Neolithic facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Neolithic

Reconstruction of Pre-Pottery Neolithic B housing in Aşıklı Höyük, modern Turkey
Period	Final period of Stone Age
Dates	c. 10,000 BC to c. 2,000 BC
Preceded by	Mesolithic, Epipalaeolithic
Followed by	Chalcolithic

Reconstruction of a Neolithic farmstead, Irish National Heritage Park. The Neolithic saw the invention of agriculture.

The Neolithic period, also called the New Stone Age, was an exciting time in human history. The name comes from Greek words meaning "new stone." It was the final chapter of the great Stone Age. This amazing era happened across Asia, Europe, and Africa. During this time, early humans discovered how to grow their own crops and tame animals. This big shift is known as the Neolithic Revolution. Instead of wandering constantly as a hunter-gatherer, people chose settling down in one place. The famous scientist John Lubbock named this period in 1865. He was improving the famous three-age system of history.

Before this era, people relied on hunting wild creatures and finding edible plants. The Neolithic brought the introduction of farming to human communities everywhere. Early humans discovered the benefits of the domestication of animals. They built permanent homes, storehouses, and thriving villages. This dramatic change created the world we recognize today.

Origins of the Neolithic Revolution and Early Farming

Approximate centers of origin of agriculture in the Neolithic Revolution and its spread in prehistory: the Fertile Crescent (12,000 BP), the Yangtze river and Yellow River basins (9,000 BP) and the New Guinea Highlands (9,000–6,000 BP), Central Mexico (5,000–4,000 BP), Northern South America (5,000–4,000 BP), sub-Saharan Africa (5,000–4,000 BP, exact location unknown), eastern North America (4,000–3,000 BP).

The New Stone Age started around 12,000 years ago in West Asia. This region is also known as the Ancient Near East. People in the Epipalaeolithic period began experimenting with wild grasses. The ancient Natufian culture led the way in harvesting wild grains. Later, the cooler weather of the Younger Dryas made wild foods harder to find. Because of this, early humans needed a reliable food supply.

Early pioneers started gathering and planting seeds from healthy cereal plants. This plant selection turned into real farming. The famous Fertile Crescent was a curved band of rich land in Southwest Asia. It became one of the first places to develop major crop farming. Early farmers selected wild grasses and created delicious crops over many generations.

The first founder crops were wheat, lentil, pea, and nutritious chickpea. They also grew bitter vetch and cultivated flax to make strong fibers. Soon, people planted early grains like einkorn wheat and spelt. Meanwhile, other regions independently discovered farming across the globe. Farmers in Asia began growing rice and hardy millet.

Humans also welcomed loyal animal companions to their new settlements. The keeping of dogs helped with village protection and work. Around 8000 BC, villages also kept sheep and goats for milk and wool. Soon after, they kept herds of cattle and useful pigs. Not all cultures developed tools, pottery, and farming at the same exact pace. For example, people in the Jōmon period in Japan made pottery before farming began.

How the Neolithic Era Developed Across Regions

The Neolithic lifestyle developed in different ways around our planet. Every region adapted to local plants, wildlife, and natural climates.

The Near East and Mesopotamia

An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools

In the ancient Middle East, people built some of the earliest farm villages. Archaeologists divide this era using periods from the ASPRO chronology. Early developments occurred in the Levant, spreading toward the north and east. Farmers settled near rivers in Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and the sandy Sinai Peninsula.

Discoveries in Pre-Pottery Neolithic A

The Urfa Man c. 9000 BC. Şanlıurfa Archaeology and Mosaic Museum.

The Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) era began around 10,000 BC. In southeastern Turkey, people built the giant site called Göbekli Tepe. Built around 9500 BC, it may be the oldest known place of human worship. Massive T-shaped limestone pillars feature carvings of foxes, birds, and fierce lions. Nomad groups gathered there using simple stone tools before permanent houses existed.

Settlements grew across the Jordan Valley and Palestine, including ancient Tell es-Sultan. This site became the famous early walled town of ancient Jericho. Other important communities include Gilgal, Ain Mallaha, Nahal Oren, and Kfar HaHoresh in modern Israel. Ancient villages were also built at Byblos in Lebanon and Abu Madi in Sinai.

Farmers began domesticating crops like sweet Emmer wheat. They carefully managed plants through early selective breeding. In 2006, archaeologists found dried figs dating back to 9400 BC in Jericho. These special figs were among the very first cultivated fruit trees. Builders made round houses using sturdy mudbrick to protect their families. Jericho also built a tall stone tower and protective stone walls.

