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95-766: The Ehrenbürg is located in the foothills of Franconian Switzerland , which is the northern part of the Franconian Jura, which in turn forms part of the South German Scarplands . It lies within the Franconian Switzerland and Veldenstein Forest Nature Park , approximately 2 km south-southeast of Kirchehrenbach, 1.4 km northwest of Leutenbach and 1.6 km east-northeast of Wiesenthau. Dietzhof, part of Leutenbach, and Schlaifhausen, part of Wiesenthau, lie south of

190-581: A Circum Arabian Nomadic Pastoral Complex developed in the period from the climatic crisis of 6200 BC, partly as a result of an increasing emphasis in PPNB cultures upon domesticated animals, and a fusion with Harifian hunter gatherers in the Southern Levant, with affiliate connections with the cultures of Fayyum and the Eastern Desert of Egypt . Cultures practicing this lifestyle spread down

285-536: A culture contemporaneous with the Cishan and Xinglongwa cultures of about 6000–5000 BC, Neolithic cultures east of the Taihang Mountains , filling in an archaeological gap between the two Northern Chinese cultures. The total excavated area is more than 1,200 square yards (1,000 m ; 0.10 ha), and the collection of Neolithic findings at the site encompasses two phases. Between 3000 and 1900 BC,

380-515: A division into five periods. They also advanced the idea of a transitional stage between the PPNA and PPNB between 8800 and 8600 BC at sites like Jerf el Ahmar and Tell Aswad . Alluvial plains ( Sumer / Elam ). Low rainfall makes irrigation systems necessary. Ubaid culture originated from 6200 BC. The earliest evidence of Neolithic culture in northeast Africa was found in the archaeological sites of Bir Kiseiba and Nabta Playa in what

475-412: A dramatic increase in social inequality in most of the areas where it occurred; New Guinea being a notable exception. Possession of livestock allowed competition between households and resulted in inherited inequalities of wealth. Neolithic pastoralists who controlled large herds gradually acquired more livestock, and this made economic inequalities more pronounced. However, evidence of social inequality

570-551: A living tradition in small and extremely remote and inaccessible pockets of West Papua . Polished stone adze and axes are used in the present day (as of 2008 ) in areas where the availability of metal implements is limited. This is likely to cease altogether in the next few years as the older generation die off and steel blades and chainsaws prevail. In 2012, news was released about a new farming site discovered in Munam-ri , Goseong , Gangwon Province , South Korea , which may be

665-609: A new bronze statue in front of it, by Ernst Steinacker, was dedicated. The Walberla-Fest in honour of St. Walburga is the oldest spring festival in Germany; pilgrimages associated with the Walberla-Kärwa are attested as early as the 9th century. It supposedly derives from an ancient heathen festival. It grew from a pilgrimage into a widely attended fair. In 1801, geographer J. B. Koppelt described it as "a famous market ... attended by merchants from Saxony , Bayreuth ,

760-608: A non-hierarchical system of organization existed is debatable, and there is no evidence that explicitly suggests that Neolithic societies functioned under any dominating class or individual, as was the case in the chiefdoms of the European Early Bronze Age . Possible exceptions to this include Iraq during the Ubaid period and England beginning in the Early Neolithic (4100–3000 BC). Theories to explain

855-637: A rarely used and not very useful concept in discussing Australian prehistory . During most of the Neolithic age of Eurasia , people lived in small tribes composed of multiple bands or lineages. There is little scientific evidence of developed social stratification in most Neolithic societies; social stratification is more associated with the later Bronze Age . Although some late Eurasian Neolithic societies formed complex stratified chiefdoms or even states , generally states evolved in Eurasia only with

950-740: A result. There in the still waters dark clays and marls were deposited. The Ehrenbürgfelsen is designated a geotope by the Bavarian Department of the Environment. The Steinerne Frau ("Stone Woman") on the Walberla is a prominent rock formation on the western hillside of the Walberla. Weathering has resulted in erosion, especially of the vertical joints in the dolomite strata . Over time these crevices have become so extensively eroded that individual rock towers have been created. This rock tower has not been fully separated from

1045-464: A shallow sea lay across southern Germany. During this period, thick rock sequences were deposited on the seabed as the Earth's crust continued to sink. The limestone and dolomite rocks that formed during this time period, along with the deeply incised river valleys and dry, arid plateaus, characterize this karst landscape. Many fossils, most typically ammonites , may be found in the limestone strata. In

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1140-520: A significant portion of their ancestry from the Anatolian hunter-gatherers (AHG), suggesting that agriculture was adopted in site by these hunter-gatherers and not spread by demic diffusion into the region. The Neolithic 1 (PPNA) period began around 10,000 BC in the Levant . A temple area in southeastern Turkey at Göbekli Tepe , dated to around 9500 BC, may be regarded as the beginning of

