Neolithic Era

10000 BCE – 3000 BCE · 19 sites

All sites in this period

Continent Record

Oldest Monument in Europe

Stonehenge

3100 BCE – 1600 BCE

Stonehenge is a prehistoric megalithic monument in Wiltshire, England, erected in phases between 3100 and 1600 BCE. Its iconic sarsen stones and bluestones form a complex of ceremonial and astronomical significance.

NeolithicBronze Age

T-shaped pillars at Göbekli Tepe archaeological site

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Continent Record

Most-Visited Ancient Site in Asia

Göbekli Tepe

9600 BCE – 8000 BCE

The world's oldest known monumental sanctuary, predating Stonehenge by roughly 6,000 years. Massive carved T-shaped pillars arranged in circles suggest complex ritual activity among pre-agricultural communities.

Neolithic

The Stone Tower of Jericho (Tell es-Sultan), c. 8500 BCE — among the world's earliest stone monuments

New

Continent Record

Earliest Known Site in Asia

Jericho

9600 BCE – 700 CE

The world's oldest continuously inhabited city — a Neolithic settlement in the Jordan Valley where humans first built permanent stone structures and cultivated crops around 9600 BCE. The Tower of Jericho, erected by an early Neolithic community around 8500 BCE, is one of the earliest stone monuments on Earth, predating Stonehenge by more than 5,000 years and the Egyptian pyramids by more than 6,000.

NeolithicChalcolithicBronze Age

Excavated mudbrick structures at Çatalhöyük

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Country Record

Oldest Settlement in Türkiye

Çatalhöyük

7400 BCE – 5600 BCE

One of the world's earliest known proto-urban settlements, occupied from roughly 7400 to 5600 BCE. Famous for its densely packed mudbrick houses, wall paintings, and evidence of a remarkably egalitarian Neolithic community.

Neolithic

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Newgrange

3200 BCE – 2900 BCE

Newgrange is a Neolithic passage tomb in County Meath, Ireland, built c. 3200–2900 BCE, famously aligned to the winter solstice sunrise. Its sophisticated megalithic art and architecture make it one of Europe's most remarkable prehistoric monuments.

Neolithic

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World Record

Northernmost Known Site in the World

Skara Brae

3180 BCE – 2500 BCE

A remarkably preserved Neolithic village on Orkney's Bay of Skaill, inhabited from c. 3180 to 2500 BCE, offering unparalleled insights into prehistoric domestic life.

Neolithic

Aerial view of the Avebury henge, showing the stone circles and surrounding village

Country Record

Oldest Monument in United Kingdom

Avebury

2850 BCE – 2200 BCE

The largest prehistoric stone circle in the world — a Neolithic henge enclosing 28 hectares with a ditch, outer bank, and three interlocking stone circles, part of a sacred landscape that also includes Silbury Hill, West Kennet long barrow, and the Sanctuary.

NeolithicBronze Age

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World Record

Oldest Monument in the World

Carnac Stones

4500 BCE – 3300 BCE

A vast complex of Neolithic standing stones, alignments, dolmens, and tumuli in Brittany, France, erected between 4500 and 3300 BCE, representing one of the largest megalithic collections in the world.

Neolithic

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Continent Record

Oldest City in South America

Caral

3000 BCE – 1800 BCE

Caral, a 5,000-year-old urban center in Peru, features monumental pyramids and circular plazas, revealing complex society without pottery or warfare.

NeolithicBronze AgePre-Columbian

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Hal Saflieni Hypogeum

3300 BCE – 2500 BCE

The only known prehistoric underground temple in the world — a three-storey rock-cut sanctuary on Malta dating to 3300-2500 BCE whose chambers, carved entirely by hand from the living limestone, held the remains of more than 7,000 people and contain the oldest acoustically designed space ever discovered.

Neolithic

The ancient Roman gate known as Cleopatra's Gate in modern Tarsus

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Country Record

Oldest City in Türkiye

Tarsus

7000 BCE – 1453 CE

One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world — birthplace of St. Paul, where Cleopatra first met Mark Antony, and a major center of Stoic philosophy rivaling Athens and Alexandria.

NeolithicBronze AgeClassical

Continent Record

Oldest Sanctuary in Asia

Karahan Tepe

9500 BCE – 7800 BCE

Karahan Tepe is a Pre-Pottery Neolithic settlement in southeastern Türkiye, contemporaneous with Göbekli Tepe, featuring monumental architecture and ritual enclosures.

Neolithic