Advancements in Pre-Pottery Neolithic B

Female and male figurines; 9000–7000 BC; gypsum with bitumen and stone inlays; from Tell Fekheriye (Al-Hasakah Governorate of Syria); University of Chicago Oriental Institute (USA)

The Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) phase started around 8800 BC. People built rectangular homes with multiple rooms for larger families. Plaster floors were painted bright colors, and roofs were made flat. A large settlement named 'Ain Ghazal grew near modern Amman in Jordan. Over 3,000 people lived together inside this busy community.

Families honored their ancestors with special rituals. They took skulls of relatives and covered them with clay and smooth plaster. These remarkable Plastered human skulls featured shells for lifelike eyes. People placed them carefully underneath household living floors. Art also flourished, as shown by stone statues carved from gypsum and dark bitumen.

Changing Lifeways in Pre-Pottery Neolithic C and the Late Neolithic

Later communities at 'Ain Ghazal entered the Pre-Pottery Neolithic C phase. A dry climate shift around 6200 BC led groups to herd livestock. Pastoral groups lived alongside desert groups like the Harifian culture. Some groups traveled toward the Red Sea and into arid parts of Egypt.

By 6400 BC, the Late Neolithic emerged across the Fertile Crescent. Craftspeople invented colorful, durable pottery to hold tasty food and clean water. The Halaf culture made beautifully painted bowls in northern areas. In the south, the Ubaid period created large settlements across Sumer and Elam. Because rain was rare, early farmers dug ditches for irrigation.

North and Sub-Saharan Africa

Algerian cave paintings depicting hunting scenes

Megaliths from Nabta Playa displayed in the Aswan Nubian museum

The New Stone Age in Africa had its own unique story. In northeast Africa, people lived near Bir Kiseiba and Nabta Playa. Nomadic herders moved sheep and cattle across green plains that later became desert. In Egypt, farming developed along the lush banks of the Nile.

Northwestern Africa, known as the Maghreb, received farming ideas from Europe and the Levant. Digs at Kaf el-Ghar in Morocco revealed early ceramics and cereal grains. Further south, the Pastoral Neolithic emerged in the East African Rift. Communities focused on the skilled herding of livestock across grassy plains. The Savanna Pastoral Neolithic people carved stone bowls and created sturdy pottery.

European Farming and Megaliths

Female figure from Tumba Madžari, North Macedonia

Map showing distribution of some of the main culture complexes in Neolithic Europe, c. 3500 BC

Skara Brae, Scotland. Evidence of home furnishings (shelves)

Farming spread to Europe around 6500 BC through migrations from Anatolia. The earliest European farming villages include Vashtëmi in southeastern Albania. Soon, early farmers flourished in Greece at the famous Sesklo settlement. Settlers lived in Tumba Madžari in North Macedonia, creating detailed human figurines.

From the Balkans, farming traditions spread along major European river valleys. Cultures such as the Starčevo-Körös and the Linearbandkeramik built great communities. The Vinča culture in Serbia produced early symbols known as Vinča signs. In Eastern Europe, the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture created massive, well-organized villages.

Neolithic builders loved creating giant stone monuments called megaliths. On the Mediterranean island of Gozo, builders constructed Ġgantija. Its stone walls are among the oldest free-standing buildings on Earth. Nearby on Malta, worshippers gathered at Mnajdra and the underground Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni. Later groups constructed stone burial chambers known as dolmens. In the cold north, people built the stone village of Skara Brae in Scotland.

South, East, and Southeast Asia

Neolithic artifacts from China

In South Asia, settled village life developed in Balochistan, Pakistan. At the ancient site of Mehrgarh, farmers planted wheat and raised cattle. Scientists found that ancient villagers used bow drills to repair teeth! In southern India, villagers created large Neolithic ashmounds through ritual community fires.

In China, ancient farmers settled near great freshwater river systems. Early settlements include the northern Nanzhuangtou culture and the southern Pengtoushan culture. Farmers along the Yellow River grew yellow millet, while southern farmers mastered rice. The Cishan culture, Xinglongwa culture, and Longshan culture created brilliant pottery and jade items.

The New Stone Age also reached the lush Korean Peninsula. In South Korea, archaeologists discovered an ancient farm field at Munam-ri. In remote areas of West Papua, people used stone axes into modern times.

The Americas and the Pacific

In the Americas, native cultures began growing their own crops independently. Because metals were rare, scientists often call this era the Formative stage. In the southwestern lands, villages grew through dryland farming. Farmers cultivated corn, tasty beans, and squash, while caring for turkeys. In South America, ancient builders created giant coastal centers like the Caral–Supe civilization.