1235-473: A statue of the Virgin Mary with a water-filled crown in which a fish swam, and according to legend if the fish slapped its tail against the side of the crown, there would be a flood; also according to legend, an underground lake beneath the hill contains a fish so large that it must swallow its own tail, and if it released it, all the nearby settlements would be inundated by the resulting overflow. The hill

1330-758: A term coined in the 1920s by the Australian archaeologist Vere Gordon Childe . One potential benefit of the development and increasing sophistication of farming technology was the possibility of producing surplus crop yields, in other words, food supplies in excess of the immediate needs of the community. Surpluses could be stored for later use, or possibly traded for other necessities or luxuries. Agricultural life afforded securities that nomadic life could not, and sedentary farming populations grew faster than nomadic. However, early farmers were also adversely affected in times of famine , such as may be caused by drought or pests . In instances where agriculture had become

1425-446: A wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts of the world. This "Neolithic package" included the introduction of farming , domestication of animals , and change from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to one of settlement . The term 'Neolithic' was coined by Sir John Lubbock in 1865 as a refinement of the three-age system . The Neolithic began about 12,000 years ago, when farming appeared in

1520-550: Is a large body of evidence for fortified settlements at Linearbandkeramik sites along the Rhine , as at least some villages were fortified for some time with a palisade and an outer ditch. Settlements with palisades and weapon-traumatized bones, such as those found at the Talheim Death Pit , have been discovered and demonstrate that "...systematic violence between groups" and warfare was probably much more common during

1615-666: Is a museum railway in Ebermannstadt that operates steam and diesel specials on Sundays and on public holidays. Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Greek νέος néos 'new' and λίθος líthos 'stone') is an archaeological period , the final division of the Stone Age in Europe , Asia , Mesopotamia and Africa (c. 10,000 BC to c. 2,000 BC). It saw the Neolithic Revolution ,

1710-410: Is also the subject of numerous legends about witches and hidden treasure, and the tale of a fabulous town which once stood at the foot of the hill, an accursed castle which stood where the chapel is now, and an evil woman who was turned to stone and became a rocky outcropping, the "steinerne Jungfrau" (stone virgin). The hill was a settlement site from the early Neolithic (approximately 4000 BCE) until

1805-673: Is an outlier that is separated by the Ehrenbach stream from the high plateau of the Franconian Jura. The roughly 1,500-metre-long and 300-metre-wide hill rises up to 250 metres above the plain of the Lower Wiesent Valley . It may be roughly divided into three areas: in the south is the Rodenstein with its summit (532 m) and the Schlaifhausener Kopf (512 m), in the centre is a broad saddle and in

1900-563: Is better explained by lineal fission and polygyny. The shelter of early people changed dramatically from the Upper Paleolithic to the Neolithic era. In the Paleolithic, people did not normally live in permanent constructions. In the Neolithic, mud brick houses started appearing that were coated with plaster. The growth of agriculture made permanent houses far more common. At Çatalhöyük 9,000 years ago, doorways were made on

1995-540: Is located in the west of the twin natural protected areas of Ehrenbürg and Katzenköpfe, designated under the Habitats Directive of the European Union , and which are coterminous with the local extent of the bird protection area ( Important Bird Area ) Felsen- und Hangwälder in der Fränkischen Schweiz (cliffs and forested slopes of Little Switzerland). In addition, it is part of the western section of

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2090-540: Is now southwest Egypt. Domestication of sheep and goats reached Egypt from the Near East possibly as early as 6000 BC. Graeme Barker states "The first indisputable evidence for domestic plants and animals in the Nile valley is not until the early fifth millennium BC in northern Egypt and a thousand years later further south, in both cases as part of strategies that still relied heavily on fishing, hunting, and

2185-1024: Is still disputed, as settlements such as Çatalhöyük reveal a lack of difference in the size of homes and burial sites, suggesting a more egalitarian society with no evidence of the concept of capital, although some homes do appear slightly larger or more elaborately decorated than others. Families and households were still largely independent economically, and the household was probably the center of life. However, excavations in Central Europe have revealed that early Neolithic Linear Ceramic cultures (" Linearbandkeramik ") were building large arrangements of circular ditches between 4800 and 4600 BC. These structures (and their later counterparts such as causewayed enclosures , burial mounds , and henge ) required considerable time and labour to construct, which suggests that some influential individuals were able to organise and direct human labour – though non-hierarchical and voluntary work remain possibilities. There

