Editing 10th millennium BC (section)

==Holocene epoch==
The main characteristic of the Holocene has been the worldwide abundance of ''[[Homo sapiens sapiens]]'' (humankind). The epoch began in the wake of the [[Würm glaciation]], generally known as the [[Last Glacial Period|Last Ice Age]], which began 109 ka and ended 14 ka when ''[[Homo sapiens sapiens]]'' was in the [[Palaeolithic]] (Old Stone) Age.{{sfn|Bronowski|1973|pp=59–60}} Following the [[Late Glacial Interstadial]] from 14 ka to 12.9 ka, during which global temperatures rose significantly, the [[Younger Dryas]] began. This was a temporary reversal of climatic warming to glacial conditions in the Northern Hemisphere and coincided with the end of the Upper Palaeolithic. The Younger Dryas ceased c. 9700 BC, marking the cutover from [[Pleistocene]] to Holocene.<ref name="ICC"/><ref name="FRS"/>

In the [[geologic time scale]], there are three (tentatively four) [[stage (stratigraphy)|stratigraphic stages]] of the Holocene beginning c. 9700 BC with the "[[Greenlandian]]" (to c. 6236 BC). The starting point for the Greenlandian is the [[Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point]] (GSSP) sample from the [[North Greenland Ice Core Project]], which has been correlated with the Younger Dryas.<ref name="FRS"/> The Greenlandian was succeeded by the "[[Northgrippian]]" (to c. 2250 BC) and the "[[Meghalayan]]". All three stages were officially ratified by the [[International Commission on Stratigraphy]] in July 2018.<ref name="ICC"/> It has been proposed that the Meghalayan should be terminated c. 1950 and succeeded by a new stage provisionally called "[[Anthropocene]]".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/aug/29/declare-anthropocene-epoch-experts-urge-geological-congress-human-impact-earth |title=The Anthropocene epoch: scientists declare dawn of human-influenced age |first=Damian |last=Carrington |date=29 August 2016 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=1 June 2019 |archive-date=11 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611230701/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/aug/29/declare-anthropocene-epoch-experts-urge-geological-congress-human-impact-earth |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the Holocene's first millennium, the Palaeolithic began to be superseded by the [[Neolithic]] (New Stone) Age which lasted about 6,000 years, depending on location. The gradual transition period is sometimes termed [[Mesolithic]] (northern and western Europe) or [[Epipalaeolithic]] (Levant and Near East). The glaciers retreated as the world climate became warmer and that inspired [[Neolithic Revolution|an agricultural revolution]],{{sfn|Bronowski|1973|p=60}} though at first, the dog was probably the only domesticated animal. This was accompanied by a social revolution in that humans gained from agriculture the impetus to settle. Settlement is the key precursor to civilisation, which cannot be achieved by a nomadic lifestyle.{{sfn|Bronowski|1973|pp=60–61}}

The [[World population estimates|world population]], c. 10,000 BC, is believed to have been more or less stable. It has been estimated that there were some five million people at the time of the [[Last Glacial Maximum]], growing to forty million by 5000 BC and 100 million by 1600 BC, which is an average growth rate of 0.027% p.a. from the Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age.<ref name="JNB">{{cite journal |last1=Biraben |first1=Jean-Noël |title=Essai sur l'évolution du nombre des hommes |trans-title=Essay on the evolution of the number of men |language=fr |journal=Population |date=1979 |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=13–25 |doi=10.2307/1531855 |jstor=1531855 }}</ref> Around 10,000 BC, most people lived in [[hunting-gathering|hunter-gatherer]] communities scattered across all continents except [[Antarctica]] and [[Zealandia (continent)|Zealandia]]. As the Würm/Wisconsin ended, settlement of northern regions was again possible.<ref name="JNB"/>