Current archaeological thinking on the Neolithic period is that it is longer and more complex than previous generations of academics thought. Broadly speaking, the emergence of pottery, the emergence of polished stone implements (as opposed to roughly cut implements), the emergence of domesticated animals, new hybrids of food plants and settlements as opposed to a nomadic lifestyle are the accepted characteristics. However research is showing that variable rates and types of progress occurred across the globe. At the Jericho site there is a 'pre-pottery neolithic'; in northern Japan crop domestication did not emerge until later.