6th millennium BC: Difference between revisions

Millennia:	7th millennium BC; 6th millennium BC; 5th millennium BC;
Centuries:	60th century BC; 59th century BC; 58th century BC; 57th century BC; 56th century BC; 55th century BC; 54th century BC; 53rd century BC; 52nd century BC; 51st century BC;

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The 6th millennium BC spanned the years 6000 BC to 5001 BC (c. 8 ka to c. 7 ka). It is impossible to precisely date events that happened around the time of this millennium and all dates mentioned here are estimates mostly based on geological and anthropological analysis. The only exceptions are the felling dates for some construction timbers from Neolithic wells in Central Europe.

This millennium is reckoned to mark the end of the global deglaciation which had followed the Last Glacial Maximum and caused sea levels to rise by some 60 m (200 ft) over a period of about 5,000 years.

Overview

Neolithic culture and technology had spread from the Near East and into Eastern Europe by 6000 BC. Its development in the Far East grew apace and there is increasing evidence through the millennium of its presence in prehistoric Egypt and the Far East. In much of the world, however, including Northern and Western Europe, people still lived in scattered Palaeolithic/Mesolithic hunter-gatherer communities. The world population is believed to have increased sharply, possibly quadrupling, as a result of the Neolithic Revolution. It has been estimated that there were perhaps forty million people worldwide at the end of this millennium, growing to 100 million by the Middle Bronze Age c. 1600 BC.^[1]

Europe

It has been estimated that humans first settled in Malta c. 5900 BC, arriving across the Mediterranean from both Europe and North Africa.^[2]

Use of pottery found near Tbilisi is evidence that grapes were being used for winemaking c. 5980 BC.^[3]

Evidence of cheese-making in Poland is dated c. 5500 BC.^[4]

Four identified cultures starting around 5300 BC were the Dnieper-Donets, the Narva (eastern Baltic), the Ertebølle (Denmark and northern Germany), and the Swifterbant (Low Countries). They were linked by a common pottery style that had spread westward from Asia and is sometimes called "ceramic Mesolithic", distinguishable by a point or knob base and flared rims.^[5]^[6]^[7]

North Asia

According to Vasily Radlov, among the Paleo-Siberian inhabitants of Central Siberia and Southern Siberia were the Yeniseians, of whom the Kets are considered the last remainder. The Yeniseians were followed by the Uralic Samoyeds, who came from the northern Ural region. Proto-Uralic is the unattested reconstructed language ancestral to the modern Uralic language family. The hypothetical language is thought to have been originally spoken in a small area in about 7000–2000 BC, and expanded to give differentiated protolanguages. Some newer research has pushed the "Proto-Uralic homeland" east of the Ural Mountains into Western Siberia.^[8]

Polities harbouring the Uralic peoples thrive. The shores of all Siberian lakes, which filled the depressions during the Lacustrine period, abound in remains dating from the Neolithic age.^{[citation needed]} Countless kurgans (tumuli), furnaces, and other archaeological artifacts bear witness to a dense population. Some of the earliest artifacts found in Central Asia derive from Siberia.^[9]^{[full citation needed]} Large scale constructions occur as early as 6000 BC. Prehistoric settlements in remote Siberia have revealed that 8,000 years ago construction of complex defensive structures, such as the Amnya complex, occurred with political warfare. They are the oldest fortresses in the world. Finding such ancient fortifications challenges previous understanding of early human societies. It suggests that agriculture was not the only driver for people to start building permanent settlements.

Large scale backwards migrations occur with Native American populations migrating back into Asia, settling in areas such as the Altai Mountains several times over a span of thousands of years, earliest dated to 5500 BC. This is potentially linked to the environmental changes at the time (see Mount Mazama), which remained preserved in the oral history of the North American cultures to this day.^[10]

Na-Dené-speaking peoples finally entered North America starting around 8000 BCE, reaching the Pacific Northwest by 5000 BCE,^[11] and from there migrating along the Pacific Coast and into the interior. Linguists, anthropologists, and archeologists believe their ancestors constituted a separate migration into North America, later than the first Paleo-Indians. They migrated into Alaska and northern Canada, south along the Pacific Coast, into the interior of Canada, and south to the Great Plains and the American Southwest.

Indo-European cultures, descended from Ancient North Eurasians long ago, continue to expand Westwards from Central Russia. It provides linguistic evidence for the geographical location of these languages around that time, agreeing with archeological evidence that Indo-European speakers were present in the Pontic-Caspian steppes by around 4500 BCE (the Kurgan hypothesis) and that Uralic speakers may have been established in the Pit-Comb Ware culture to their north in the fifth millennium BCE.^[12]^{[missing long citation]}

Such words as those for "hundred", "pig", and "king" have something in common: they represent "cultural vocabulary" as opposed to "basic vocabulary". They are likely to have been acquired along with a novel number system and the domestic pig from Indo-Europeans in the south. Similarly, the Indo-Europeans themselves had acquired such words and cultural items from peoples and cultures to their south or west, including possibly their words for "ox", *gʷou- (compare English cow) and "grain", *bʰars- (compare English barley). In contrast, basic vocabulary – words such as "me", "hand", "water", and "be" – is much less readily borrowed between languages. If Indo-European and Uralic are genetically related, there should be agreements regarding basic vocabulary, with more agreements if they are closely related, fewer if they are less closely related.

