5th millennium BCE

Millennia:	6th millennium BC 5th millennium BC 4th millennium BC
Centuries:	50th century BC 49th century BC 48th century BC 47th century BC 46th century BC 45th century BC 44th century BC 43rd century BC 42nd century BC 41st century BC

The Neolithic This box:
↑ Mesolithic
Fertile Crescent Heavy Neolithic Shepherd Neolithic Trihedral Neolithic Pre-Pottery (A, B) Qaraoun culture Tahunian culture Yarmukian Culture Halaf culture Halaf-Ubaid Transitional period Ubaid culture Byblos Jericho Tell Aswad Çatalhöyük Jarmo Europe Arzachena culture Boian culture Butmir culture Cardium Pottery culture Cernavodă culture Coțofeni culture Cucuteni-Trypillian culture Dudeşti culture Gorneşti culture Gumelniţa–Karanovo culture Hamangia culture Khirokitia Linear Pottery culture Malta Temples Ozieri culture Petreşti culture Shulaveri-Shomu culture Sesklo culture Tisza culture Tiszapolgár culture Usatovo culture Varna culture Vinča culture Vučedol culture Neolithic Transylvania Neolithic Southeastern Europe China Peiligang culture Pengtoushan culture Beixin culture Cishan culture Dadiwan culture Houli culture Xinglongwa culture Xinle culture Zhaobaogou culture Hemudu culture Daxi culture Majiabang culture Yangshao culture Hongshan culture Dawenkou culture Songze culture Liangzhu culture Majiayao culture Qujialing culture Longshan culture Baodun culture Shijiahe culture Yueshi culture Tibet South Asia Mehrgarh Bhirrana Neolithic Philippines Jade culture
farming, animal husbandry pottery, metallurgy, wheel circular ditches, henges, megaliths Neolithic religion
↓ Chalcolithic

Holocene Epoch This box:

↑
Holocene
Preboreal (10.3–9 ka) Boreal (9–7.5 ka) Atlantic (7.5–5 ka) Subboreal (5–2.5 ka) Subatlantic (2.5 ka–present)

The 5th millennium BC saw the spread of agriculture from Western Asia throughout Southern and Central Europe.

Urban cultures in Mesopotamia and Anatolia flourished, developing the wheel. Copper ornaments became more common, marking the beginning of the Chalcolithic. Animal husbandry spread throughout Eurasia, reaching China. World population grew slightly throughout the millennium, possibly from 5 to 7 million people.