55 Amazing Neolithic Age Facts For The Historian In You

The Neolithic Age is also commonly known as the New Stone Age.

The Neolithic Period is marked by technological and cultural advancements. Like many other periods in history, this one began at different times and in different places.

The Neolithic Period is part of the broader time period known as the Stone Age. The Neolithic Era is preceded by the Paleolithic Era, which is also known as the Old Stone Age. During the Paleolithic Age, stone tools were not polished.

Meanwhile, the Mesolithic Period falls between these two periods. The Mesolithic Period is also commonly called the Middle Stone Age. The field of archeology uses this term to refer to the cultures that existed between the Paleolithic and Neolithic eras.

Thus, if a timeline of the Stone Age was to be created, it would be the Paleolithic Era, Mesolithic Era, and Neolithic Era.

The period that follows the Neolithic Period is the Bronze Age. During this period, a shift occurred from the use of stone to the use of metals. This technological change was also accompanied by various cultural changes.

The Neolithic Era brought a lot of changes in the way humans lived their lives and significantly contributed to the evolution of human societies. Read on to explore the various aspects of the Neolithic period.

Life During The Neolithic Age

Each different age during the course of the evolution of humans on earth has led to the creation of new ways of living and interacting with the surroundings. The various aspects of life distinctive to the Neolithic Period are explored below.

• Before the beginning of the Neolithic Era, people led nomadic lives, constantly traveling from one place to another.
• The nomads were considered to be gatherers and hunters who hunted wild animals and wild plants that they could feed on.
• When the Neolithic Period began, the nomadic lifestyle became less attractive as more and more people began to farm.
• In other words, farming started with the dawn of the Neolithic Era.
• Instead of constantly migrating from one place to another, people in the Neolithic period began to settle down in one place.
• While the Neolithic Era may have begun at slightly different times in different places, according to archeological records, the earliest traces of the Neolithic Period can be found in the Levant.
• 'The Levant' is the historical term used to denote a vast East Mediterranean region along with the islands.
• This region includes modern-day Cyrenaica and Greece.
• Early Neolithic traces can be found in the Natufian culture of the people living in the Levant.
• Even before farming was introduced, the Natufian culture boasted a semi-sedentary or sedentary lifestyle.
• When people started to learn how to grow crops, they settled in one place and started farming the surrounding land.
• The farming communities spread from the Levant to northern Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and North Africa.
• Initially, crops such as wheat and barley were grown by the early farmers.
• As agriculture as a lifestyle developed, the Neolithic people then began to tame the previously known wild animals.
• Animal domestication was carried out to systematically acquire milk, meat, as well as hides from some animals.
• The hides or coats of the animals were utilized for the purpose of creating shelter, clothing, or storage during the Neolithic Period.
• In Mesopotamia, the animals that were initially domesticated were goats and sheep.
• In southeastern Asia, chickens were tamed during the Neolithic Era.
• In the Middle East, goats, pigs, and sheep were tamed.
• Taming herbivorous animals was a lot easier as they could be easily fed, and so these were the animals that were first domesticated.
• When agriculture and animal domestication grew in this period, people also began to build permanent shelters for themselves.
• The shelters created by the Neolithic people were noticeably different from those of the previous eras.
• The houses built in the Neolithic period were made using woven branches, hollowed tree trunks, and mud bricks.
• These mud-brick houses had a rectangular shape and were quite long.
• The houses were also painted with dramatic scenes of animals and humans.
• Each long rectangular house consisted of families living together. And since many people occupied the same region, large villages or settlements began to appear.
• The Neolithic Period also witnessed the building of elaborate tombs for the dead.
• Such tombs can still be found in some places, like Ireland.
• One of the earliest Neolithic settlements was at Mehrgarh, which is situated in Baluchistan's Kacchi plain.
• The archeological site at Mehrgarh provided evidence of farming crops like wheat and barley.
• It also had evidence of the herding of animals such as sheep, goats, and cattle.
• People in this period wore animal skins as clothing, which was deduced through the numerous antler pins and bones found that were presumably used to fasten leather in the past.
• Evidence has also been found regarding people wearing clothes made of wool or linen during the latter part of the Neolithic Period.
• Craft forms such as pottery and weaving also emerged during the Neolithic Period.
• While weaving began in the Neolithic Era, the weaving process's principle was previously used to intertwine branches and twigs to create shelters, baskets, and fences.
• The Levant is believed to be the place where the craft of pottery first began in 10,000 BC.
• A Pre-Pottery Neolithic Period might have existed in 9,500 BC in a temple region discovered at Gobekli Tepe, Turkey.
• There were seven stone circles at this temple, which were accompanied by limestone pillars.
• These pillars had carvings of animals, birds, and insects.
• In 6,400 BC, the Pottery Neolithic Period began in the Fertile Crescent, and many Neolithic cultures began pursuing the craft of pottery in Asia.