Indo-European cultures in Central Asia flourish, these cultures are the: Middle Volga culture (followed by the Samara culture at the turn of the millennium), the contemporary Dnieper–Donets culture. From around 5200 BC, the patriarchal Dnieper-Donets culture leaves the Mesolithic hunter-gatherer lifestyle and begins keeping cattle, sheep and goats.^[13] Other domestic animals kept included pigs, horses and dogs.^[14]

South Asia

Junglefowl were domesticated around c. 5500 BC in Southeast Asia.^[15]

East Asia

The Zhaobaogou culture in China began c. 5400 BC. It was in the north-eastern part of the country, primarily in the Luan River valley in Inner Mongolia and northern Hebei.^[16]

The Yangshao culture (Chinese: 仰韶文化; pinyin: Yǎngsháo wénhuà) was a Neolithic culture that existed extensively along the middle reaches of the Yellow River in China from around the end of this millennium, from 5000 BC to 3000 BC. Excavations found that children were buried in painted pottery jars. Pottery style emerging from the Yangshao culture spread westward to the Majiayao culture, and then further to Xinjiang and Central Asia along a proto-Silk Road.^[17]

Bowl of the Banpo culture (first stage of the Yangshao culture), with geometrial human face motif and fish, 4500–3500 BC, Shaanxi.^[18]^[19]^[20]

Oceania

Indigenous Australians in what is now southwestern Victoria were farming and smoking eels as a food source and trade good using stone weirs, canals, and woven traps around 6000 BC.^[21]

Environmental changes

The early Holocene sea level rise (EHSLR), which began c. 10,000 BC, tailed off during the 6th millennium BC. Global water levels had risen by about 60 metres due to deglaciation of ice masses since the end of the Last Ice Age.^[22] Accelerated rises in sea level rise, called meltwater pulses, occurred three times during the EHSLR. The last one, Meltwater Pulse 1C, which peaked c. 6000 BC, produced a rise of 6.5 metres in only 140 years. It is believed that the cause was a major ice sheet collapse in Antarctica.^[23]

Approximately 8,000 years ago (c. 6000 BC), a massive volcanic landslide off Mount Etna, Sicily, caused a megatsunami that devastated the eastern Mediterranean coastline on the continents of Asia, Africa and Europe.^[24]

In South America, a large eruption occurred at Cueros de Purulla c. 5870 BC, forming a buoyant cloud and depositing the Cerro Paranilla Ash in the Calchaquí Valleys.^[25] A cataclysmic volcanic eruption occurred c. 5700 BC in Oregon when 12,000-foot (3,700 m) high Mount Mazama created Crater Lake as the resulting caldera filled with water.^[26] Another major eruption occurred c. 5550 BC on Mount Takahe, Antarctica, possibly creating an ozone hole in the region.^[27]

The carbon-14 content in tree rings created c. 5480 BC indicates an abnormal level of solar activity.^[28]

Astronomy and calendars

The epoch of the Byzantine calendar, used in the Byzantine Empire and many Christian Orthodox countries, is equivalent to 1 September 5509 BC on the Julian proleptic calendar (see image).^[29]

The 6th millennium BC falls entirely within the Astrological Age of Gemini (c. 6450 BC to c. 4300 BC) according to some astrologers.^[30]

According to Gregory of Tours God created the world 5597 years prior to the death of Martin of Tours, which would be 5200 BC. ^[31]