2280-710: Is taken to overlap with the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) of 10,200–8800 BC. As the Natufians had become dependent on wild cereals in their diet, and a sedentary way of life had begun among them, the climatic changes associated with the Younger Dryas (about 10,000 BC) are thought to have forced people to develop farming. The founder crops of the Fertile Crescent were wheat , lentil , pea , chickpeas , bitter vetch, and flax. Among

2375-675: Is the most famous. The region is an example of karst topography . Accessible caves: Franconian Switzerland is located along the so-called Castle Road ( Burgenstraße ), which connects more than 70 castles, palaces, and fortresses between Mannheim and Prague . Most of these castles were constructed in the Middle Ages. The following castles and castle ruins can be visited: The Osterbrunnen tradition has its origins in Franconian Switzerland. Around Easter , fountains and public wells are elaborately decorated. During

2470-554: The Bronze Age began about 3500 BC, replacing the Neolithic cultures. Around 10,000 BC the first fully developed Neolithic cultures belonging to the phase Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) appeared in the Fertile Crescent. Around 10,700–9400 BC a settlement was established in Tell Qaramel , 10 miles (16 km) north of Aleppo . The settlement included two temples dating to 9650 BC. Around 9000 BC during

2565-634: The Epipalaeolithic Near East and Mesopotamia , and later in other parts of the world. It lasted in the Near East until the transitional period of the Chalcolithic (Copper Age) from about 6,500 years ago (4500 BC), marked by the development of metallurgy , leading up to the Bronze Age and Iron Age . In other places, the Neolithic followed the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) and then lasted until later. In Ancient Egypt ,

2660-474: The Guinness World Record for the largest Osterbrunnen. Franconian Switzerland is one of the oldest tourist regions in Germany. The region's numerous caves began attracting visitors at the beginning of the 19th century. The region offers locals and visitors alike a variety of outdoors activities. Along with its countless hiking paths, the area is known for rock climbing and canoeing. Home to

2755-631: The Jordan Valley ; Israel (notably Ain Mallaha , Nahal Oren , and Kfar HaHoresh ); and in Byblos , Lebanon . The start of Neolithic 1 overlaps the Tahunian and Heavy Neolithic periods to some degree. The major advance of Neolithic 1 was true farming. In the proto-Neolithic Natufian cultures, wild cereals were harvested, and perhaps early seed selection and re-seeding occurred. The grain

2850-559: The Longshan culture existed in the middle and lower Yellow River valley areas of northern China. Towards the end of the 3rd millennium BC, the population decreased sharply in most of the region and many of the larger centres were abandoned, possibly due to environmental change linked to the end of the Holocene Climatic Optimum . The 'Neolithic' (defined in this paragraph as using polished stone implements) remains

2945-463: The Middle East , cultures identified as Neolithic began appearing in the 10th millennium BC. Early development occurred in the Levant (e.g. Pre-Pottery Neolithic A and Pre-Pottery Neolithic B ) and from there spread eastwards and westwards. Neolithic cultures are also attested in southeastern Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia by around 8000 BC. Anatolian Neolithic farmers derived

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3040-821: The Palatinate and Nuremberg and where every imaginable class of merchandise is offered, especially shoes." It became particularly popular with students from the University of Erlangen ; a student's account of attending the fair in 1798 is preserved. The poet Joseph Victor von Scheffel writes in his 1863 poem Exodus Cantorum – Bambergischer Domchorknaben Sängerfahrt : Ob Vorchheim bei Kirchehrenbach Woll'n wir zu Berge steigen. Dort schwingt sich am Walburgistag Der Franken Maimarktreigen. Der ist seit grauer Heidenzeit Noch allem Landvolk theuer, Schatzkind, halt Gürtel fest und Kleid, Wir springen durch die Feuer! Above Forchheim at Kirchehrenbach Let's go up on

3135-647: The Protected area Little Switzerland and Veldenstein Forest, which was founded in 2001 and comprises 1,021.64 km. The dry grassland habitat and rare plants, particularly orchids, caused the hill, in particular its higher parts, to be designated in 1987 as the Ehrenbürg Nature Protection Area, which is 1.55 km in area, extending a maximum of approximately 2.3 km from north to south and 1 km from east to west. The Ehrenbürg

3230-655: The Red Sea shoreline and moved east from Syria into southern Iraq . The Late Neolithic began around 6,400 BC in the Fertile Crescent . By then distinctive cultures emerged, with pottery like the Halafian (Turkey, Syria, Northern Mesopotamia) and Ubaid (Southern Mesopotamia). This period has been further divided into PNA (Pottery Neolithic A) and PNB (Pottery Neolithic B) at some sites. The Chalcolithic (Stone-Bronze) period began about 4500 BC, then

3325-539: The 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. Through archaeology, historical linguistics and archaeogenetics, they conventionally have been identified with

