---
title: "Aceramic Neolithic Pottery Evidence"
year: 9500
country: "Turkey"
canonical: "https://recap.at/9500/aceramic-neolithic-pottery"
slug: "aceramic-neolithic-pottery"
recapType: "global_event"
startDate: "9500-01-01"
---

# Aceramic Neolithic Pottery Evidence

> Early ceramic containers mark a technological revolution in food storage and transport capacity, fundamentally altering settlement stability and trade patterns.

Around 9500 BCE in Anatolia, people began making fired clay vessels—the earliest known pottery in the world. This marked a decisive shift in how humans stored food and water, even though communities hadn't yet developed agriculture. The discovery upends the old assumption that pottery always followed farming.

## Summary

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.

## Key facts

- **Approximate Date**: 9500 BCE (11,500 years ago)
- **Primary Region**: Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) and Upper Mesopotamia
- **Archaeological Context**: Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) phase, 12,000–10,800 years ago
- **Broader Geographic Range**: Levantine and Fertile Crescent regions
- **Relationship to Agriculture**: Pottery production preceded organized farming by several centuries
- **Cultural Stage**: Hunter-gatherer societies with permanent or semi-permanent settlements

## Timeline

- **12000-01-01** - Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) Begins
  The Pre-Pottery Neolithic A phase opens across the Levantine and Anatolian regions, marking the earliest sedentary communities in the Fertile Crescent.
- **9500-01-01** - First Fired Clay Pottery in Anatolia
  Evidence of deliberately fired ceramic vessels appears in Anatolia, representing the earliest known pottery production in the world.
- **9000-01-01** - Spread of Early Pottery Techniques
  Pottery-making knowledge continues to develop and spread across Anatolian and Upper Mesopotamian settlements.
- **8800-01-01** - PPNA Phase Concludes
  The Pre-Pottery Neolithic A period ends around 8800 BCE, transitioning into the following Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) phase.

## Impact

The emergence of fired pottery in Anatolia during the 10th millennium BCE established a technological foundation that would persist across civilizations for millennia. This wasn't agriculture driving the innovation—hunters and gatherers made and used these vessels, proving that ceramic technology arose independently of farming economies.

## Sources

- [Aceramic Neolithic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Pottery_Neolithic_A) - Wikipedia

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Canonical: https://recap.at/9500/aceramic-neolithic-pottery