References

^ Biraben, Jean-Noël (1979). "Essai sur l'évolution du nombre des hommes". Population. 34–1 (1): 13–25. doi:10.2307/1531855. JSTOR 1531855.
^ "700 years added to Malta's history". Times of Malta. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
^ "'World's oldest wine' found in 8,000-year-old jars in Georgia". BBC News. 13 November 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
^ Subbaraman, Nidhi (12 December 2012). "Art of cheese-making is 7,500 years old". Nature. Macmillan. doi:10.1038/nature.2012.12020. S2CID 180646880. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
^ Gronenborn, Detlef (2007). "Beyond the models: Neolithisation in Central Europe". Proceedings of the British Academy. 144: 73–98.
^ Anthony, D. W. (2007). "Pontic-Caspian Mesolithic and Early Neolithic societies at the time of the Black Sea Flood: a small audience and small effects". In Yanko-Hombach, V.; Gilbert, A. A.; Panin, N.; Dolukhanov, P. M. (eds.). The Black Sea Flood Question: changes in coastline, climate and human settlement. Springer. pp. 245–370. ISBN 978-9402404654.
^ Anthony, David W. (2010). The horse, the wheel, and language: how Bronze-Age riders from the Eurasian steppes shaped the modern world. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691148182.
^ Grünthal, Riho; Heyd, Volker; Holopainen, Sampsa; Janhunen, Juha; Khanina, Olga; Miestamo, Matti; Nichols, Johanna; Saarikivi, Janne; Sinnemäki, Kaius (29 August 2022). "Drastic demographic events triggered the Uralic spread". Diachronica. 39 (4): 490–524. doi:10.1075/dia.20038.gru. hdl:10138/347633. ISSN 0176-4225. S2CID 248059749.
^ Philip W. Goetz (1991), The New Encyclopædia Britannica, p. 724, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
^ Nunn, Patrick (28 August 2018). "Eye-witnesses call from millennia past". Cosmos. Royal Institution of Australia. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
^ Drummond, D. E. (October 1969). "Toward a Pre-History of the Na-Dene, with a General Comment on Population Movements among Nomadic Hunters". American Anthropologist New Series. 71 (5). American Anthropological Association: 857–863. JSTOR 670070. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
^ Carpelan & Parpola 2001:79
^ Anthony 2010, pp. 174–182.
^ *Mallory, J. P. (1991). In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language Archeology and Myth. Thames & Hudson. pp. 190–191.
^ Concise History of Science & Invention: An Illustrated Time Line. National Geographic Books. 2010. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-4262-0544-6.
^ Stark, Miriam T. (26 August 2005). Archaeology of Asia. Blackwell. p. 129. ISBN 1-4051-0213-6.
^ Zhang, Kai (4 February 2021). "The Spread and Integration of Painted pottery Art along the Silk Road". Region – Educational Research and Reviews. 3 (1): 18. doi:10.32629/RERR.V3I1.242. S2CID 234007445. The early cultural exchanges between the East and the West are mainly reflected in several aspects: first, in the late Neolithic period of painted pottery culture, the Yangshao culture (5000-3000 BC) from the Central Plains spreadwestward, which had a great impact on Majiayao culture (3000-2000 BC), and then continued to spread to Xinjiang and Central Asia through the transition of Hexi corridor
^ "Painted Pottery Basin with Fish and Human Face Design, National Museum of China". National Museum of China.
^ Valenstein, Suzanne G. (1989). A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics. Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 978-0-8109-1170-3.
^ Major, John S.; Cook, Constance A. (22 September 2016). Ancient China: A History. Routledge. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-317-50365-1.
^ Flood, Josephine (2004). Archaeology of the dreamtime: the story of prehistoric Australia and its people (revised ed.). Marleston, South Australia: J. B. Publishing. ISBN 1-876622-50-4. OCLC 61479845.
^ Smith, D. E.; Harrison, S.; Firth, C. R.; Jordan, J. T. (July 2011). "The early Holocene sea level rise". Quaternary Science Reviews. 30 (15–16). Elsevier: 1846–1860. Bibcode:2011QSRv...30.1846S. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2011.04.019.
^ Blanchon, P. (2011). "Meltwater Pulses". In Hopley, D. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs: Structure, form and process. Earth Science Series. Springer. pp. 683–690. ISBN 978-90-481-2638-5.
^ Pareschi, M. T.; Boschi, E.; Favalli, M. (2006). "Lost tsunami". Geophysical Research Letters. 33 (22): L22608. Bibcode:2006GeoRL..3322608P. doi:10.1029/2006GL027790.
^ Fernandez-Turiel, J. L.; Perez-Torrado, F. J.; Rodriguez-Gonzalez, A.; Saavedra, J.; Carracedo, J. C.; Rejas, M.; Lobo, A.; Osterrieth, M.; Carrizo, J. I.; Esteban, G.; Gallardo, J.; Ratto, N. (8 May 2019). "La gran erupción de hace 4.2 ka cal en Cerro Blanco, Zona Volcánica Central, Andes: nuevos datos sobre los depósitos eruptivos holocenos en la Puna sur y regiones adyacentes". Estudios Geológicos (in Spanish). 75 (1): 21. doi:10.3989/egeol.43438.515. hdl:10553/69940. ISSN 1988-3250.
^ "Geology and History Summary for Mount Mazama and Crater Lake". Volcano Hazards Program. United States Geological Survey. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
^ "Takahe". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution.
^ Miyake, Fusa; Jull, A. J. Timothy; Panyushkina, Irina P.; Wacker, Lukas; Salzer, Matthew; Baisan, Christopher H.; et al. (31 January 2017). "Large 14C excursion in 5480 BC indicates an abnormal sun in the mid-Holocene". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. 114 (5). National Academy of Sciences: 881–884. Bibcode:2017PNAS..114..881M. doi:10.1073/pnas.1613144114. PMC 5293056. PMID 28100493.
^ Stephenson, Paul. "Translations from Byzantine Sources: The Imperial Centuries, c.700–1204: John Skylitzes, "Synopsis Historion": The Year 6508, in the 13th Indiction: the Byzantine dating system". November 2006.
^ Mann, Neil (24 May 2007). "The Astrological Great Year". Retrieved 1 June 2019.
^ Gregory of Tours (1916) [594], History of the Franks, Pantianos Classics, 1916

[JNB-1] Biraben, Jean-Noël (1979). "Essai sur l'évolution du nombre des hommes". Population. 34–1 (1): 13–25. doi:10.2307/1531855. JSTOR 1531855.

[2] "700 years added to Malta's history". Times of Malta. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2019.

[3] "'World's oldest wine' found in 8,000-year-old jars in Georgia". BBC News. 13 November 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2019.

[4] Subbaraman, Nidhi (12 December 2012). "Art of cheese-making is 7,500 years old". Nature. Macmillan. doi:10.1038/nature.2012.12020. S2CID 180646880. Retrieved 1 June 2019.

[5] Gronenborn, Detlef (2007). "Beyond the models: Neolithisation in Central Europe". Proceedings of the British Academy. 144: 73–98.

[6] Anthony, D. W. (2007). "Pontic-Caspian Mesolithic and Early Neolithic societies at the time of the Black Sea Flood: a small audience and small effects". In Yanko-Hombach, V.; Gilbert, A. A.; Panin, N.; Dolukhanov, P. M. (eds.). The Black Sea Flood Question: changes in coastline, climate and human settlement. Springer. pp. 245–370. ISBN 978-9402404654.

[7] Anthony, David W. (2010). The horse, the wheel, and language: how Bronze-Age riders from the Eurasian steppes shaped the modern world. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691148182.

[8] Grünthal, Riho; Heyd, Volker; Holopainen, Sampsa; Janhunen, Juha; Khanina, Olga; Miestamo, Matti; Nichols, Johanna; Saarikivi, Janne; Sinnemäki, Kaius (29 August 2022). "Drastic demographic events triggered the Uralic spread". Diachronica. 39 (4): 490–524. doi:10.1075/dia.20038.gru. hdl:10138/347633. ISSN 0176-4225. S2CID 248059749.

[9] Philip W. Goetz (1991), The New Encyclopædia Britannica, p. 724, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

[10] Nunn, Patrick (28 August 2018). "Eye-witnesses call from millennia past". Cosmos. Royal Institution of Australia. Retrieved 26 February 2024.

[11] Drummond, D. E. (October 1969). "Toward a Pre-History of the Na-Dene, with a General Comment on Population Movements among Nomadic Hunters". American Anthropologist New Series. 71 (5). American Anthropological Association: 857–863. JSTOR 670070. Retrieved 30 March 2010.