3420-822: The River Pegnitz in the east and the south, the River Regnitz in the west and the River Main in the north, its relief, which reaches 600 metres in height, forms the northern part of the Franconian Jura ( Frankenjura ). Like several other mountainous landscapes in the German-speaking lands, e.g. Holstein Switzerland , Märkische Schweiz , or Pommersche Schweiz , Franconian Switzerland was given its name by Romantic artists and poets in

3515-409: The 19th century who compared the landscape to Switzerland . Franconian Switzerland is famous for its high density of traditional breweries. The region was once called Muggendorfer Gebürg ( Muggendorf hills ). The first tourists arrived during the age of Romanticism . Two law students of Erlangen University , Ludwig Tieck and Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder have been credited as "discoverers" of

3610-730: The Balkans from 6000 BC, and in Central Europe by around 5800 BC ( La Hoguette ). Among the earliest cultural complexes of this area are the Sesklo culture in Thessaly, which later expanded in the Balkans giving rise to Starčevo-Körös (Cris), Linearbandkeramik , and Vinča . Through a combination of cultural diffusion and migration of peoples , the Neolithic traditions spread west and northwards to reach northwestern Europe by around 4500 BC. The Vinča culture may have created

3705-531: The Bronze Age, eventually giving rise to permanently settled farming towns , and later cities and states whose larger populations could be sustained by the increased productivity from cultivated lands. The profound differences in human interactions and subsistence methods associated with the onset of early agricultural practices in the Neolithic have been called the Neolithic Revolution ,

3800-540: The Celtic settlement, only on the Rodenstein. Archaeological finds indicate that during the Hallstatt and La Tène periods, the hill was the site of human sacrifices, possibly including cannibalism . Some human bones, such as a woman's skeleton which was unnaturally bent and buried under boulders, appear to be sacrifices for the luck of a building; some skulls have been cut up and had holes bored in them for use as amulets;

3895-716: The Franconian Switzerland Museum in Tüchersfeld with its comprehensive regional collections. It is housed in the so-called Jew's Court ( Judenhof ), below two steep rock pinnacles. The following 18 municipalities across 2 counties belong to the Franconian Switzerland Trade Association ( Wirtschaftsverband Fränkische Schweiz ): In the White Jurassic period, about 161 million to 150 million years ago,

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3990-496: The Maltese archipelago) and of Mnajdra (Malta) are notable for their gigantic Neolithic structures, the oldest of which date back to around 3600 BC. The Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni , Paola , Malta, is a subterranean structure excavated around 2500 BC; originally a sanctuary, it became a necropolis , the only prehistoric underground temple in the world, and shows a degree of artistry in stone sculpture unique in prehistory to

4085-443: The Maltese islands. After 2500 BC, these islands were depopulated for several decades until the arrival of a new influx of Bronze Age immigrants, a culture that cremated its dead and introduced smaller megalithic structures called dolmens to Malta. In most cases there are small chambers here, with the cover made of a large slab placed on upright stones. They are claimed to belong to a population different from that which built

4180-651: The Middle East. The neolithization of Northwestern Africa was initiated by Iberian , Levantine (and perhaps Sicilian ) migrants around 5500-5300 BC. During the Early Neolithic period, farming was introduced by Europeans and was subsequently adopted by the locals. During the Middle Neolithic period, an influx of ancestry from the Levant appeared in Northwestern Africa, coinciding with

4275-490: The Neolithic appeared everywhere in the same order: the earliest farming societies in the Near East did not use pottery. In other parts of the world, such as Africa , South Asia and Southeast Asia , independent domestication events led to their own regionally distinctive Neolithic cultures, which arose completely independently of those in Europe and Southwest Asia . Early Japanese societies and other East Asian cultures used pottery before developing agriculture. In

4370-708: The Neolithic lasted until the Protodynastic period , c. 3150 BC. In China , it lasted until circa 2000 BC with the rise of the pre-Shang Erlitou culture , as it did in Scandinavia . Following the ASPRO chronology , the Neolithic started in around 10,200 BC in the Levant , arising from the Natufian culture , when pioneering use of wild cereals evolved into early farming . The Natufian period or "proto-Neolithic" lasted from 12,500 to 9,500 BC, and

4465-475: The Neolithic than in the preceding Paleolithic period. This supplanted an earlier view of the Linear Pottery Culture as living a "peaceful, unfortified lifestyle". Control of labour and inter-group conflict is characteristic of tribal groups with social rank that are headed by a charismatic individual – either a ' big man ' or a proto- chief – functioning as a lineage-group head. Whether

