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97-645: Steffisburg is first mentioned in 1133 as Stevensburc . The municipality was formerly known by its French name Steffisbourg . The area around Steffisburg has been inhabited since the Neolithic era and remained occupied during the Bronze Age . Traces of a Roman site were discovered in Schwäbis. Early medieval graves have been discovered at Zelgmatte and Klosterhubel. By the High Middle Ages

194-581: 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

291-536: 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,

388-515: 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

485-412: 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

582-551: 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

679-500: A measure of independence. They had their own laws, which were first codified in 1405 and remained in effect until 1834. In 1476 they raised their own company of soldiers who marched under their own banner but were under Thun's overall command. In 1553 they raised a company of riflemen who drilled in Steffisburg, separate from Thun's military. During the 1641 and 1653 peasant revolts the soldiers from Steffisburg rose up against

776-608: 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

873-518: A number of grain mills, saw mills, fulling mills and later gunpowder mills. In the 1700s pottery factories and several brick factories opened in the town. In 1809 a brewery opened, followed by a second in 1818. During the 19th century the Aare and Zulg river correction projects helped drain swampy land and protected the growing town from flooding. The town was located on the Bern-Thun road, which

970-637: 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

1067-758: 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

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1164-482: A total of 1,739 students attending any school in the municipality. Of those, 1,481 both lived and attended school in the municipality, while 258 students came from another municipality. During the same year, 309 residents attended schools outside the municipality. Steffisburg is home to the Gemeindebiblothek library. The library has (as of 2008) 10,373 books or other media, and loaned out 31,200 items in

1261-615: A total of 5,925 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 50.7%. The Gemeinderat is the executive branch of the municipality of Steffisburg. Between 2011-2014 the break down by party was: 3 from the SVP, 2 from the SP, 1 from the FDP and 1 from the EVP. The mayor (as of 2014) is Jürg Marti (SVP). The Grosse Gemeinderat is the legislative branch of the municipality. It is composed of 34 members and

1358-550: 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

1455-652: 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 , 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'

1552-563: 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

1649-504: Is elected by the voters every four years. The chart below shows the current distribution of seats of the community council (as of September 2014). From the 2000 census, 9,786 or 68.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church , while 1,778 or 12.4% were Roman Catholic . Of the rest of the population, there were 136 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.95% of the population), there were 18 individuals (or about 0.13% of

1746-688: Is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance . In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the Swiss People's Party (SVP) which received 28.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) (15.5%), the Social Democratic Party (SP) (15.2%) and the Evangelical People's Party (EVP) (8.1%). In the federal election,

1843-511: Is located in the lower Zulg river valley (Zulgtal) and along the right bank of the Aare river. It consists of the town of Steffisburg which is divided into the medieval old village and the Au, Schwäbis, Bernstrasse, Glockenthal, Hübeli, Flühli and Hardegg neighborhoods. On 31 December 2009 Amtsbezirk Thun, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined

1940-540: 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

2037-418: Is one of the lowest in the canton. In 2012 the average local and cantonal tax rate on a married resident, with two children, of Steffisburg making 150,000 CHF was 12%, while an unmarried resident's rate was 17.9%. For comparison, the average rate for the entire canton in 2011, was 14.2% and 22.0%, while the nationwide average was 12.3% and 21.1% respectively. In 2010 there were a total of 7,299 tax payers in

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2134-1024: 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

2231-770: The Burgdorferkrieg (also Kyburgerkrieg ) with the Old Swiss Confederacy . Bern used the war to expand north into the Aargau and south into the Oberland . As part of the peace treaty, Bern bought the city of Thun and all its surrounding lands including Steffisburg. By the 15th century ownership of the town passed from former Kyburg nobles to Bernese patricians . In 1480 the Bernese Schultheiss Heinrich Matter built

2328-670: 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 , 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

2425-563: 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

2522-631: 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

2619-642: 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 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,

2716-559: 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

2813-655: 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

2910-539: 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

3007-502: 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 a significant portion of their ancestry from the Anatolian hunter-gatherers (AHG), suggesting that agriculture

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3104-412: The 2004 survey, a total of 5.69 km (2.20 sq mi) or 42.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 3.92 km (1.51 sq mi) or 29.3% is forested. Of rest of the municipality 3.68 km (1.42 sq mi) or 27.5% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.16 km (0.062 sq mi) or 1.2% is either rivers or lakes. From the same survey, industrial buildings made up 2.9% of

3201-510: The 2012–13 school year, there were a total of 1,603 students attending classes in Steffisburg. There were a total of 236 students in the German language kindergarten classes in the municipality. Of the kindergarten students, 13.1% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 17.8% have a different mother language than the classroom language. The municipality's primary school had 882 students in German language classes. Of