[12] Carpelan & Parpola 2001:79

[FOOTNOTEAnthony2010174–182-13] Anthony 2010, pp. 174–182.

[14] *Mallory, J. P. (1991). In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language Archeology and Myth. Thames & Hudson. pp. 190–191.

[15] Concise History of Science & Invention: An Illustrated Time Line. National Geographic Books. 2010. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-4262-0544-6.

[16] Stark, Miriam T. (26 August 2005). Archaeology of Asia. Blackwell. p. 129. ISBN 1-4051-0213-6.

[17] Zhang, Kai (4 February 2021). "The Spread and Integration of Painted pottery Art along the Silk Road". Region – Educational Research and Reviews. 3 (1): 18. doi:10.32629/RERR.V3I1.242. S2CID 234007445. The early cultural exchanges between the East and the West are mainly reflected in several aspects: first, in the late Neolithic period of painted pottery culture, the Yangshao culture (5000-3000 BC) from the Central Plains spreadwestward, which had a great impact on Majiayao culture (3000-2000 BC), and then continued to spread to Xinjiang and Central Asia through the transition of Hexi corridor

[18] "Painted Pottery Basin with Fish and Human Face Design, National Museum of China". National Museum of China.

[19] Valenstein, Suzanne G. (1989). A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics. Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 978-0-8109-1170-3.

[20] Major, John S.; Cook, Constance A. (22 September 2016). Ancient China: A History. Routledge. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-317-50365-1.

[21] Flood, Josephine (2004). Archaeology of the dreamtime: the story of prehistoric Australia and its people (revised ed.). Marleston, South Australia: J. B. Publishing. ISBN 1-876622-50-4. OCLC 61479845.

[22] Smith, D. E.; Harrison, S.; Firth, C. R.; Jordan, J. T. (July 2011). "The early Holocene sea level rise". Quaternary Science Reviews. 30 (15–16). Elsevier: 1846–1860. Bibcode:2011QSRv...30.1846S. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2011.04.019.

[23] Blanchon, P. (2011). "Meltwater Pulses". In Hopley, D. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs: Structure, form and process. Earth Science Series. Springer. pp. 683–690. ISBN 978-90-481-2638-5.

[24] Pareschi, M. T.; Boschi, E.; Favalli, M. (2006). "Lost tsunami". Geophysical Research Letters. 33 (22): L22608. Bibcode:2006GeoRL..3322608P. doi:10.1029/2006GL027790.

[25] Fernandez-Turiel, J. L.; Perez-Torrado, F. J.; Rodriguez-Gonzalez, A.; Saavedra, J.; Carracedo, J. C.; Rejas, M.; Lobo, A.; Osterrieth, M.; Carrizo, J. I.; Esteban, G.; Gallardo, J.; Ratto, N. (8 May 2019). "La gran erupción de hace 4.2 ka cal en Cerro Blanco, Zona Volcánica Central, Andes: nuevos datos sobre los depósitos eruptivos holocenos en la Puna sur y regiones adyacentes". Estudios Geológicos (in Spanish). 75 (1): 21. doi:10.3989/egeol.43438.515. hdl:10553/69940. ISSN 1988-3250.

[26] "Geology and History Summary for Mount Mazama and Crater Lake". Volcano Hazards Program. United States Geological Survey. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2019.

[GVP-27] "Takahe". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution.

[28] Miyake, Fusa; Jull, A. J. Timothy; Panyushkina, Irina P.; Wacker, Lukas; Salzer, Matthew; Baisan, Christopher H.; et al. (31 January 2017). "Large 14C excursion in 5480 BC indicates an abnormal sun in the mid-Holocene". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. 114 (5). National Academy of Sciences: 881–884. Bibcode:2017PNAS..114..881M. doi:10.1073/pnas.1613144114. PMC 5293056. PMID 28100493.

[29] Stephenson, Paul. "Translations from Byzantine Sources: The Imperial Centuries, c.700–1204: John Skylitzes, "Synopsis Historion": The Year 6508, in the 13th Indiction: the Byzantine dating system". November 2006.

[30] Mann, Neil (24 May 2007). "The Astrological Great Year". Retrieved 1 June 2019.

[31] Gregory of Tours (1916) [594], History of the Franks, Pantianos Classics, 1916

