Neolithic Revolution as irrigation and deforestation which allowed the production of surplus food. Other developments found very widely are the domestication of animals, pottery, polished stone tools, and rectangular houses. These developments, sometimes called the Neolithic package, provided the basis for centralized administrations and political structures, hierarchical ideologies, depersonalized systems of knowledge (e.g. writing), densely populated settlements, specialization and division of labour, more trade, the development of non-portable art and architecture, and property ownership. The earliest known civilization developed in Sumer in southern Mesopotamia (); its emergence also heralded the beginning of the Bronze Age. The relationship of the above-mentioned Neolithic characteristics
Inside the Neolithic Mind island of Anglesey off the Welsh coast: Bryn Celli Ddu and Barclodiad y Gawres. Chapter eight, "Brú na Bóinne", examines the valley of the same name in County Meath, Ireland, the home to a number of Early Neolithic tombs. Lewis-Williams and Pearce turn their attention to the most prominent two, Newgrange and Knowth, arguing that their architectural designs reflect cosmological views of the world influenced by altered states of consciousness. In the penultimate chapter, "Religion de Profunais", the authors examine a number of recurring features in Neolithic Western Europe which they believe can shed light on the religious beliefs of