Importance Of The Neolithic Age

Human civilization has evolved with each new period of time. This evolution is brought about by the change in the lifestyle and thinking processes of people. The significance of the Neolithic Period in terms of the growth and development of human civilization is mentioned below.

• Australian archeologist Vere Gordon Childe coined the term 'Neolithic Revolution' in the '20s.
• The 'Neolithic Revolution' is a term that refers to the change in the methods and interactions of humans after the start of the initial agricultural practices that began in the Neolithic Period.
• Neolithic societies were differentiated from the societies of the previous ages because of their agricultural practices.
• Agriculture proved to be a turning point in the lives of the people during this era in history.
• The wandering nature of humans evolved to an attitude of creating permanent settlements.
• When people started to stay in one place, they began to understand various aspects of life that required them to change their thought processes.
• While humans could move from one place to another as gatherers and hunters in the earlier periods of time, the Neolithic Period made them adapt to life as permanent settlers.
• People had to learn various skills related to agriculture and animal domestication.
• The type of food people ate changed from wild animal meat and wild crops to wheat, millet, and so on.
• Historical research has found that people were quite weak and suffered from illnesses during this period as they were newly introduced to agriculture and the intensive labor it requires to grow crops successfully.
• The Neolithic Revolution also involved people learning pottery and weaving skills, which led to new creative things being invented.
• These skills were further used to help create things such as baskets and carved pots that would go on to become a part of the daily lives of the people.
• The Neolithic Period also introduced Stonehenge, whose purpose has yet to be discovered by researchers.
• Currently, Stonehenge is only seen as a monument from the Neolithic Era.
• The way people completed their tasks every day also changed through the invention of new types of tools during the Neolithic Period.

Tools Used In The Neolithic Age

The Neolithic Revolution did not just witness the beginning of agriculture and farming as a way of life; it also witnessed the creation of new forms of tools. The various tools and the materials used to create them are listed below.

• The Neolithic Era is commonly known as the 'New Stone Age' because of the novel ways of using stone to create tools.
• Neolithic technology was seen in the use of ground or polished stone tools instead of the stone tools of the previous era, which were flaked.
• The Neolithic people created stone tools that were required for the crops' maintenance, harvest, and processing.
• These tools included grinding stones and sickle blades.
• The sickle blades were useful while cutting and harvesting the crops.
• On the other hand, grinding stones aided in grounding nuts and cereals.
• The stone tools also included projectile points, which were very sharp.
• These projectile points were attached to weapons such as darts, arrows, or javelins, which can be projected or thrown.
• The stone ax was the most useful of all the tools created during the New Stone Age period.
• The stone ax was used to clear large-scale forests in order to gather wood for creating shelters, canoes, and other structures.
• In addition to the stone tools, Neolithic people also created other tools.
• Pottery was used to make utensils for processing food.
• It was also utilized to create relatively airtight containers for the preservation of food.
• People in the Neolithic Era also created beads for ornaments and statuettes for decoration.
• The invention and improvement of these tools depicted the technological advancement of the Neolithic Period.