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Prehistoric period of Mesopotamia
Neolithic Iraq is an archaeological term used to refer to the Neolithic stage of prehistoric Mesopotamia (Iraq). Mesopotamia was inhabited by several distinct, flourishing cultures in between the end of the Last Glacial Period (c. 14000 – c. 6500 BCE) and beginning of the Copper Age (c. 5000 – c. 4500 BCE). Archaeological sites such as those of the Samarran and Halafian cultures were centered at central and upper Mesopotamia (central and northern Iraq); settlements of the Ubaidians' in lower Mesopotamia (southern Iraq) required complicated irrigation methods. It appears that the archaeological culture of the Ubaidians' may have been derived from that of the Samarrans'. The first among these Lower Mesopotamian settlements were tells el-'Oueili, al-'Ubaid, and Abu Shahrain.
Dating, periodization, and extent
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Periodization, chronology, and timeline
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Periodization and chronology
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Century BCE
|
Age
|
Stage
|
Period
|
Phase
|
Style
|
Level (Eridu/Eabzu)
|
Level (Uruk/Eanna)
|
100th
|
Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) |
PPNA |
1 |
|
99th
|
98th
|
97th
|
96th
|
95th
|
2
|
94th
|
93rd
|
92nd
|
91st
|
90th
|
89th
|
88th
|
Early PPNB |
3
|
87th
|
86th
|
85th
|
84th
|
83rd
|
Middle PPNB
|
82nd
|
81st
|
80th
|
79th
|
78th
|
77th
|
76th
|
75th
|
Late PPNB |
4
|
74th
|
73rd
|
72nd
|
71st
|
70th
|
69th
|
68th
|
67th
|
66th
|
65th
|
PPNC |
5 |
Ubaid 0 |
Oueili |
|
64th
|
Pottery Neolithic (PN) |
PNA |
6
|
63rd
|
62nd
|
61st
|
60th
|
59th
|
58th
|
57th
|
56th
|
55th
|
Early Ubaid |
Eridu |
XVIII |
|
54th
|
XVIII
|
53rd
|
XVII
|
52nd
|
XV
|
51st
|
XIV
|
50th
|
Early Chalcolithic |
XIII |
XIX
|
49th
|
XII
|
48th
|
7 |
Hadji Muhammed |
XI
|
PNB |
8 |
Tell al‐Ubaid
|
47th
|
9 |
Late Ubaid |
X |
XVIII
|
46th
|
45th
|
Late Chalcolithic (LC) |
LC 1 |
IX
|
44th
|
43rd
|
VIII
|
42nd
|
LC 2 |
Terminal Ubaid |
Ubaid V |
VII |
XVII
|
XVI
|
41st
|
XV
|
XIV
|
XIII
|
40th
|
VI |
XII
|
XI
|
39th
|
X
|
38th
|
LC 3 |
V |
IX
|
Schematic outline of contemporaneous cultures
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Locations of sites, environment, and climate
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Estimated settlement sizes and populations
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Agriculture, domestication, and hunting
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