4560-626: The PPNA, one of the world's first towns, Jericho , appeared in the Levant. It was surrounded by a stone wall, may have contained a population of up to 2,000–3,000 people, and contained a massive stone tower. Around 6400 BC the Halaf culture appeared in Syria and Northern Mesopotamia. In 1981, a team of researchers from the Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée , including Jacques Cauvin and Oliver Aurenche, divided Near East Neolithic chronology into ten periods (0 to 9) based on social, economic and cultural characteristics. In 2002, Danielle Stordeur and Frédéric Abbès advanced this system with

4655-423: The Rodenstein, only established routes may be climbed. There are 44 of these, up to UIAA grade VIII+. Major climbing routes are the Schlaifhausen Face, the Frankenschnellweg (Franconian Shortcut) and the Edelweiß Face. Franconian Switzerland Franconian Switzerland ( German : Fränkische Schweiz ) is an upland in Upper Franconia , Bavaria , Germany and a popular tourist retreat. Located between

4750-455: The annual Franconian Switzerland Marathon, beginning in Forchheim , slowly climbing to Sachsenmühle-Wende, and then descending to Ebermannstadt , the area includes 375 km of some of the best trails for running, Nordic walking , and rambling in Germany, which are maintained by the European community-funded Running Experience Project, founded in July 2011. The Franconian Switzerland Steam Railway ( Dampfbahn Fränkische Schweiz ) or DFS,

4845-414: The apparent implied egalitarianism of Neolithic (and Paleolithic) societies have arisen, notably the Marxist concept of primitive communism . Genetic evidence indicates that a drop in Y-chromosomal diversity occurred during the Neolithic. Initially believed to be a result of high incidence of violence and high rates of male mortality, more recent analysis suggests that the reduced Y-chromosomal diversity

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4940-558: The area". The research team will perform accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating to retrieve a more precise date for the site. In Mesoamerica , a similar set of events (i.e., crop domestication and sedentary lifestyles) occurred by around 4500 BC in South America, but possibly as early as 11,000–10,000 BC. These cultures are usually not referred to as belonging to the Neolithic; in North America, different terms are used such as Formative stage instead of mid-late Neolithic, Archaic Era instead of Early Neolithic, and Paleo-Indian for

5035-499: The area's first 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. In southeast Europe agrarian societies first appeared in the 7th millennium BC , attested by one of the earliest farming sites of Europe, discovered in Vashtëmi , southeastern Albania and dating back to 6500 BC. In most of Western Europe in followed over

5130-431: The armless and legless skeleton of a baby, and discarded fragments of human bones with cut marks, both suggest cannibalism. Nine skeletons of newborn babies were also found to have been buried against the eastern foundation of the chapel in the 17th or the 18th century. The first archaeological investigations of the Ehrenbürg were conducted beginning in 1903 by Hans Räbel (1872–1941), a teacher in Forchheim who founded

5225-436: The arrival of pastoralism in the region. The earliest evidence for pottery, domestic cereals and animal husbandry is found in Morocco, specifically at Kaf el-Ghar . 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 farming societies,

5320-423: The bow and arrow and ceramic pottery were also introduced. In later periods cities of considerable size developed, and some metallurgy by 700 BC. Australia, in contrast to New Guinea , has generally been held not to have had a Neolithic period, with a hunter-gatherer lifestyle continuing until the arrival of Europeans. This view can be challenged in terms of the definition of agriculture, but "Neolithic" remains

5415-399: The dead, which were plastered with mud to make facial features. The rest of the corpse could have been left outside the settlement to decay until only the bones were left, then the bones were buried inside the settlement underneath the floor or between houses. Work at the site of 'Ain Ghazal in Jordan has indicated a later Pre-Pottery Neolithic C period. Juris Zarins has proposed that

5510-542: The earliest farmland known to date in east Asia. "No remains of an agricultural field from the Neolithic period have been found in any East Asian country before, the institute said, adding that the discovery reveals that the history of agricultural cultivation at least began during the period on the Korean Peninsula ". The farm was dated between 3600 and 3000 BC. Pottery, stone projectile points, and possible houses were also found. "In 2002, researchers discovered prehistoric earthenware , jade earrings, among other items in

5605-408: The earliest system of writing, the Vinča signs , though archaeologist Shan Winn believes they most likely represented pictograms and ideograms rather than a truly developed form of writing. The Cucuteni-Trypillian culture built enormous settlements in Romania, Moldova and Ukraine from 5300 to 2300 BC. The megalithic temple complexes of Ġgantija on the Mediterranean island of Gozo (in

