NEOLITHIC AGE

The Neolithic age, often called the “New Stone Age,” was the final stage in the development of prehistoric people’s culture and technology. This epoch is sometimes referred to as the “New Stone Age“. It was distinguished by stone tools that were polished or crushed into form, a reliance on domesticated plants or animals, permanent towns, and the beginnings of crafts like as pottery and weaving.

The Neolithic came after the Mesolithic, or stone-tool age, and went before the Bronze Age, or early metal-tool age.

During the Holocene Epoch, people reached the Neolithic stage of growth (the last 11,700 years of Earth’s history). There is much debate regarding when the Neolithic period began since different sections of the world reached this stage at different periods. However, most people think it started around 10,000 BCE.

People learned to grow crops and raise their animals during that time, so they no longer had to hunt, fish, and gather wild plants for food. Instead of chipping away at weaker rocks until they were the correct form, Neolithic people developed superior stone tools by grinding and polishing tougher rocks.

The Neolithic people were able to build permanent homes and live in villages because they grew cereal grains. Since they were no longer nomadic or living off hunting and gathering, they had time to learn more specialized skills.

Archaeological evidence shows that the change from cultures that gathered food to ones that grew it happened slowly across Asia and Europe, starting in the Fertile Crescent. The first signs of farming and raising animals as pets were found in south-western Asia around 9500 BCE, and this suggests that these things may have started before that time.

By 7000 BCE, people in the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys (now in Iraq and Iran) and in what is now Syria, Israel, Lebanon, and Jordan were living in villages and farming. The earliest farmers bred sheep and goats, as well as growing barley and wheat on their fields. Later on, they expanded their operations to include cattle and pigs.

From the Middle East, their ideas spread north into Europe in two ways: through Turkey and Greece into central Europe, and through Egypt and North Africa to Spain. Villages devoted to agriculture were established in Greece as early as 7000 BCE, and during the subsequent 7000 years, cultivation spread northward throughout the continent.

After 3000 BCE, the lengthy and gradual transition in Britain and Scandinavia came to an end; this period, known as the Mesolithic, is named after it.

Neolithic technology had already made its way to the Indus River area of India by the year 5000 BCE.

 About 3500 BCE, millet and rice farming communities appeared in China’s Huang He (Yellow River) valley and Southeast Asia. In the New World, Neolithic ways of life were made on their own. From about 6500 BCE, people in Mexico and Central America began to domesticate corn (maize), beans, and squash. However, village life didn’t start there until much later, around 2000 BCE.

The Neolithic Age eventually came to an end in the Old World, and the Bronze Age soon took its place. This happened when people learned to mix copper and tin to make bronze, which replaced stone tools and weapons.

Neolithic age facts

1. The Neolithic period in India lasted from around 7,000 to 1,000 B.C.

2. Mesolithic preceded Neolithic (9,000–4,000 B.C.). The Chalcolithic Age followed the Neolithic Age (c.2100 to 700 B.C.).

3. The main crops were Ragi, horse gramme, cotton, rice, wheat, and barley. People kept domesticated animals like cattle, sheep, and goats as pets throughout this historical period. They lived in pits near a lake and got their food from hunting and fishing.

4. Microlithic blades and implements constructed of polished stones and bones were utilised by the humans.

5. This was the first time that people made pottery. They made grey ware, black burnished ware, and mat-pressed ware.

6. The Megalithic Architecture of the Neolithic Age is a big deal.

7. During this time, people lived in houses made of mud and reed that were either round or square. They resided in mud brick houses in certain locations.

8. They shared property rights and lived stable life.

9. Neolithic settlements have been found in the north-western part of India (like Kashmir), the southern part (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh), the north-eastern border (Meghalaya), and the eastern part (Bihar and Odisha).

10. Mehrgarh in Baluchistan, Pakistan, Burzahom in Kashmir, Gufkral in Kashmir, Chirand in Bihar, and Utnur in Bihar are all important Neolithic towns (Andhra Pradesh).

11. Mehrgarh, which is in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan, was the first Neolithic settlement on the Indian Subcontinent.

12. The most important Neolithic sites in Asia were Jarf el Ahmar and Tell Abu Hureyra, Syria.

How the Neolithic Age began

The Neolithic Age began in 9,000 B.C., but it started anywhere from 7,000 B.C. to 1,000 B.C in India. Neolithic settlements in South India are thought to have been built around 2,500 B.C., while Neolithic sites found on the northern spurs of the Vindhyas are no older than 5,000 B.C. Some Neolithic sites in South and Eastern India are only a thousand years old.

Things about the Neolithic Age

People changed from gathering food to making their food during the Neolithic Age. It was also the first time that pots were made and used. People also used blades made of microlithic materials and tools made of polished stone, and no one knew how to use metal.

Agriculture:

 People in the Neolithic Age grew ragi, horse gramme, cotton, rice, wheat, and barley, so they were called food producers. They kept domesticated animals such as cows, sheep, and goats as pets.

Tools: 

People used both microlithic blades and polished stones to make tools. They dug the ground with stone hoes and digging sticks. Ring stones weighing 1-1/2 kg were placed to the tips of these digging rods. Tools and weapons made of bone were discovered by people from Burzahom (Kashmir) and Chirand (Bihar).

Axes were the most common weapons used by the people. People used square axes with curved edges in the northwest part of the Neolithic settlement. Inhabitants in the south utilised axes with oval sides and pointy points, whereas people in the north-eastern region employed polished stone axes with rectangular directions and hoes with shoulders.

Housing: 

During the Neolithic Age, people lived in mud and reed houses that were square or round. People in Mehrgarh lived in mud-brick homes, but at Burzahom, a Neolithic site in Kashmir, people lived in pits.

Pottery:

When people first began farming, they needed a mechanism to store their food grains, as well as a way to cook, drink water, and consume the final result. This necessitated the development of pottery. So, the Neolithic Age was the first time the pottery was made. Grey ware, black-burnished ware, and mat-impressed ware were the three types of pottery from that time.

Architecture:

The Megalithic Architecture of the Neolithic Age is an essential part of history.

Technology:

At the beginning of the Neolithic Age, pots were made by hand. Later, banks were made with foot wheels.

Life in a group:

The Neolithic people shared property rights and lived in one place.

Where Neolithic people lived on a map

The people of the Neolithic period didn’t live too far from hilly areas. Since all of their weapons and tools were made of stone, they mostly lived in hilly river valleys, rock shelters, and on the sides of hills. They lived in the northern spurs of the Vindhyas, Kashmir, South India, Eastern India, Meghalaya (India’s north-eastern border), and the Uttar Pradesh districts of Mirzapur and Allahabad. Mehrgarh in Baluchistan, Pakistan, Burzahom in Kashmir, Gufkral in Kashmir, Chirand in Bihar, and Utnur in Bihar are significant Neolithic settlements (Andhra Pradesh). The most important Neolithic sites in Asia were Jarf el Ahmar and Tell Abu Hureyra, Syria.

In terms of technology, the Neolithic Age saw a lot of progress. People learned how to grow crops, keep animals as pets, build houses, make pottery, weave, and write. This changed the way people lived and led to the start of civilization.

The Chalcolithic Age (around 2100 to 700 B.C.) came after the Neolithic Age. Copper was initially utilised at the end of the Neolithic Age.

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