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@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 Four identified cultures starting around 5300 BC were the [[Dnieper-Donets culture|Dnieper-Donets]], the [[Narva culture|Narva]] (eastern Baltic), the [[Ertebølle culture|Ertebølle]] (Denmark and northern Germany), and the [[Swifterbant culture|Swifterbant]] (Low Countries). They were linked by a common pottery style that had spread westward from Asia and is sometimes called "[[ceramic Mesolithic]]", distinguishable by a point or knob base and flared rims.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gronenborn |first1=Detlef |title=Beyond the models: Neolithisation in Central Europe |journal=Proceedings of the British Academy |date=2007 |volume=144 |pages=73–98}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Anthony |first1=D. W. |editor1-last=Yanko-Hombach |editor1-first=V. |editor2-last=Gilbert |editor2-first=A. A. |editor3-last=Panin |editor3-first=N. |editor4-last=Dolukhanov |editor4-first=P. M. |title=The Black Sea Flood Question: changes in coastline, climate and human settlement |date=2007 |isbn=978-9402404654 |pages=245–370 |chapter=Pontic-Caspian Mesolithic and Early Neolithic societies at the time of the Black Sea Flood: a small audience and small effects|publisher=Springer }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Anthony |first1=David W. |title=The horse, the wheel, and language: how Bronze-Age riders from the Eurasian steppes shaped the modern world |date=2010 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, New Jersey |isbn=9780691148182}}</ref>
-==Africa==
+==North Asia==
+According to [[Vasily Radlov]], among the [[Paleo-Siberian]] inhabitants of [[Central Siberia]] and Southern Siberia were the [[Proto-Yeniseian|Yeniseians]], of whom the [[Ket people|Kets]] are considered the last remainder. The Yeniseians were followed by the Uralic [[Samoyedic peoples|Samoyeds]], who came from the northern [[Ural Mountains|Ural]] region. '''Proto-Uralic''' is the [[attested language|unattested]] [[linguistic reconstruction|reconstructed]] language ancestral to the modern [[Uralic languages|Uralic language family]]. The hypothetical language is thought to have been originally spoken in a small area in about 7000–2000 BC, and expanded to give differentiated [[protolanguage]]s. Some newer research has pushed the "[[Proto-Uralic homeland]]" east of the Ural Mountains into [[Western Siberia]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Grünthal |first1=Riho |last2=Heyd |first2=Volker |last3=Holopainen |first3=Sampsa |last4=Janhunen |first4=Juha |last5=Khanina |first5=Olga |last6=Miestamo |first6=Matti |last7=Nichols |first7=Johanna |last8=Saarikivi |first8=Janne |last9=Sinnemäki |first9=Kaius |date=2022-08-29 |title=Drastic demographic events triggered the Uralic spread |url=https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/publications/drastic-demographic-events-triggered-the-uralic-spread |journal=Diachronica |language=en |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=490–524 |doi=10.1075/dia.20038.gru |s2cid=248059749 |issn=0176-4225|hdl=10138/347633 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
+Polities harbouring the [[Proto-Uralic language|Uralic]] peoples thrive.
+The shores of all Siberian lakes, which filled the depressions during the [[Lacustrine period]], abound in remains dating from the [[Neolithic]] age.{{cn|date=February 2024}} Countless ''[[kurgan]]s'' ([[tumulus|tumuli]]), furnaces, and other [[Artifact (archaeology)|archaeological artifacts]] bear witness to a dense population. Some of the earliest artifacts found in [[Central Asia]] derive from Siberia.<ref>Philip W. Goetz (1991), ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica'', p. 724, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.</ref>{{fcn|reason=Missing entry name|date=December 2024}} Large scale constructions occur as early as 6000&nbsp;BC. Prehistoric settlements in remote Siberia have revealed that 8,000 years ago construction of complex defensive structures, such as the [[Amnya complex]], occurred with political warfare. They are the oldest fortresses in the world. Finding such ancient fortifications challenges previous understanding of early human societies. It suggests that agriculture was not the only driver for people to start building permanent settlements.
+Large scale backwards migrations occur with Native American populations migrating back into [[Asia]], settling in areas such as the [[Altai Mountains]] several times over a span of thousands of years, earliest dated to 5500&nbsp;BC. This is potentially linked to the environmental changes at the time (see [[Mount Mazama]]), which remained preserved in the oral history of the [[North America]]n cultures to this day.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/society/eye-witnesses-call-from-millennia-past/|title=Eye-witnesses call from millennia past|last=Nunn|first=Patrick|date=28 August 2018|work=[[Cosmos (Australian magazine)|Cosmos]]|publisher=Royal Institution of Australia|access-date=26 February 2024}}</ref>
+[[Na-Dene languages|Na-Dené]]-speaking peoples finally entered North America starting around {{BCE|8000}}, reaching the [[Pacific Northwest]] by {{BCE|5000}},<ref>{{cite journal |last=Drummond |first=D. E. |url=https://www.jstor.org/pss/670070 |jstor=670070 |title=Toward a Pre-History of the Na-Dene, with a General Comment on Population Movements among Nomadic Hunters |journal=American Anthropologist New Series |volume=71 |issue=5 |date=October 1969 |pages=857–863 |publisher=American Anthropological Association |access-date=2010-03-30}}</ref> and from there migrating along the [[Pacific coast|Pacific Coast]] and into the interior. Linguists, anthropologists, and archeologists believe their ancestors constituted a separate migration into North America, later than the first Paleo-Indians. They migrated into Alaska and northern Canada, south along the Pacific Coast, into the interior of Canada, and south to the Great Plains and the American Southwest.
