The Chalcolithic or Copper Age is the transitional period between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age.The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) , p. 301: "Chalcolithic /,kælkəl'lɪθɪk/ adjective Archaeology of, relating to, or denoting a period in the 4th and 3rd millennium BCE, chiefly in the Near East and SE Europe, during which some weapons and tools were made of copper. This period was still largely Neolithic in character. Also called Eneolithic... Also called Copper Age – Origin early 20th cent.: from Greek khalkos 'copper' + lithos 'stone' + -ic". It is taken to begin around the mid-5th millennium BC, and ends with the beginning of the Bronze Age proper, in the late 4th to 3rd millennium BC, depending on the region.
The Chalcolithic is part of prehistory, but based on archaeological evidence, the emergence of the first state societies can be inferred, notably in the Fertile Crescent (notably Sumer) Predynastic Egypt, and Proto-Minoan Crete, with late Neolithic societies of comparable complexity emerging in the Indus Valley (Mehrgarh), China, and along the north-western shores of the Black Sea.
The development of states—large-scale, populous, politically centralized, and socially stratified polities/societies governed by powerful rulers—marks one of the major milestones in the evolution of human societies. Archaeologists often distinguish between primary (or pristine) states and secondary states. Primary states evolved independently through largely internal developmental processes rather than through the influence of any other pre-existing state.
The earliest known primary states appeared in Anatolia c. 5200 BC, in Mesopotamia c. 3700 BC,, in Greece c. 3500 BC, in Egypt c. 3300 BC, in the Indus Valley c. 3300 BC, and in China c. 1600 BC.
List of known polities
CityLocation (Countries)periodAnau Turkmenistan4000 BC to 1000 BCAnshan Iran4000 BC to 1000 BCBad-tibiraIraq5000 BC to 2300 BCÇatalhöyükTurkey 7500 BC to 5700 BCGüvercinkayasıTurkey 5200 BC to 4750 BCEbla Syria 3500 BC to 1600 BCEriduIraq5400 BC to 2050 BCGirsuIraq5000 to 2100 BCHeliopolis (Lower Egypt)Egypt 3500 BC to ~1000BCIsinIraq3500 to 2100 BCJerichoPalestine9600 BC to 1400 BCKishIraq4000 to 2300 BCKnossosGreece7000 to 1900 BCLagashIraq4000 to 2250 BCLaishIsrael4500 to 1350 BCMariSyria2900 to 1759 BCMehrgarh Pakistan5500 to 2500 BCNekhen (Upper Egypt)Egypt3500 BC to ~150BCNippurIraq5000 to 2450 BCSusaIran4200 to 2330 BCRakhigarhiIndia6500 BC to 1900 BCUgaritSyria6000 BC to 1190 BCUrIraq4000 to 2000 BCUrukIraq4000 to 3100 BCTell BrakSyria6500 to 1600 BCGöbekli TepeTurkey9600 to 7000 BCAşıklı HöyükTurkey8200 to 7400 BCTell HalulaSyria7400 to 6200 BC
See also 4th millennium BC Cradle of civilization List of Bronze Age states List of Iron Age states
References