Pre-Pottery Neolithic A
Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) denotes the first stage of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, in early Levantine and Anatolian Neolithic culture, dating to c. 12,000 – c. 10,800 years ago, that is, 10,000–8800 BCE. Archaeological remains are located in the Levantine and Upper Mesopotamian region of the Fertile Crescent.
| The ruins of Göbekli Tepe, c. 9,000 BCE | |
| Geographical range | Near East |
|---|---|
| Period | Pre-Pottery Neolithic |
| Dates | c. 10,000 – c. 8,800 BCE |
| Type site | Jericho |
| Preceded by | Khiamian |
| Followed by | Pre-Pottery Neolithic B, Neolithic Greece, Faiyum A culture |
The time period is characterized by tiny circular mud-brick dwellings, the cultivation of crops, the hunting of wild game, and unique burial customs in which bodies were buried below the floors of dwellings.
The Pre-Pottery Neolithic A and the following Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) were originally defined by Kathleen Kenyon in the type site of Jericho, State of Palestine. During this time, pottery was not yet in use. They precede the ceramic Neolithic Yarmukian culture. PPNA succeeds the Natufian culture of the Epipalaeolithic Near East.