The Nivkh (formerly called Gilyak), a Mongoloid people indigenous to the northern half of Sakhalin Island and the region of the Amur River estuary in Russia's Khabarovsk Krai, probably descend directly from the semilegendary Tonchi, the earliest Neolithic inhabitants of this region.

The Nivkh are physically and genetically different from the surrounding peoples and it is believed the Nivkh are the original inhabitants of the area.

Linguistically Paleo-Asiatic, the Nivkh are short, stocky people with flat, rectangular faces and dark hair and beards.

Racially, they form a unique Mongoloid subgroup.

The origins of the Nivkh, who may have occupied their present homeland as early as 3000 BCE or as late as CE 1000, are obscure and hard to discern from current archaeological research.

Their subsistence by fishing and coastal sea-mammal hunting is very similar to the Koryak and Itelmen on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

The rigging of dog sleds is also similar to these Chukotko-Kamchatkan groups.

However, spiritual beliefs are similar to the Northwest Coast Indians of North America.

The current archaeological model suggests that a sub-Arctic technological culture, originating from the Transbaikal region, and termed the microlithic culture, migrated across Siberia and populated the Amur and Sakhalin region during the Late Pleistocene, perhaps earlier.

It is also believed the microlithic (small tool) culture were the first to move into the Americas.

The microlithic culture was technologically adept for the harsh climate of Siberia during the ice age.

After the Ice age receded, Tungusic people from the south pressed into the warmer northern areas, soon dominating the settled peoples.

The Nivkh are considered the last surviving ethnic group able to adapt to the warmer climate and not be assimilated or squeezed out by the new comers, hence the Nivkh isolate language.

The earliest archaeological radiocarbon dating for Northern Sakhalin as of 2004 is the Neolithic Age-Imchin Site 2, dated at 4950-4570 BCE near the Tym' River Estuary on the west coast.

The Sakhalin Niviks populated the island during the Late Pleistocene period when the island was connected to the Continent of Asia via the exposed Strait of Tartary.

When the ice age receded the oceans rose and the Nivkh were split into two groups.

The earliest mention of the Nivkh in history is believed to be a twelfth century Chinese chronicle to a people called Gilyemi, who were in contact with the Mongol rulers of the Yuan Dynasty of China.

Approximately one hundred and fifty prehistoric circular ditches spread over Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic are known to archaeology.

Their diameters range from around twenty to around one hundred and thirty meters, and they date to the fifth millennium BCE.

Tools, bones, and some artifacts were found in their context.

The largest of these arrangements to date was found in Leipzig in the 1990s.

Another large find was at the nearby village of Aythra, outside of Leipzig.

The structures were built in a stretch of Central European land some seven hundred and sixty kilometers (four hundred miles) across, over a period of one or two hundred years.

From finds in the context of these ditches, and associated settlements of longhouses, it was established that they were in use until roughly 4600 BCE.

The people that built these structures are associated with the Linear Ceramic culture.

They appear to have lived in communal long houses and subsisted by farming cattle, goats, pigs, and sheep.

They are believed to have migrated into this region during the sixth millennium BCE from the plain of the Danube in what is now Hungary and Serbia.

They made tools from wood, stone, and bone, and artwork of ceramic and pottery.

The Middle East (4797–4654 BCE): Social Stratification in the Ubaid Period

Emergence of Social Hierarchies

Between 4797 and 4654 BCE, the Ubaid period experienced marked changes in social structures, transitioning from egalitarian societies toward increasing social stratification. Analysis of grave goods from this era indicates a clear polarization in societal status, with distinct variations in wealth and social standing among individuals and households.

"Trans-egalitarian" Societal Developments

This period, described by archaeologist Peter Bogucki as characterized by "Trans-egalitarian" competitive households, saw certain groups falling behind due to downward social mobility. Households began to exhibit competition, leading to socioeconomic disparities previously unseen.

Rise of Elite Classes

Scholars Morton Fried and Elman Service proposed that the Ubaid culture witnessed the rise of an elite class of hereditary chieftains. These leaders were likely heads of kin groups linked to administrative roles within temple shrines and associated granaries. Their responsibilities likely included mediating intra-group conflicts and maintaining social order, roles once managed collectively by community councils.

Transition from Primitive Democracy

The increasing complexity of these communities made traditional collective decision-making processes, described by Thorkild Jacobsen as primitive democracy, less effective. Previously, disputes were commonly resolved through councils comprising community peers. However, the emerging hierarchical social structures necessitated centralized leadership, marking a significant shift towards institutionalized governance.

This age underscores the profound societal transformations in Ubaid culture, characterized by increasing social differentiation, emerging elite classes, and significant shifts in governance mechanisms, laying essential foundations for the future urban and social complexities of Mesopotamia.

The Ubaid period as a whole, based upon the analysis of grave goods, has been one of increasingly polarized social stratification and decreasing egalitarianism.

Bogucki describes this as a phase of "Trans-egalitarian" competitive households, in which some fall behind because of downward social mobility.