+Indo-European cultures, descended from [[Ancient North Eurasian|Ancient North Eurasians]] long ago, continue to expand Westwards from Central [[Russia]]. It provides linguistic evidence for the geographical location of these languages around that time, agreeing with archeological evidence that Indo-European speakers were present in the Pontic-Caspian steppes by around 4500&nbsp;BCE (the [[Kurgan hypothesis]]) and that Uralic speakers may have been established in the [[Comb Ceramic culture|Pit-Comb Ware culture]] to their north in the fifth millennium BCE.<ref>Carpelan & Parpola 2001:79</ref>{{missing long citation|date=December 2024}}
+Such words as those for "hundred", "pig", and "king" have something in common: they represent "cultural vocabulary" as opposed to "basic vocabulary". They are likely to have been acquired along with a novel number system and the domestic pig from Indo-Europeans in the south. Similarly, the Indo-Europeans themselves had acquired such words and cultural items from peoples and cultures to their south or west, including possibly their words for "ox", ''*gʷou-'' (compare English ''cow'') and "grain", ''*bʰars-'' (compare English ''barley''). In contrast, basic vocabulary – words such as "me", "hand", "water", and "be" – is much less readily borrowed between languages. If Indo-European and Uralic are genetically related, there should be agreements regarding basic vocabulary, with more agreements if they are closely related, fewer if they are less closely related.
+Indo-European cultures in Central [[Asia]] flourish, these cultures are the: [[Middle Volga culture]] (followed by the [[Samara culture]] at the turn of the millennium), the contemporary [[Dnieper–Donets culture]]. From around 5200&nbsp;BC, the patriarchal Dnieper-Donets culture leaves the [[Mesolithic]] [[hunter-gatherer]] lifestyle and begins keeping [[cattle]], [[sheep]] and [[goat]]s.{{sfn|Anthony|2010|pp=174–182}} Other domestic animals kept included [[pig]]s, [[horse]]s and [[dog]]s.<ref>*{{cite book |last=Mallory |first=J. P. |author-link=J. P. Mallory |year=1991 |title=In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language Archeology and Myth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lENVpwAACAAJ |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] | pages = 190–191 }}</ref>
 ==South Asia==
@@ Line 26: / Line 40: @@
 ==East Asia==
-- The [[Zhaobaogou culture]] in [[China]] began c. 5400 BC. It was in the north-eastern part of the country, primarily in the [[Luan River]] valley in [[Inner Mongolia]] and northern [[Hebei]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Archaeology of Asia |first=Miriam T. |last=Stark |author-link=Miriam T. Stark |publisher=Blackwell |isbn=1-4051-0213-6 |page=129|date=26 August 2005 }}</ref>
+The [[Zhaobaogou culture]] in [[China]] began c. 5400 BC. It was in the north-eastern part of the country, primarily in the [[Luan River]] valley in [[Inner Mongolia]] and northern [[Hebei]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Archaeology of Asia |first=Miriam T. |last=Stark |author-link=Miriam T. Stark |publisher=Blackwell |isbn=1-4051-0213-6 |page=129|date=26 August 2005 }}</ref>
-- The '[[Yangshao culture]] (仰韶文化, pinyin: Yǎngsháo wénhuà) was a [[Neolithic]] culture that existed extensively along the middle reaches of the [[Yellow River]] in [[China]] from around the end of this millennium, from 5000&nbsp;BC to 3000&nbsp;BC. Excavations found that children were buried in painted pottery jars. Pottery style emerging from the Yangshao culture spread westward to the [[Majiayao culture]], and then further to [[Xinjiang]] and [[Central Asia]] along a proto-Silk Road.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Kai |title=The Spread and Integration of Painted pottery Art along the Silk Road |journal=Region - Educational Research and Reviews |date=4 February 2021 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=18 |doi=10.32629/RERR.V3I1.242 |s2cid=234007445 |quote=The early cultural exchanges between the East and the West are mainly reflected in several aspects: first, in the late Neolithic period of painted pottery culture, the Yangshao culture (5000-3000 BC) from the Central Plains spreadwestward, which had a great impact on Majiayao culture (3000-2000 BC), and then continued to spread to Xinjiang and Central Asia through the transition of Hexi corridor|doi-access=free }}</ref>
+The [[Yangshao culture]] ({{lang-zh|c=仰韶文化|p=Yǎngsháo wénhuà}}) was a [[Neolithic]] culture that existed extensively along the middle reaches of the [[Yellow River]] in [[China]] from around the end of this millennium, from 5000&nbsp;BC to 3000&nbsp;BC. Excavations found that children were buried in painted pottery jars. Pottery style emerging from the Yangshao culture spread westward to the [[Majiayao culture]], and then further to [[Xinjiang]] and [[Central Asia]] along a proto-Silk Road.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Kai |title=The Spread and Integration of Painted pottery Art along the Silk Road |journal=Region – Educational Research and Reviews |date=4 February 2021 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=18 |doi=10.32629/RERR.V3I1.242 |s2cid=234007445 |quote=The early cultural exchanges between the East and the West are mainly reflected in several aspects: first, in the late Neolithic period of painted pottery culture, the Yangshao culture (5000-3000 BC) from the Central Plains spreadwestward, which had a great impact on Majiayao culture (3000-2000 BC), and then continued to spread to Xinjiang and Central Asia through the transition of Hexi corridor|doi-access=free }}</ref>
 {{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=400|caption_align=center
@@ Line 36: / Line 49: @@
 | image1   = Banpo bowl.jpg
 | image2   = Banpo motif (B&W).png
-| footer=Bowl of the [[Banpo|Banpo culture]] (first stage of the Yangshao culture), with geometrial human face motif and fish, 4500–3500 BC, [[Shaanxi]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Painted Pottery Basin with Fish and Human Face Design, National Museum of China |url=https://en.chnmuseum.cn/collections_577/collection_highlights_608/archaeological_discoveries_609/201911/t20191121_172534.html |website=en.chnmuseum.cn |publisher=National Museum of China}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Valenstein |first1=Suzanne G. |last2=N.Y.) |first2=Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York |title=A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics |date=1989 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |isbn=978-0-8109-1170-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wnVwuJvo4YgC&pg=PA5 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Major |first1=John S. |last2=Cook |first2=Constance A. |title=Ancient China: A History |date=22 September 2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-50365-1 |page=60 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vh8xDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT60 |language=en}}</ref>
