Editing History of Europe (section)

=== Neolithic and Copper Age===
{{See also|Old Europe (archaeology) |Neolithic Europe |Chalcolithic Europe}}
[[File:Smac Neolithikum 122.jpg|thumb|[[Linear Pottery culture]] settlement, Germany, c. 4700 BC|193x193px]]

Evidence of permanent settlement dates from the 8th millennium BC in the Balkans. The [[Neolithic Europe|Neolithic]] reached [[Central Europe]] in the 6th millennium BC and parts of [[Northern Europe]] in the 5th and 4th millenniums BC. The modern indigenous populations of Europe are largely descended from three distinct lineages: Mesolithic [[Western Hunter-Gatherers|hunter-gatherer]]s, a derivative of the [[Cro-Magnon]] population, [[Early European Farmers]] who migrated from Anatolia during the [[Neolithic Revolution]], and [[Yamnaya culture|Yamnaya]] [[Western Steppe Herders|pastoralists]] who expanded into Europe in the context of the [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-European expansion]].<ref>{{cite news|title=When the First Farmers Arrived in Europe, Inequality Evolved|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-the-first-farmers-arrived-in-europe-inequality-evolved/|work=Scientific American|date=1 July 2020|access-date=17 September 2022|archive-date=25 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525055649/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-the-first-farmers-arrived-in-europe-inequality-evolved/|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Indo-European migrations]] started in [[Southeast Europe]] at around c. 4200 BC. through the areas around the [[Black sea]] and the [[Balkan peninsula]]. In the next 3000 years the [[Indo-European languages]] expanded through Europe.

[[File:Grave offerings.jpg|thumb|Artefacts from the [[Varna culture|Varna necropolis]], Bulgaria, c. 4500 BC|194x194px]]

Around this time, in the 5th millennium BC the [[Varna culture]] evolved. In 4700 – 4200 BC, the [[Solnitsata]] town, believed to be the oldest prehistoric town in Europe, flourished.<ref>{{cite news|title=Archaeologists find Europe's most prehistoric town|first=Nick|last=Squires|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/bulgaria/9646541/Bulgaria-archaeologists-find-Europes-most-prehistoric-town-Provadia-Solnitsata.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/bulgaria/9646541/Bulgaria-archaeologists-find-Europes-most-prehistoric-town-Provadia-Solnitsata.html|archive-date=12 January 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=31 October 2012|access-date=1 November 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name=Maugh>{{cite news|title=Bulgarians find oldest European town, a salt production center|first=Thomas H. II|last=Maugh|url=https://www.latimes.com/science/la-xpm-2012-nov-01-la-sci-sn-oldest-european-town-20121101-story.html|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=1 November 2012|access-date=1 November 2012|archive-date=4 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504234136/https://www.latimes.com/science/la-xpm-2012-nov-01-la-sci-sn-oldest-european-town-20121101-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

<gallery widths="160" heights="120">
File:Expansion of farming in western Eurasia, 9600–4000 BCE.png|Neolithic expansion in Europe, 7000-4000 BC
European-late-neolithic-english.svg|Late Neolithic Europe, c. 5000-3500 BC
</gallery>