3298-730: 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

3395-531: 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 ,

3492-653: The Grosse Höchhus near the Kleine Höchhus and on the ruins of Stevensburc castle. While the Höchhus was rebuilt several times over the centuries it remained essentially unchanged. Under Bernese rule, the town remained the center of a court. The court house was built in 1543 and in 1549 it became a tavern in addition to being the courthouse. While it was part of the District of Thun, Steffisburg retained

3589-496: 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

3686-443: 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

3783-651: 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

3880-475: 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

3977-781: 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

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4074-612: The Swiss Federal Government built the Regie in Schwäbis to house horses for cavalry for the Swiss Army . It was converted into a warehouse for military vehicles in 1982 and in 2008 became a museum that housed historic army equipment. Steffisburg has ten kindergartens, eight primary schools and two secondary schools in a single school district. Steffisburg has an area of 14.81 km (5.72 sq mi). As of

4171-531: 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

4268-684: 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

4365-554: 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

4462-608: 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,

4559-423: 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

4656-498: The census, 75.7% were Swiss men, 18.9% were Swiss women, 4.0% were non-Swiss men and 1.4% were non-Swiss women. The Canton of Bern school system provides one year of non-obligatory Kindergarten , followed by six years of Primary school. This is followed by three years of obligatory lower Secondary school where the students are separated according to ability and aptitude. Following the lower Secondary students may attend additional schooling or they may enter an apprenticeship . During

4753-447: The cities of Thun and Bern. Though the revolt was unsuccessful, Steffisburg retained its position as a regional center and court. A leader of the revolt, Hans Berger from Steffisburg, fled the country to escape execution for his role in the uprising. Following the 1798 French invasion , Steffisburg became the capital of the Helvetic Republic Steffisburg district. After the collapse of the Republic and 1803 Act of Mediation it joined

4850-459: 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 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

4947-413: The construction rate of new housing units was 5.2 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2013, was 0.3%. In 2012, single family homes made up 55.1% of the total housing in the municipality. The historical population is given in the following chart: As of  2011, Steffisburg had an unemployment rate of 1.98%. As of 2011, there were a total of 5,673 people employed in

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5044-438: The current church building was built in Steffisburg, incorporating elements from the 9th or 10th century building. Traditionally the local economy was fairly diverse. The farmers raised crops on the valley floor and raised livestock in alpine meadows during the summer before bringing them down for the winter. By the 14th century there were vineyards on the sunny south facing mountain slopes. The Zulg river provided power for

5141-399: 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

5238-542: 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

5335-408: 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

5432-446: 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

5529-401: The entire Zulgtal, including Steffisburg, was owned by the local Freiherr von Heimberg family. Under the Zähringer family, the Grafschaft of Thun expanded to include the village. When they died out in 1218 it passed to the Kyburgs , who made Steffisburg a fief for several different Ministerialis (unfree knights in the service of a feudal overlord) families. One of these families,

5626-520: 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

5723-437: 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

5820-403: 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

5917-447: The increase in population above the carrying capacity of the land and a high sedentary local population concentration. In some cultures, there would have been a significant shift toward increased starch and plant protein. The relative nutritional benefits and drawbacks of these dietary changes and their overall impact on early societal development are still debated. Alpine transhumance Too Many Requests If you report this error to

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6014-448: The municipality and 5,328 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.0 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. A total of 2,034 workers (42.9% of the 4,744 total workers in the municipality) both lived and worked in Steffisburg. Of the working population, 19.6% used public transportation to get to work, and 47.1% used a private car. The local and cantonal tax rate in Steffisburg

6111-417: The municipality. Of that total, 2,371 made over 75,000 CHF per year. There were 50 people who made between 15,000 and 20,000 per year. The average income of the over 75,000 CHF group in Steffisburg was 115,452 CHF, while the average across all of Switzerland was 131,244 CHF. In 2011 a total of 2.2% of the population received direct financial assistance from the government. The Former Regie of Steffisburg

6208-431: The municipality. Of these, there were 164 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 54 businesses involved in this sector. The secondary sector employs 1,834 people and there were 142 businesses in this sector. The tertiary sector employs 3,675 people, with 631 businesses in this sector. There were 7,364 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 44.7% of

6305-426: The municipality. There were 6,817 married individuals, 997 widows or widowers and 722 individuals who are divorced. As of 2010, there were 2,422 households that consist of only one person and 329 households with five or more people. In 2000, a total of 6,157 apartments (91.7% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 408 apartments (6.1%) were seasonally occupied and 147 apartments (2.2%) were empty. As of 2012,

6402-405: The new faith of the Protestant Reformation and the church at Steffisburg converted. The attached ossuary chapel was demolished soon thereafter. In the following century the Anabaptist faith became popular in the upper Zulgtal. To help curb this faith's popularity, in 1693 a large parish church was built in Schwarzenegg (now part of Oberlangenegg ) and the Steffisburg parish divided. In 1681