Morton Fried and Elman Service have hypothesized that Ubaid culture saw the rise of an elite class of hereditary chieftains, perhaps heads of kin groups linked in some way to the administration of the temple shrines and their granaries, responsible for mediating intra-group conflict and maintaining social order.

It would seem that various collective methods, perhaps instances of what Thorkild Jacobsen called primitive democracy, in which disputes were previously resolved through a council of one's peers, were no longer sufficient for the needs of the local community.

Copper is mined before 4500 BCE at the eastern European sites of Ai Bunar, near Stara Zagora in Bulgaria, and Rudna Glava in present-day eastern Serbia.

At the latter site, which pottery finds show to belong to the Vinca culture, shafts are cut into the hillside, with scaffolding constructed for easy access to the veins of ore.

The uniformity of design characteristic of Linear Pottery sites begins to break down around as various regional groups emerge, such as the Rössen, Lengyel, Tisza, and Stroke-ornamented Pottery (Stichbandkeramik) cultures.

The Middle East (4653–4510 BCE): Expansion of Canal Irrigation and Cultural Interactions

Development of Canal Networks

Between 4653 and 4510 BCE, the Ubaid 2 period, also known as Hadji Muhammad (4800–4500 BCE)—named after its type-site—marked significant advancements in agricultural infrastructure, particularly the extensive development of canal networks originating from major settlements. These canal systems played a critical role in supporting increasingly stable and productive agriculture, enabling communities to thrive despite the region's challenging environmental conditions.

Innovations at Choga Mami

Irrigation agriculture appears to have first emerged at Choga Mami (4700–4600 BCE), a crucial archaeological site in southern Iraq characterized by Samarra ware pottery. Evidence suggests that this site demonstrated operational canal irrigation systems as early as 6000 BCE. The techniques pioneered at Choga Mami were rapidly disseminated, enhancing agricultural productivity and community resilience throughout the region.

Cultural Exchange and Ambiguities

During the broader period between 6500 and 4500 BCE, the directionality and nature of cultural exchanges remain somewhat ambiguous. While extensive interactions are evident across various sites, establishing clear patterns of cultural influence remains challenging. These interactions likely involved a complex interplay of technological innovations, trade networks, and agricultural practices, significantly shaping regional developments.

Regional Impact and Integration

The expansion of canal-based irrigation profoundly impacted the Middle East, transforming agricultural practices and facilitating demographic growth and settlement expansion. The enhanced agricultural stability fostered increased specialization, trade, and social complexity, setting the stage for the rise of urban centers and structured societal hierarchies in subsequent periods.

This era highlights a critical stage in Middle Eastern history marked by technological advancement in irrigation, significant agricultural improvements, and complex cultural exchanges, laying important foundations for the region's continued societal and economic development.

Ubaid 2, sometimes called Hadji Muhammad (4800–4500 BCE), after the type-site of the same name, has seen the development of extensive canal networks from major settlements.

Irrigation agriculture, which seem to have developed first at Choga Mami (4700–4600 BCE), a Samarra ware archaeological site of Southern Iraq which shows the first canal irrigation in operation at about 6000 BCE, and rapidly spread elsewhere.

It is not clear which way cultural developments were flowing in the 6500 to 4500 BCE period.

The Las Vegas culture, the first known in Ecuador, lives on the Santa Elena Peninsula on the coast of Ecuador between 8000–4600 BCE.

The skeletal remains and other finds show evidence the culture once flourished in the area.

Scientists have classified three phases of cultural development.

The earliest people were hunter-gathers and anglers.

Approximately 6000 BCE, the culture were among the first to begin farming (bottle gourd, Lagenaria siceraria, and an early type of maize, Zea mays L.) The best-known remains of the culture are The Lovers of Sumpa.

These human remains and other items can be seen at Museo Los Amantes de Sumpa y Centro Cultural in Santa Elena.

Bone points and a spatula have been discovered that may have been used for making nets or textiles, along with various tools and containers shaped of shell; archaeologist believe that wood, bamboo, reeds, and bark were used in the tool industry.

Although mummies have not been documented from coastal Ecuador, the Las Vegas people were contemporaneous with and similar to the people whose remains are preserved as the Chinchorro mummies of the north coast of Chile.

The Akahoya eruption, one of the largest eruptions during the Holocene, ocurring around 4350 BCE, ejects about one hundred and fifty cubic kilometers (thirty-six cubic miles) of tephra, giving it a 7 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index.

One of only six known eruptions reaching that magnitude during the Holocene, or the last twelve thousand years, it forms the massive, mostly submerged Kikai Caldera, up to nineteen kilometers (twelve miles) in diameter in the Osumi Islands of Kagoshima prefecture, Japan.

Pyroclastic flows from that eruption reach the coast of southern Kyushu up to one hundred kilometers (sixty-two miles) away, and ash falls as far as Hokkaido.

It dramatically changes vegetation in Southern Kyūshū.

Archaeologically it has been dated around 7,300 cal. BP during the Earliest Jōmon period, but it has also been radiocarbon dated to 6,500 BP.