Neolithic, also called New Stone Age, final stage of cultural evolution or technological development among prehistoric humans. It was characterized by stone tools shaped by polishing or grinding, dependence on domesticated plants or animals, settlement in permanent villages, and the appearance of such crafts as pottery and weaving. The Neolithic followed the Paleolithic Period, or age of chipped-stone tools, and preceded the Bronze Age, or early period of metal tools.
The Neolithic stage of development was attained during the Holocene Epoch (the last 11,700 years of Earth history). The starting point of the Neolithic is much debated, with different parts of the world having achieved the Neolithic stage at different times, but it is generally thought to have occurred sometime about 10,000 BCE. During that time, humans learned to raise crops and keep domestic livestock and were thus no longer dependent on hunting, fishing, and gathering wild plants. Neolithic cultures made more-useful stone tools by grinding and polishing relatively hard rocks rather than merely chipping softer ones down to the desired shape. The cultivation of cereal grains enabled Neolithic peoples to build permanent dwellings and congregate in villages, and the release from nomadism and a hunting-gathering economy gave them the time to pursue specialized crafts.
Archaeological evidence indicates that the transition from food-collecting cultures to food-producing ones gradually occurred across Asia and Europe from a starting point in the Fertile Crescent. The first evidence of cultivation and animal domestication in southwestern Asia has been dated to roughly 9500 BCE, which suggests that those activities may have begun before that date. A way of life based on farming and settled villages had been firmly achieved by 7000 BCE in the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys (now in Iraq and Iran) and in what are now Syria, Israel, Lebanon, and Jordan. Those earliest farmers raised barley and wheat and kept sheep and goats, later supplemented by cattle and pigs. Their innovations spread from the Middle East northward into Europe by two routes: across Turkey and Greece into central Europe, and across Egypt and North Africa and thence to Spain. Farming communities appeared in Greece as early as 7000 BCE, and farming spread northward throughout the continent over the next four millennia. This long and gradual transition was not completed in Britain and Scandinavia until after 3000 BCE and is known as the Mesolithic.
Neolithic technologies also spread eastward to the Indus River valley of India by 5000 BCE. Farming communities based on millet and rice appeared in the Huang He (Yellow River) valley of China and in Southeast Asia by about 3500 BCE. Neolithic modes of life were achieved independently in the New World. Corn (maize), beans, and squash were gradually domesticated in Mexico and Central America from 6500 BCE on, though sedentary village life did not commence there until much later, at about 2000 BCE.
In the Old World the Neolithic was succeeded by the Bronze Age when human societies learned to combine copper and tin to make bronze, which replaced stone for use as tools and weapons.
The Birth of Civilisation - Cult of the Skull (8800 BC to 6500 BC)
The Rise & Fall of Europe's First Longhouse Builders - European Prehistory
Megathreads and spaces to hang out:
- ❤️ Come listen to music and Watch movies with your fellow Hexbears nerd, in Cy.tube
- 💖 Come talk in the New Monthly queer thread
- 💛 Read about a current topic in the news
- ⭐️ October Movie Nominations ⭐️
reminders:
- 💚 You nerds can join specific comms to see posts about all sorts of topics
- 💙 Hexbear’s algorithm prioritizes struggle sessions over upbears
- 💜 Sorting by new you nerd
- 🌈 If you ever want to make your own megathread, you can go here nerd
- 🐶 Join the unofficial Hexbear-adjacent Mastodon instance toots.matapacos.dog
Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):
Aid:
- 💙Comprehensive list of resources for those in need of an abortion -- reddit link
- 💙Resources for Palestine
Theory:
Ahh, see, I don't read chud fic. Most horror fans I know like the transgression of social norms, they like the way horror tends to invert dominant narratives (ie the bad guys are cops, the bad guys are wealthy people, the good guys are poor people or minorities or other outsiders, the monster was created by the horrific actions of people in positions of power and authority). There's also a lot of appreciation for the technical art and craft of horror movies; A lot of horror fans really appreciate and build a deep understanding of how gore special effects and other horror movie staples are portrayed and part of the fun is starting way back at the end of the Hayes Code and watching how the technology and techniques have developed, how they are used innovatively, or very poorly, and so forth. The same way there are people who can tell you all about Kubrick's camera work and directorial style there are people who can tell you all about Tom Savini's work in special effects over the decades.
I would take as representative of the the genre the many high-profile, high grossing movies, games, and novels out there. I don't really pay attention to random self-published novels and I'd be kind of shocked if there are a lot that have significant readerships. I'd also say that a lot of those people probably don't care about zombies as a genre, zombies are just their paper thin excuse for chud warlordism fantasies. I'm sure they also write fantasies about the US frontier in the 19th century, or Australia, or whatever other places they think they could do what supremacist warlord stuff. Just knock-offs of the Turner Diaries.
I don't read chudfic either. Which means I am acutely aware of what proportion of the subject I have to spend energy avoiding it. While I agree with you that they are wrong in their analysis of the themes they are chuds. Them being wrong is a given, but that doesn't correlate to their enthusiasm for subjects.
I am not sure we can just defacto say that the big media pieces contain the soul of the genera either though. That seems somewhat fascile in a way I can't fully think through at the moment.
If it's not in Night of the Living Dead, Sean of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead (both versions), Resident Evil, the various versions of I am Legend, 28 Days Later, Zombieland, Train to Busan, both versions of REC, Evil Dead, The Crazies (both versions), Braindead, The Walking Dead, and so forth, where is it? These are the stories that define the genre.
Where are you encountering these works? Is it a Tumblr thing or something?
Oh I forgot Pontypool, definitely one of the more creative entries in the genre in the post 28 days later era of zombie films.
I've also found out that I need to see Juan of the Dead, a cuban/spanish production, and Little Monsters, which apparently got overshadowed by Us in 2019 but is highly regarded.