaodian in Qi'nan county, Gansu province of China.
On the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland can be found the Standing Stones of Stenness, the Ring of Brodgar and the Neolithic ruins of the Barnhouse Settlement and Skara Brae
The Neolithic site of Dikili Tash (also called Philippoi) is a tell located in the Drama plain of eastern Macedonia in northern Greece.
Dinggong is a Longshan village site in Zhouping County of Shandong Province, China, dated to the Late Neolithic period.
Excavations at this Neolithic lake side village near Kastoria Lake in Greece have been undertaken since 1992 by Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The web site is fun to wander around in, and has the history of the excavations, a summary of what's known about the site, and a diary of an archaeologist, from excavation director G. H. Hourmouziadis.
Dongshanzui is the name of a Hongshan culture site in Kazuo county, Liaoning province, China, occupied between 4700-2920 BC.
A summary of six seasons of field work at this early farming site in Poland, by Peter Bogucki.
Franchthi Cave was constantly occupied for thousands of years, beginning in the Upper Paleolithic period and with important Neolithic occupations, and wonderful preservation of bones and seeds throughout.
The site of Hagoshrim is located in the Hula Valley of northern Israel. Occupied at least six times between 6500 and 7560 years ago.
Completely online academic journal on the Neolithic period. Articles primarily in German, but some English articles and German articles have English abstracts.
The Natufian culture was a group of sedentary people living in the Levant region of the middle east between about 9000-8500 BC.
The Neolithic period designation is a prime example of how science doesn't come as clean as you can think it, at least in archaeology.
From Dartmouth, a detailed discussion of Neolithic cultures in Greece.
Podgoritsa is an eneolithic tell site in northeastern Bulgaria.
Sweet Track is the earliest known trackway--constructed footpath--in northern Europe built in the winter or early spring of 3807 or 3806 BC.
Michael Balter's book The Goddess and the Bull may be seen primarily as a biography: of the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük, of the site excavators, and of the site's story as it has grown and changed throughout the years.
The Balkan Copper Age cemetery site of Varna is located near the resort town of the same name, on the Black Sea in coastal Bulgaria.
Verlaine is a Neolithic linearbandkeramik site located within the Geer river valley in the Hesbaye region of central Belgium.
Windmill Hill is a Neolithic causewayed enclosure, located near the far more famous site of Avebury in Wiltshire, England.
On the yellow plains of central Anatolia lie the remains of one of the oldest civilizations on earth. Called Çatalhöyük, the site ruins represent a village of 300 mud brick and plaster residences, based on a farming economy--in fact, the first farming community we've found to date.
