The conventional radiocarbon dates are seen as indicators of a particular radiocarbon time and used as a means of correlating archaeological cultures with each other and with the evolution of the physical environment. The analysis of radiocarbon dates obtained for Neolithic sites in the Levant, Turkey, the Balkans, and the northern Pontic area proves the chronological and economic heterogeneity of the Neolithic epoch. The earliest manifestations of food production in the Levant coincided with a prolonged drought 10,500-10, 000BP. The spread of a farming economy in southeastern Europe roughly corresponded to the Atlantic stage (8000-5000BP); it proceeded in five consecutive waves. In certain areas of the Balkans and in the northern Pontic area a long survival of a food-gathering economy can be demonstrated.