+| footer=Bowl of the [[Banpo|Banpo culture]] (first stage of the Yangshao culture), with geometrial human face motif and fish, 4500–3500 BC, [[Shaanxi]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Painted Pottery Basin with Fish and Human Face Design, National Museum of China |url=https://en.chnmuseum.cn/collections_577/collection_highlights_608/archaeological_discoveries_609/201911/t20191121_172534.html |publisher=National Museum of China}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Valenstein |first1=Suzanne G. |title=A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics |date=1989 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |isbn=978-0-8109-1170-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wnVwuJvo4YgC&pg=PA5 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Major |first1=John S. |last2=Cook |first2=Constance A. |title=Ancient China: A History |date=22 September 2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-50365-1 |page=60 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vh8xDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT60 |language=en}}</ref>
 }}
@@ Line 43: / Line 56: @@
 ==Environmental changes==
+The [[early Holocene sea level rise]] (EHSLR), which began c. 10,000&nbsp;BC, tailed off during the 6th millennium BC. Global water levels had risen by about 60 metres due to deglaciation of ice masses since the end of the Last Ice Age.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The early Holocene sea level rise |journal=[[Quaternary Science Reviews]] |publisher=[[Elsevier]] |last1=Smith |first1=D. E. |last2=Harrison |first2=S. |last3=Firth |first3=C. R. |last4=Jordan |first4=J. T. |volume=30 |issue=15–16 |date=July 2011 |pages=1846–1860 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2011.04.019 |bibcode=2011QSRv...30.1846S}}</ref> Accelerated rises in sea level rise, called meltwater pulses, occurred three times during the EHSLR. The last one, Meltwater Pulse 1C, which peaked c. 6000&nbsp;BC, produced a rise of 6.5 metres in only 140 years. It is believed that the cause was a major ice sheet collapse in Antarctica.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Blanchon |first=P. |year=2011 |title=Meltwater Pulses |editor-last=Hopley |editor-first=D. |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs: Structure, form and process. |publisher=Springer |series=Earth Science Series |pages=683–690 |isbn=978-90-481-2638-5}}</ref>
-The 6th Millennium features widespread dramatic climatic events:
-The [[early Holocene sea level rise]] (EHSLR), which began c.10,000 BC, tailed off during the 6th millennium. Global water levels had risen by about 60 metres due to deglaciation of ice masses since the end of the Last Ice Age.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The early Holocene sea level rise |journal=[[Quaternary Science Reviews]] |publisher=[[Elsevier]] |author1=Smith, D. E. |author2=Harrison, S. |author3=Firth, C. R. |author4=Jordan, J. T. |volume=30 |issue=15–16 |date=July 2011 |pages=1846–1860 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2011.04.019 |bibcode=2011QSRv...30.1846S}}.</ref> Accelerated rises in sea level rise, called meltwater pulses, occurred three times during the EHSLR. The last one, Meltwater Pulse 1C, which peaked c. 6000 BC, produced a rise of 6.5 metres in only 140 years. It is believed that the cause was a major ice sheet collapse in Antarctica.<ref>Blanchon, P. (2011a) ''Meltwater Pulses.'' In: Hopley, D. (Ed), ''Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs: Structure, form and process.'' Springer-Verlag Earth Science Series, p. 683-690. {{ISBN|978-90-481-2638-5}}</ref>
-Approximately 8,000 years ago (c. 6000 BC), a massive [[volcanic landslide]] off [[Mount Etna]], [[Sicily]], caused a [[megatsunami]] that devastated the eastern [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] coastline on the continents of Asia, Africa and Europe.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1029/2006GL027790 |last1=Pareschi |first1=M. T. |last2=Boschi |first2=E. |last3=Favalli |first3=M. |year=2006 |title=Lost tsunami |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |volume=33 |issue=22 |pages=L22608 |bibcode=2006GeoRL..3322608P|doi-access=free }}</ref>
+Approximately 8,000 years ago (c. 6000&nbsp;BC), a massive [[volcanic landslide]] off [[Mount Etna]], [[Sicily]], caused a [[megatsunami]] that devastated the eastern [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] coastline on the continents of Asia, Africa and Europe.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1029/2006GL027790 |last1=Pareschi |first1=M. T. |last2=Boschi |first2=E. |last3=Favalli |first3=M. |year=2006 |title=Lost tsunami |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |volume=33 |issue=22 |pages=L22608 |bibcode=2006GeoRL..3322608P|doi-access=free }}</ref>
-In South America, a large eruption occurred at [[Cueros de Purulla]] c. 5870 BC, forming a buoyant cloud and depositing the Cerro Paranilla Ash in the [[Calchaquí Valleys]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fernandez-Turiel |first1=J. L. |last2=Perez-Torrado |first2=F. J. |last3=Rodriguez-Gonzalez |first3=A. |last4=Saavedra |first4=J. |last5=Carracedo |first5=J. C. |last6=Rejas |first6=M. |last7=Lobo |first7=A. |last8=Osterrieth |first8=M. |last9=Carrizo |first9=J. I. |last10=Esteban |first10=G. |last11=Gallardo |first11=J. |last12=Ratto |first12=N. |title=La gran erupción de hace 4.2 ka cal en Cerro Blanco, Zona Volcánica Central, Andes: nuevos datos sobre los depósitos eruptivos holocenos en la Puna sur y regiones adyacentes |journal=Estudios Geológicos |date=8 May 2019 |volume=75 |issue=1 |doi=10.3989/egeol.43438.515 |language=en |issn=1988-3250|page=21|doi-access=free |hdl=10553/69940 |hdl-access=free }}
