Cradle of Civilization

The cradle of civilization is a term referring to locations identified as the sites of the emergence of civilization. In Western European and Middle Eastern cultures, it has frequently been applied to the Ancient Near Eastern Chalcolithic (Ubaid period, Naqada culture), especially in the Fertile Crescent (Levant and Mesopotamia), but also extended to sites in Armenia, and the Persian Plateau. Other civilizations arose in Asia, among cultures situated along large river valleys, notably the Indus River in the Indian Subcontinent and the Yellow River in China. Civilizations also arose independently in Egypt, Norte Chico in present-day Peru, the Andes and in Mesoamerica. If writing is considered an indicator of civilization, the earliest "cradle" to have writing was Sumer (Jemdet Nasr).

Scholars have defined civilization as based on agriculture and urban settlements, and as such is a consequence of the Neolithic Revolution. Current thinking is that there was no single "cradle", but several civilizations that developed independently, of which the Near Eastern Neolithic was the first. The extent to which there was significant influence between the early civilizations of the Fertile Crescent and those of East Asia is disputed. Scholars accept that the civilizations of Norte Chico in present-day Peru and that of Mesoamerica emerged independently from those in Eurasia.