Neolithic

The Neolithic, (Greek neos=new, lithos=stone, or "New Stone Age") was a period in the development of human technology that is traditionally the last part of the Stone Age. The name was invented by John Lubbock in 1865 as a refinement of the three-age system. The term is more commonly used in the Old World and its application to cultures in the Americas and Oceania is problematic. It follows the terminal Pleistocene Epipalaeolithic and early Holocene Mesolithic periods, beginning with the start of farming and ending when metal tools became widespread in the Copper Age (chalcolithic), Bronze Age or Iron Age, depending on geographical region. The term "Neolithic" thus does not refer to a specific chronological period but a suite of behavioural and cultural characteristics including the use of (both wild and domestic) crops and the use of domesticated animals. Some archaeologists have long advocated replacing "Neolithic" with a more descriptive term, such as "Early Village Communities", although this has not gained wide acceptance.

Technology

Neolithic peoples were skilled farmers, manufacturing a range of tools necessary for the tending, harvesting and processing of crops (such as sickle blades and grinding stones) and food production (e.g. pottery, bone implements). They were also skilled manufactures of a range of other types of stone tool and ornaments, including Projectile points, beads, and statuettes. Neolithic peoples in the Levant, Anatolia, Syria, northern Mesopotamia and Central Asia were also great builders, utilising mud-brick to construct houses and villages. At Çatalhöyük, houses were plastered and painted with elaborate scenes of humans and animals. In Europe, long houses built from wattle and daub were constructed. Elaborate tombs for the dead were also built. These tombs are particularly numerous in Ireland, where there are many thousand still in existence. Neolithic people in the British Isles built long barrows and chamber tombs for their dead and causewayed camps, henges flint mines and cursus monuments. It was also important to figure out ways of preserving food for future months, such as fashioning relatively airtight containers, and using substances like salt as preservatives.

Related Topics:
Sickle blades - Grinding stones - Pottery - Projectile point - Levant - Anatolia - Syria - Mesopotamia - Central Asia - Çatalhöyük - Europe - Long houses - Wattle and daub - Ireland - Long barrow - Chamber tomb - Causewayed camp - Henge - Cursus - Salt

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With very small exceptions (a few copper hatchets and spear heads in the Great Lakes region), the peoples of the Americas and the Pacific remained at the Neolithic level of technology up until the time of European contact.

Related Topics:
Hatchets - Spear - Great Lakes - Americas - Pacific - Technology

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Neolithic settlements include:

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:Jericho in the Levant, Neolithic from around 8350 BC, arising from the earlier Epipaleolithic Natufian culture.

Related Topics:
Jericho - Levant - Epipaleolithic - Natufian culture

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:Çatalhöyük in Turkey, 7500 BC

Related Topics:
Çatalhöyük - Turkey

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:Mehrgarh in South Asia, 7000 BC

Related Topics:
Mehrgarh - South Asia

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:Göbekli Tepe in Turkey, ca. 9000 BC.

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:Nevali Cori in Turkey, ca. 8000 BC.

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:Knap of Howar and Skara Brae, the Orkney Islands, Scotland, from 3500 BC.

Related Topics:
Knap of Howar - Skara Brae - Orkney Islands - Scotland

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:around 2000 settlements of Trypillian culture, 5400 BC -- 2800 BC

Related Topics:
Trypillian culture - 5400 BC - 2800 BC

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The world's oldest known engineered roadway, the Sweet Track in England, also dates from this time.

Related Topics:
Roadway - Sweet Track - England

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