6499-411: The newly created Thun District . The town's parish church was first built in the late 7th or early 8th century. It was replaced with a new building in the 9th or 10th century. It was first mentioned in 1224 as the Church of St. Stephan, which was the center of a large parish which covered the entire Zulg river valley (Zulgtal). The bell tower was added between 1320 and 1500. In 1528, Bern adopted

6596-444: The newly created Verwaltungskreis Thun. The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules a Castle Argent on a Mount of 3 Coupeaux Vert. Steffisburg has a population (as of December 2020) of 15,991. As of 2012, 10.0% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Between the last 2 years (2010-2012) the population changed at a rate of 0.5%. Migration accounted for 0.6%, while births and deaths accounted for -0.1%. Most of

6693-436: 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

6790-440: 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

6887-493: The population (as of 2000) speaks German (13,274 or 92.5%) as their first language, Italian is the second most common (179 or 1.2%) and Albanian is the third (166 or 1.2%). There are 122 people who speak French and 6 people who speak Romansh . As of 2008, the population was 47.8% male and 52.2% female. The population was made up of 6,614 Swiss men (42.9% of the population) and 767 (5.0%) non-Swiss men. There were 7,304 Swiss women (47.3%) and 746 (4.8%) non-Swiss women. Of

6984-596: The population in the municipality, 3,657 or about 25.5% were born in Steffisburg and lived there in 2000. There were 6,467 or 45.1% who were born in the same canton, while 1,904 or 13.3% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 1,611 or 11.2% were born outside of Switzerland. As of 2012, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 18.8% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 61.0% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 20.3%. As of 2000, there were 5,813 people who were single and never married in

7081-430: The population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist , and 455 individuals (or about 3.17% of the population) did not answer the question. In Steffisburg about 59.6% of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education , and 17.7% have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule ). Of the 1,606 who had completed some form of tertiary schooling listed in

7178-547: The population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church , and there were 806 individuals (or about 5.62% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 8 individuals (or about 0.06% of the population) who were Jewish , and 333 (or about 2.32% of the population) who were Muslim . There were 37 individuals who were Buddhist , 49 individuals who were Hindu and 20 individuals who belonged to another church. 923 (or about 6.43% of

7275-536: 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

7372-454: 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

7469-417: 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

7566-496: 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

7663-439: The primary students, 14.4% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 16.9% have a different mother language than the classroom language. During the same year, the lower secondary school had a total of 485 students. There were 11.8% who were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 17.9% have a different mother language than the classroom language. As of  2000, there were

7760-422: 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)

7857-692: 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

7954-771: 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:

8051-473: The same year. It was open a total of 260 days with average of 15 hours per week during that year. The municipality has two railway stations, Schwäbis and Steffisburg , on the Burgdorf–Thun line . Between them there is regular service to Thun , Konolfingen , and Solothurn . Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Greek νέος néos 'new' and λίθος líthos 'stone')

8148-473: The tertiary sector; 666 or 32.0% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 35 or 1.7% were in the movement and storage of goods, 151 or 7.3% were in a hotel or restaurant, 32 or 1.5% were in the information industry, 59 or 2.8% were the insurance or financial industry, 133 or 6.4% were technical professionals or scientists, 169 or 8.1% were in education and 525 or 25.2% were in health care. In 2000, there were 2,710 workers who commuted into

8245-426: The total area while housing and buildings made up 17.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.9%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.1%. All of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 21.7% is used for growing crops and 17.7% is pasturage, while 3.1% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality

8342-580: 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

8439-492: The von Kien, built what became known as the Kleine Höchhus in the 14th century, when they administered the municipality. Today, the Kleine Höchhus is one of the oldest buildings in the municipality. Steffisburg became the center of a local court jurisdiction . Over the following years portions of the village and surrounding farms were donated to several local monasteries. On 11 November 1382, Rudolf II von Kyburg, attempted unsuccessfully to attack Solothurn . His attack started

8536-406: The workforce. In 2008 there were a total of 4,000 full-time equivalent jobs. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 98, of which 95 were in agriculture and 3 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 1,821 of which 1,380 or (75.8%) were in manufacturing and 372 (20.4%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 2,081. In

8633-478: 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 the Middle East , cultures identified as Neolithic began appearing in

8730-419: 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 the period. This site was developed by nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes, as evidenced by the lack of permanent housing in

8827-572: 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 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

8924-619: Was expanded in the 19th century bringing additional business to the area. The completion of a road to the upper Emmental which passed through Steffisburg in 1895–1900 brought more traffic and money, as did the Burgdorf -Thun railroad on 1899 and the Steffisburg-Thun- Interlaken tram in 1913. Since 1900, the town has experienced several housing booms as commuters move to Steffisburg to be close to jobs in Thun. In 1850

9021-869: 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

9118-409: 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

9215-455: 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

9312-431: 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 the Neolithic appeared everywhere in the same order: the earliest farming societies in the Near East did not use pottery. In other parts of

9409-402: 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

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