This period is also known as the Aceramic Neolithic in western Iran and eastern Iraq, and dates to approximately to 10–6,500 BCE. This period saw the beginning of sedentary village life. People began herding domesticated animals, notably cattle, sheep, goat, and pig, and cultivated grains and legumes, especially wheat, barley, lentil, and chickpea. During this time, we also see the development of sophisticated symbolic behavior, particularly in funerary practices, relationship with the dead, and religious and spiritual beliefs. Much as in the preceding periods, nearly all of these communities are found in the mountainous parts of the Near East. PPN corresponds with wetter and warmer climatic period following the end of the Younger Dryas and it comes to an end during a cold and dry spell around 6,200 BCE.
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