The last four decades have seen marked changes of opinion about the chronology of the Neolithic. While at first a high dating for the Central European Neolithic was generally accepted, since the Second World War this has given way to a short chronology. With the help of archaeological stratigraphy and comparative methods of research it has been possible to determine anew the relative succession of the individual cultures, and to establish convincingly the temporal priority of those parts of South-eastern Europe adjacent to the Near East.