Following the highly successful 1st Conference on the Early Neolithic in Europe (ENE2019) in Barcelona, we are delighted to invite you to Zadar for the 2nd Conference on the Emergence of the Neolithic in Europe (ENE2025), which will take place from May 22–25, 2025, hosted at the University of Zadar, Croatia.

The conference is jointly organised by the Austrian Archaeological Institute, the Archaeological Museum of Zadar, the Croatian Archaeological Society, and the University of Zadar.

Recognizing the complexity of the Neolithisation process in Europe—its arrhythmic nature, regional variations, and the prolonged coexistence of the first farmers and the last hunter-fisher-gatherers in some regions—we have slightly adjusted the conference title. While retaining the acronym ENE, the term “Early Neolithic” has been replaced with “Emergence of the Neolithic” to more accurately reflect the broader scope and nuanced dynamics of this transformative process.

Despite this adjustment, the conference retains the same objectives as those established in Barcelona in 2019. It aims to provide a platform for discussing the Neolithisation process in Europe in all its diversity and complexity, balancing regional specificities with the shared Near Eastern origins of the Neolithic way of life.