5700-440: The early modern period, this tradition became more obscure. However, it was renewed in the 1980s, and in 1986, 169 villages resumed the Osterbrunnen tradition. Today, more than 200 villages decorate their village wells and fountains with colourful Easter eggs . This custom likely emerged as celebration of water, a precious resource in the arid high plateau of Franconian Switzerland. The Bieberbach Osterbrunnen ( Egloffstein ) hold

5795-446: The enclosures also suggest grain and meat storage. The Neolithic 2 (PPNB) began around 8800 BC according to the ASPRO chronology in the Levant ( Jericho , West Bank). As with the PPNA dates, there are two versions from the same laboratories noted above. This system of terminology, however, is not convenient for southeast Anatolia and settlements of the middle Anatolia basin. A settlement of 3,000 inhabitants called 'Ain Ghazal

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5890-444: The end of the Roman period in the 5th century CE. In the late 14th century BCE, it became a hill fort ; in the early Iron Age (approximately 550–380 BCE), under the Celtic Hallstatt and early La Tène cultures , it was a strongly fortified regional centre, with two gates and a citadel, and finds originating from Mediterranean cultures indicate far-flung trade. Remnants of these fortifications are still discernible. However, in

5985-520: The first cultivated crop and mark the invention of the technology of farming. This occurred centuries before the first cultivation of grains. Settlements became more permanent, with circular houses, much like those of the Natufians, with single rooms. However, these houses were for the first time made of mudbrick . The settlement had a surrounding stone wall and perhaps a stone tower (as in Jericho). The wall served as protection from nearby groups, as protection from floods, or to keep animals penned. Some of

6080-437: The first form of African food production was mobile pastoralism , or ways of life centered on the herding and management of livestock. The term "Pastoral Neolithic" is used most often by archaeologists to describe early pastoralist periods in the Sahara , as well as in eastern Africa . The Savanna Pastoral Neolithic or SPN (formerly known as the Stone Bowl Culture ) is a collection of ancient societies that appeared in

6175-403: The gathering of wild plants" and suggests that these subsistence changes were not due to farmers migrating from the Near East but was an indigenous development, with cereals either indigenous or obtained through exchange. Other scholars argue that the primary stimulus for agriculture and domesticated animals (as well as mud-brick architecture and other Neolithic cultural features) in Egypt was from

6270-403: The hill; Reuth, an eastern part of the town of Forchheim , lies west of it. The hill is approximately 1.5 km long and 300 or 350 m wide at its widest. Its two peaks are 750 m apart, with a broad "saddle" between them. The Ehrenbach flows past the hill to the east; in Kirchehrenbach it joins the Wiesent-Mühlbach, a tributary of the Wiesent , which flows to the west. The Ehrenbürg

6365-426: The hilltop There on St. Walburga's Day The Franconian May-market dance is in full swing Since dim days of heathendom It has been dear to all people of the land Darling, hold your belt and your dress tight We're jumping through the fire! Until 1910, the fair took place on the saint's day, 1 May; since then it has been held on the first Sunday in May. Climbing the Walberla has been forbidden since 1991. On

6460-444: The hilltop on 30 April, the birthday of Saint Walburga , which attracts thousands of people. Other popular peaks: The rocks of Franconian Switzerland's mountains and hills are popular for rock climbing . With more than 6,500 routes, it is one of the best developed climbing areas in the world. Important climbing areas: There are countless caves in Franconian Switzerland, of which the Devil's Cave (Teufelshöhle) near Pottenstein

6555-400: The late Jurassic period, the sea receded with the shifting of European continental plate , allowing larger areas of land to emerge and form at the beginning of the Cretaceous period. During this time, the region had a tropical climate, and limestone and dolomite rocks underwent intense weathering. During the Cretaceous, a sea once again covered much of the region. In the Tertiary period,

6650-403: The late Iron Age, during the late La Tène period (approximately 150–30 BCE) the hill was only lightly settled; instead, a large unfortified town grew up nearby at Altendorf . The defensive role of the Ehrenbürg appears to have been taken over by the Staffelberg . After an interruption, there was then possible occupation by Germanic people during the late Roman period, around 400 CE; unlike

6745-401: The local historical society and was responsible for the foundation of the local museum. He succeeded in both saving Forchheim Castle and preventing development of the hill. Between 1989 and 1995, Björn-Uwe Abels of the Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege (Bavarian State Department of Preservation) conducted extensive excavations. In 2005, a tranche was then taken through the wall to reveal

6840-551: The next 1,500 years. Populations began to rise after 3500 BC, with further dips and rises occurring between 3000 and 2500 BC but varying in date between regions. Around this time is the Neolithic decline , when populations collapsed across most of Europe, possibly caused by climatic conditions, plague, or mass migration. Settled life, encompassing the transition from foraging to farming and pastoralism, began in South Asia in

