Editing Neolithic (section)

=== Sub-Saharan Africa ===
{{Further||Pastoral Neolithic|Savanna Pastoral Neolithic}}

The '''Pastoral Neolithic''' was a period in Africa's [[prehistory]] marking the beginning of food production on the continent following the [[Later Stone Age]]. In contrast to the Neolithic in other parts of the world, which saw the development of [[Agriculture|farming]] societies, the first form of African food production was mobile [[pastoralism]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Marshall|first1=Fiona|last2=Hildebrand|first2=Elisabeth|date=2002-06-01|title=Cattle Before Crops: The Beginnings of Food Production in Africa|journal=Journal of World Prehistory|language=en|volume=16|issue=2|pages=99–143|doi=10.1023/A:1019954903395|s2cid=19466568|issn=0892-7537}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Garcea|first=Elena A. A.|date=2004-06-01|title=An Alternative Way Towards Food Production: The Perspective from the Libyan Sahara|journal=Journal of World Prehistory|language=en|volume=18|issue=2|pages=107–154|doi=10.1007/s10963-004-2878-6|s2cid=162218030|issn=0892-7537}}</ref> or ways of life centered on the herding and management of livestock. The term "Pastoral Neolithic" is used most often by [[Archaeology|archaeologists]] to describe early pastoralist periods in the [[Sahara]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Gallinaro|first1=Marina|last2=Lernia|first2=Savino di|date=2018-01-25|title=Trapping or tethering stones (TS): A multifunctional device in the Pastoral Neolithic of the Sahara |journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=13|issue=1|pages=e0191765|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0191765 |pmc=5784975|pmid=29370242|bibcode=2018PLoSO..1391765G|doi-access=free}}</ref> as well as in [[East Africa|eastern Africa]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bower|first=John|date=1991-03-01|title=The Pastoral Neolithic of East Africa|journal=Journal of World Prehistory|language=en|volume=5|issue=1|pages=49–82|doi=10.1007/BF00974732|s2cid=162352311|issn=0892-7537}}</ref>

The '''Savanna Pastoral Neolithic''' or SPN (formerly known as the '''Stone Bowl Culture''') is a collection of ancient societies that appeared in the [[East African Rift|Rift Valley]] of [[East Africa]] and surrounding areas during a time period known as the [[Pastoral Neolithic]]. They were [[South Cushitic]] speaking pastoralists, who tended to bury their dead in cairns whilst their toolkit was characterized by stone bowls, pestles, grindstones and earthenware pots.<ref name="Ambrose220">{{cite book|last1=Ambrose|first1=Stanley H.|title=From Hunters to Farmers: The Causes and Consequences of Food Production in Africa – "The Introduction of Pastoral Adaptations to the Highlands of East Africa"|date=1984|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0520045743|pages=220|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dftPHu1o2s8C|access-date=4 December 2014}}</ref> Through archaeology, historical linguistics and archaeogenetics, they conventionally have been identified with the area's first [[Afroasiatic languages|Afroasiatic]]-speaking settlers. Archaeological dating of livestock bones and burial cairns has also established the cultural complex as the earliest center of [[pastoralism]] and stone construction in the region.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lander=|first1=Faye=|last2=Russell=|first2=Thembi=|date=14 June 2018|title=The Archaeological Evidence for the Appearance of Pastoralism and Farming in Southern Africa|journal=PLOS ONE| volume=13 | issue=6 | pages=e0198941 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0198941| pmid=29902271 | pmc=6002040 | bibcode=2018PLoSO..1398941L | doi-access=free }}</ref>