# Aceramic > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Aceramic > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Aceramic.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aceramic > Source revision: 1353453513 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Archaeological term for societies that did not produce pottery **Aceramic** is defined as "not producing pottery". In [archaeology](/source/Archaeology), the term means "without [pottery](/source/Pottery)". Aceramic societies usually used [bark](/source/Bark_(botany)), [basketry](/source/Basket), [gourds](/source/Gourd) and [leather](/source/Leather) for containers.[1] "Aceramic" is used to describe a culture at any time prior to its development of pottery as well as cultures that lack pottery altogether. A **preceramic** period is traditionally regarded as occurring in the early stage of the [Neolithic](/source/Neolithic) period of a culture, but recent findings in [Japan](/source/Japan) and [China](/source/China) have pushed the origin of ceramic technology there well back into the [Paleolithic](/source/Paleolithic) era. ## West Asia In Western Asian archaeology, Aceramic is used to refer to a specific early Neolithic period before the development of ceramics, the Middle Eastern [Pre-Pottery Neolithic](/source/Pre-Pottery_Neolithic), in which case it is a synonym of preceramic or pre-pottery. The Western Asian [Pre-Pottery Neolithic A](/source/Pre-Pottery_Neolithic_A) began roughly around 8500 BC and can be identified with over a half a dozen sites. The period was most prominent in Western Asia in an economy based on the cultivation of crops or the rearing of animals or both. Outside Western Asia, Aceramic Neolithic groups are more rare.[1] Aceramic Neolithic villages had many attributes of agricultural communities: large settlement size, substantial architecture, long settlement duration, intensive harvesting of seeds with [sickles](/source/Sickle), equipment and facilities for storing and grinding seeds, and containers. Morphological evidence for [domestication of plants](/source/Domestication_of_plants) comes only from Middle [Pre-Pottery Neolithic B](/source/Pre-Pottery_Neolithic_B) (PPNB), and by Late PPNB some animals, [notably goats](/source/Domestication_of_the_goat), were domesticated or at least managed in most of the sites.[2] ### Cyprus Some of the most famous Aceramic sites are located in the [Republic of Cyprus](/source/Republic_of_Cyprus). There was an Early Aceramic Neolithic phase beginning around 8200 BC. The phase can be best thought of as a "colony", or initial settlement of the island.[3] Until the relatively recent discoveries of the [Akrotiri](/source/Akrotiri_(prehistoric_city)) and the Early Aceramic Neolithic phases, the Aceramic Neolithic culture known as the [Khirokitia culture](/source/Khirokitia) was thought to be the earliest human settlement on Cyprus, from 7000 to 5000 BC.[3] There are a number of Late Aceramic Neolithic sites throughout the island. The two most important sites are called Khirokitia and [Kalavasos-Tenta](/source/Tenta%2C_Cyprus). Late Aceramic Cyprus did not have much external contact because of a lack of settlement in the west or northwest during the period. However, Late Aceramic Cyprus was a well-structured society.[*[clarification needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify)*] ## Americas The specific term "Pre-Ceramic" is used for a period in many chronologies of the [archaeology of the Americas](/source/Archaeology_of_the_Americas), typically showing some [agriculture](/source/Agriculture) and developed [textiles](/source/Textile) but no fired [pottery](/source/Pottery). For example, in the [Norte Chico civilization](/source/Norte_Chico_civilization) and other cultures of [Peru](/source/Peru), the cultivation of [cotton](/source/Cotton) seems to have been very important in economic and power relations, from around 3200 BC. Here, [Cotton Pre-Ceramic](/source/Cotton_Pre-Ceramic) may be used as a period. The [Pre-Ceramic](/source/Andean_preceramic) may be followed by "Ceramic" periods or a [formative stage](/source/Formative_stage).[4] ## See also - [Pre-Ceramic Maya](/source/Pre-Ceramic_Maya_(Belize)) ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_1-1) ["Archaeology Wordsmith"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160313104836/http://www.archaeologywordsmith.com/lookup.php?terms=aceramic). *www.archaeologywordsmith.com*. Archived from the original on 2016-03-13. Retrieved 2016-03-07. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Banning, Edward (2002-01-01). "Aceramic Neolithic". In Peregrine, Peter N.; Ember, Melvin (eds.). *Encyclopedia of Prehistory*. Springer US. pp. 1–20. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1007/978-1-4615-0023-0_1](https://doi.org/10.1007%2F978-1-4615-0023-0_1). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781468471359](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781468471359). 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_3-1) ["Developments in Cypriote Archaeology in the past 20 years: The Akrotiri and Early Aceramic Phases"](https://web.archive.org/web/20131020032818/http://www.brynmawr.edu/collections/nehinterns/cypriote/akrotiri-neolithic.html). *www.brynmawr.edu*. 2006-03-23. Archived from [the original](http://www.brynmawr.edu/collections/nehinterns/cypriote/akrotiri-neolithic.html) on 2013-10-20. Retrieved 2016-03-07. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Stone-Miller, Rebecca, *Art of the Andes*, pp. 7, 18-23, 2002 (2nd edn), Thames & Hudson, World of Art series, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0500203636](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0500203636) ## External links - The dictionary definition of [*aceramic*](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:Search/aceramic) at Wiktionary --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Aceramic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aceramic) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aceramic?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.