6935-440: The next two thousand years, but in some parts of Northwest Europe it is much later, lasting just under 3,000 years from c. 4500 BC–1700 BC. Recent advances in archaeogenetics have confirmed that the spread of agriculture from the Middle East to Europe was strongly correlated with the migration of early farmers from Anatolia about 9,000 years ago, and was not just a cultural exchange. Anthropomorphic figurines have been found in

7030-643: The north is the Walberla, including the Denkmalfels (514 m) and the Geierswandkopf (523 m). At the start of the Jurassic , about 200 million years ago, a sea covered almost all of south Germany. During the Lower Jurassic ( Lias ) the region was initially still on the edge of the sea. Rivers transported sand from the mainlandinto the sea basin and the coast moved further southeast as

7125-491: The north peak; the first recorded mention of such a chapel is dated 1360. The name Ehrenbürg appears to be earlier and has been variously interpreted. One interpretation derives it from Latin arca (protection) and German Burg (fortification), to mean "protective area" or "fort which is a safe retreat", another from Celtic * Ariacon or * Arika ; and another from the Ehrenbach and the devices used to catch fish there. There are two local stories about fish. The chapel used to have

7220-502: The other major crop domesticated were rice, millet, maize (corn), and potatoes. Crops were usually domesticated in a single location and ancestral wild species are still found. [1] Early Neolithic farming was limited to a narrow range of plants, both wild and domesticated, which included einkorn wheat , millet and spelt , and the keeping of dogs . By about 8000 BC, it included domesticated sheep and goats , cattle and pigs . Not all of these cultural elements characteristic of

7315-700: The period. This site was developed by nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes, as evidenced by the lack of permanent housing in the vicinity, and may be the oldest known human-made place of worship. At least seven stone circles, covering 25 acres (10 ha), contain limestone pillars carved with animals, insects, and birds. Stone tools were used by perhaps as many as hundreds of people to create the pillars, which might have supported roofs. Other early PPNA sites dating to around 9500–9000 BC have been found in Palestine , notably in Tell es-Sultan (ancient Jericho ) and Gilgal in

7410-733: The phases of development. Finds from the site, and from the Staffelberg, are now on display at the Archäologiemuseum Oberfranken (Archaeology Museum of Upper Franconia), a branch of the Bavarian State Archaeological Collection housed in Forchheim Castle. An early 16th-century wooden statue of St. Walburga by Hans Nußbaum used to stand in the chapel, flanked by statues of her brothers, but was stolen; on 1 May 2000,

7505-536: The preceding period. The Formative stage is equivalent to the Neolithic Revolution period in Europe, Asia, and Africa. In the southwestern United States it occurred from 500 to 1200 AD when there was a dramatic increase in population and development of large villages supported by agriculture based on dryland farming of corn (maize), and later, beans, squash, and domesticated turkeys. During this period

7600-454: The predominant way of life, the sensitivity to these shortages could be particularly acute, affecting agrarian populations to an extent that otherwise may not have been routinely experienced by prior hunter-gatherer communities. Nevertheless, agrarian communities generally proved successful, and their growth and the expansion of territory under cultivation continued. Another significant change undergone by many of these newly agrarian communities

7695-417: The previous megalithic temples. It is presumed the population arrived from Sicily because of the similarity of Maltese dolmens to some small constructions found there. With some exceptions, population levels rose rapidly at the beginning of the Neolithic until they reached the carrying capacity . This was followed by a population crash of "enormous magnitude" after 5000 BC, with levels remaining low during

7790-496: The previous reliance on an essentially nomadic hunter-gatherer subsistence technique or pastoral transhumance was at first supplemented, and then increasingly replaced by, a reliance upon the foods produced from cultivated lands. These developments are also believed to have greatly encouraged the growth of settlements, since it may be supposed that the increased need to spend more time and labor in tending crop fields required more localized dwellings. This trend would continue into

7885-422: The region of Balochistan , Pakistan, around 7,000 BC. At the site of Mehrgarh , Balochistan, presence can be documented of the domestication of wheat and barley, rapidly followed by that of goats, sheep, and cattle. In April 2006, it was announced in the scientific journal Nature that the oldest (and first Early Neolithic ) evidence for the drilling of teeth in vivo (using bow drills and flint tips)

7980-497: The region. The "Eine Reise in die Fränkische Schweiz" issue of their joint production Franz Sternbalds Wanderungen (Berlin, 1798) enthralled many contemporaries. The 1820 book Die kleine Schweiz ( Little Switzerland ), written by Jakob Reiselsberger of Waischenfeld , gave the region its name. In 1829, a book by German salesman and local historian Joseph Heller, Muggendorf und seine Umgebung oder die Fränkische Schweiz ( Muggendorf and its surroundings or Franconian Switzerland ),