+In South America, a large eruption occurred at [[Cueros de Purulla]] c. 5870&nbsp;BC, forming a buoyant cloud and depositing the Cerro Paranilla Ash in the [[Calchaquí Valleys]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fernandez-Turiel |first1=J. L. |last2=Perez-Torrado |first2=F. J. |last3=Rodriguez-Gonzalez |first3=A. |last4=Saavedra |first4=J. |last5=Carracedo |first5=J. C. |last6=Rejas |first6=M. |last7=Lobo |first7=A. |last8=Osterrieth |first8=M. |last9=Carrizo |first9=J. I. |last10=Esteban |first10=G. |last11=Gallardo |first11=J. |last12=Ratto |first12=N. |title=La gran erupción de hace 4.2 ka cal en Cerro Blanco, Zona Volcánica Central, Andes: nuevos datos sobre los depósitos eruptivos holocenos en la Puna sur y regiones adyacentes |journal=Estudios Geológicos |date=8 May 2019 |volume=75 |issue=1 |doi=10.3989/egeol.43438.515 |language=es |issn=1988-3250|page=21|doi-access=free |hdl=10553/69940 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> A cataclysmic [[Types of volcanic eruptions|volcanic eruption]] occurred c. 5700 BC in [[Oregon]] when {{convert|12000|ft|m|sing=on}} high [[Mount Mazama]] created [[Crater Lake]] as the resulting caldera filled with water.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/crater_lake/geo_hist_mazama.html |title=Geology and History Summary for Mount Mazama and Crater Lake |publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]] |work=Volcano Hazards Program |date=3 November 2017 |access-date=1 June 2019}}</ref> Another major eruption occurred c. 5550&nbsp;BC on [[Mount Takahe]], [[Antarctica]], possibly creating an [[ozone hole]] in the region.<ref name="GVP">{{Cite GVP|vn=390027|name=Takahe}}</ref>
-</ref>
-A cataclysmic [[Types of volcanic eruptions|volcanic eruption]] occurred c. 5700 BC in [[Oregon]] when {{convert|12000|ft|m|sing=on}} high [[Mount Mazama]] created [[Crater Lake]] as the resulting caldera filled with water.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/crater_lake/geo_hist_mazama.html |title=Geology and History Summary for Mount Mazama and Crater Lake |publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]] |work=Volcano Hazards Program |date=3 November 2017 |access-date=1 June 2019}}</ref> Another major eruption occurred c. 5550 BC on [[Mount Takahe]], [[Antarctica]], possibly creating an [[ozone hole]] in the region.<ref name="GVP">{{Cite GVP|vn=390027|name=Takahe}}</ref>
-The [[carbon-14]] content in [[Dendrochronology|tree rings]] created c. 5480 BC indicates an abnormal level of [[Solar phenomena|solar activity]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Large 14C excursion in 5480 BC indicates an abnormal sun in the mid-Holocene |author1=Miyake, Fusa |author-link1=Fusa Miyake |author2=Others |journal=PNAS |volume=114 |issue=5 |pages=881–884 |publisher=National Academy of Sciences |date=31 January 2017 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1613144114 |pmid=28100493 |pmc=5293056 |bibcode=2017PNAS..114..881M |doi-access=free }}</ref>
+The [[carbon-14]] content in [[Dendrochronology|tree rings]] created c. 5480&nbsp;BC indicates an abnormal level of [[Solar phenomena|solar activity]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Large 14C excursion in 5480 BC indicates an abnormal sun in the mid-Holocene |last1=Miyake |first1=Fusa |author-link1=Fusa Miyake |first2=A. J. Timothy |last2=Jull |first3=Irina P. |last3=Panyushkina |first4=Lukas |last4=Wacker |first5=Matthew |last5=Salzer |first6=Christopher H. |last6=Baisan |first7=Todd |last7=Lange |first8=Richard |last8=Cruz |first9=Kimiaki |last9=Masuda |first10=Toshio |last10=Nakamura |display-authors=6 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA |volume=114 |issue=5 |pages=881–884 |publisher=National Academy of Sciences |date=31 January 2017 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1613144114 |pmid=28100493 |pmc=5293056 |bibcode=2017PNAS..114..881M |doi-access=free }}</ref>
 ==Astronomy and calendars==
 [[Image:Monreale creation Adam.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Mosaic of Creation of [[Adam]] from [[Monreale Cathedral]] - dated year 1 [[Anno Mundi|A.M.]] (September 5509 BC) in the Byzantine calendar.]]
-The [[Epoch (reference date)|epoch]] of the [[Byzantine calendar]], used in the [[Byzantine Empire]] and many Christian Orthodox countries, is equivalent to 1 September 5509 BC on the [[Julian proleptic calendar]] (see image right).<ref>Stephenson, Paul. ''"Translations from Byzantine Sources: The Imperial Centuries, c.700–1204: [http://www.paulstephenson.info/trans/scyl2.html John Skylitzes, "Synopsis Historion"'': ''The Year 6508, in the 13th Indiction: the Byzantine dating system]"''. November 2006.</ref>
+The [[Epoch (reference date)|epoch]] of the [[Byzantine calendar]], used in the [[Byzantine Empire]] and many Christian Orthodox countries, is equivalent to 1 September 5509 BC on the [[Julian proleptic calendar]] (see image).<ref>Stephenson, Paul. ''"Translations from Byzantine Sources: The Imperial Centuries, c.700–1204: [http://www.paulstephenson.info/trans/scyl2.html John Skylitzes, "Synopsis Historion"'': ''The Year 6508, in the 13th Indiction: the Byzantine dating system]"''. November 2006.</ref>
 The 6th millennium BC falls entirely within the [[Astrological Age]] of [[Gemini (astrology)|Gemini]] (c. 6450 BC to c. 4300 BC) according to some astrologers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.yeatsvision.com/GreatYear.html |title=The Astrological Great Year |author=Mann, Neil |date=24 May 2007 |access-date=1 June 2019}}</ref>
-According to [[Gregory of Tours]] God created the world 5597 years prior to the death of [[Martin of Tours]], which would be 5200 BC. <ref> A history of the Franks, Gregory of Tours, Pantianos Classics, 1916</ref>
+According to [[Gregory of Tours]] God created the world 5597 years prior to the death of [[Martin of Tours]], which would be 5200 BC. <ref>Gregory of Tours (1916) [594], ''History of the Franks'', Pantianos Classics, 1916</ref>
 ==References==

v t e Millennia
CE / AD	1st 2nd 3rd 4th and later
BCE / BC	1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th and earlier

Holocene Epoch
Preceded by the Pleistocene
ICS stages/ages (official) Greenlandian (11.7–8.236 ka) Northgrippian (8.236–4.2† ka) Meghalayan (4.2 ka–present)
Blytt–Sernander stages/ages Preboreal (10.3†–9† ka) Boreal (9–7.5† ka) Atlantic (7.5–5† ka) Subboreal (5–2.5† ka) Subatlantic (2.5 ka–present) *Relative to year 2000 (b2k). †Relative to year 1950 (BP/Before "Present").
v t e