Editing 8th millennium BC (section)

==Population and communities==
Outside the Near East, most people around the world still lived in scattered [[hunting-gathering|hunter-gatherer]] communities which remained firmly in the [[Palaeolithic]].{{sfn|Roberts|1993|p=37}} Within the Near East, [[Neolithic]] culture and technology had become established throughout much of the [[Fertile Crescent]] by 8000 BC and was gradually spreading westward, though it is not believed to have reached Europe till about the end of this millennium. Planting and harvesting techniques were transferred through Asia Minor and across the Aegean Sea to Greece and the Balkans. The techniques were, in the main, cultivation of wheats and barleys; and domestication of sheep, goats and cattle.{{sfn|Roberts|1993|p=37}}

The [[World population estimates|world population]] was probably stable and slowly increasing. It has been estimated that there were some five million people c. 10,000 BC growing to forty million by 5000 BC and 100 million by 1600 BC. That is an average growth rate of 0.027% p.a. from the beginning of the Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age.{{Citation needed|reason=The old citation didn't have a link to it, so this needs to be a source that talks about this. If there is not then it will be removed.|date=February 2023}}