8075-692: The rise of metallurgy, and most Neolithic societies on the whole were relatively simple and egalitarian. Beyond Eurasia, however, states were formed during the local Neolithic in three areas, namely in the Preceramic Andes with the Caral-Supe Civilization , Formative Mesoamerica and Ancient Hawaiʻi . However, most Neolithic societies were noticeably more hierarchical than the Upper Paleolithic cultures that preceded them and hunter-gatherer cultures in general. The domestication of large animals (c. 8000 BC) resulted in

8170-647: The rock face in its lower section. The Steinerne Frau has been designated as a geotope , which was incorporated in September 2005 into the list of the most beautiful geotopes in Bavaria. About 100 metres south of the Steinerne Frau is the rock tower known as the Wiesenthauer Nadel ("Wiesenthau Needle"). This rock has been completed separated from its parent rock and is already tilting towards

8265-771: The roof, with ladders positioned both on the inside and outside of the houses. Stilt-house settlements were common in the Alpine and Pianura Padana ( Terramare ) region. Remains have been found in the Ljubljana Marsh in Slovenia and at the Mondsee and Attersee lakes in Upper Austria , for example. A significant and far-reaching shift in human subsistence and lifestyle was to be brought about in areas where crop farming and cultivation were first developed:

8360-514: The sea receded a second time, partially exposing the Jurassic landscape. The most prominent peak in this region is the Ehrenbürg , commonly known as Walberla, a table hill east of Forchheim . It consists of two peaks, the Rodenstein (532 m) and the Walberla (512 m). On the hilltop is its namesake, the small Walburgis Chapel, first mentioned in a 1360 manuscript. There is an annual festival on

8455-576: The valley. On the eastern edge of the Walberla are the Zwillingsfelsen ("Twin Rocks"). This rock pinnacle is also entirely independent of the neighbouring rock face and will probably collapse. It is designated as a geotope. The name Walberla is first recorded in an 18th-century document referring to students from Erlangen going up the mountain and is presumably derived from St Walburga . A 16th–17th-century chapel dedicated to her stands on

8550-702: The west and Pegnitz to the east, or by the A 70 motorway to the north, the A 9 to the east and the A 73 to the west. However, the actual region of Franconian Switzerland is only the catchment area of the River Wiesent . The region covers parts of the counties of Bamberg, Bayreuth and Forchheim. Its best known settlements include Pottenstein , Gößweinstein , Muggendorf , Ebermannstadt , Streitberg, Egloffstein , and Waischenfeld . Its boundaries are Obermainland (north), Erlangen (south), Bayreuth (east), Forchheim (west), and Bamberg (northwest). Information about Franconian Switzerland may be found in

8645-869: Was found in Mehrgarh. In South India, the Neolithic began by 6500 BC and lasted until around 1400 BC when the Megalithic transition period began. South Indian Neolithic is characterized by Ash mounds from 2500 BC in Karnataka region, expanded later to Tamil Nadu . In East Asia, the earliest sites include the Nanzhuangtou culture around 9500–9000 BC, Pengtoushan culture around 7500–6100 BC, and Peiligang culture around 7000–5000 BC. The prehistoric Beifudi site near Yixian in Hebei Province, China, contains relics of

8740-409: Was found in the outskirts of Amman , Jordan . Considered to be one of the largest prehistoric settlements in the Near East , it was continuously inhabited from approximately 7250 BC to approximately 5000 BC. Settlements have rectangular mud-brick houses where the family lived together in single or multiple rooms. Burial findings suggest an ancestor cult where people preserved skulls of

8835-455: Was ground into flour. Emmer wheat was domesticated, and animals were herded and domesticated ( animal husbandry and selective breeding ). In 2006, remains of figs were discovered in a house in Jericho dated to 9400 BC. The figs are of a mutant variety that cannot be pollinated by insects, and therefore the trees can only reproduce from cuttings. This evidence suggests that figs were

8930-402: Was one of diet . Pre-agrarian diets varied by region, season, available local plant and animal resources and degree of pastoralism and hunting. Post-agrarian diet was restricted to a limited package of successfully cultivated cereal grains, plants and to a variable extent domesticated animals and animal products. Supplementation of diet by hunting and gathering was to variable degrees precluded by

9025-469: Was published. The description Switzerland was common during the 19th century for landscapes with mountains, valleys and, most significantly, rocks, e.g., Saxon Switzerland , Marcher Switzerland , Mecklenburg Switzerland and Holstein Switzerland . Franconian Switzerland is the northern part of the Franconian Jura . It is often loosely defined as the region bounded by the Main to the north, Regnitz to

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