How Neolithic People Lived

The New Stone Age transformed daily life, work, tools, and social relationships.

Social Life and Community Organization

Model of a Linear Pottery culture settlement, showing longhouses, circular enclosures, and fields

Anthropomorphic Neolithic ceramic figurine

Most early Neolithic communities lived as cooperative tribes without rich kings. Many communities shared work equally among families and extended households. However, as families gained herds of livestock, wealth differences slowly began to appear. Even so, large settlements like Çatalhöyük in Turkey remained remarkably equal. Houses at Çatalhöyük were the same size, with doorways built on rooftops!

As populations grew, communities worked together to create huge earthworks. Villages built circular ditches, causewayed enclosure systems, and burial mound hills. These shared projects were likely directed by respected village elders or chiefs. Sometimes conflicts arose between neighboring tribes. Settlements built tall wooden walls called a palisade to protect their homes.

Shelters, Homes, and Village Design

Reconstruction of Neolithic house in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina

People left cold caves behind and built sturdy homes in farming villages. In warmer areas, families made houses with sun-dried mudbrick covered in smooth plaster. In European forests, villagers built a large Neolithic long house using timber. Walls were woven from branches and sealed with mud using wattle and daub.

In damp lake areas, people built clever stilt-house homes above the water. These aquatic villages stood in the Ljubljana Marsh and the Austrian lakes Mondsee and Attersee. Living above water kept families safe from predatory animals and floods. Inside homes, families crafted stone shelves, comfortable sleeping areas, and warm clay hearths.

Farming, Food, and Diet

A Cucuteni-Trypillian culture deer antler plough

Food and cooking items retrieved at a European Neolithic site: millstones, charred bread, grains and small apples, a clay cooking pot, and containers made of antlers and wood

The move to farming gave human communities a dependable surplus of food. People learned to store grain in pottery jars for winter months. They used animal horns to build a durable plough to till soil. When harvest time arrived, farmers cut wheat using a curved sickle. Families used a flat grinding stone to crush seeds into nutritious flour.

Farming life also brought new challenges to human groups. A sudden drought or crop disease could cause a serious regional famine. Because people lived near animals, communities had to manage sanitation carefully. However, stored food allowed populations to expand across every continent.

Tools, Pottery, and Clothing

The hallmark of the Neolithic was the creation of polished stone tools. Craftspeople ground hard stones against wet sandstone to create sharp, smooth edges. The polished stone axe was the ultimate tool of the age. Along with the wooden adze, axes let farmers clear dense forests for fields. Craftspeople also carved neat projectile points, stone drills, and jewelry.

Clay became a magical material for storage, cooking, and art. People shaped moist clay into cooking pots and hardened them with fire. Weavers spun fibers using a weighted spindle whorl. They wove threads into smooth linen cloth and warm woolen garments. For outdoor work, people continued wearing sturdy, warm clothes made from animal leather.

Famous Early Settlements of the Neolithic World

Reconstruction of a Cucuteni-Trypillian hut, in the Tripillian Museum, Ukraine

Archaeological site of Çatalhöyük in the Konya Plain in Turkey

Archaeologists have uncovered many fascinating settlements built during the New Stone Age.

In England, builders constructed the Post Track around 3838 BC as a wooden roadway across wetlands. Meanwhile, builders across Europe constructed earth monuments like long barrow mounds and cursus pathways. Eventually, the discovery of metal casting brought the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age, concluding the Stone Age.

Major Cultures and Archaeological Sites

Archaeologists organize the New Stone Age into three broad cultural phases:

• Early Neolithic: This phase includes the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A in the Levant, the Cishan culture and Beixin culture in China, the Starčevo-Körös-Criş culture in southeastern Europe, and Dudeşti culture sites in Romania.
• Middle Neolithic: This period saw the spread of farming into deep Europe and across Asia. It includes the Cardium pottery culture along Mediterranean coasts, the Corded Ware culture, the Linear Pottery culture, and the Grooved ware people of Britain. In Asia, it saw the painted vases of the Yangshao culture, the jade carving of the Hongshan culture, and settlements of the Liangzhu culture.
• Late Neolithic: This final era features the Funnelbeaker culture in northern Europe and the pottery of the Halaf culture and Ubaid period in the Fertile Crescent. These societies laid the groundwork for the world's very first bronze-making civilizations.

See Also

In Spanish: Neolítico para niños

• Céide Fields
• Neolithic religion
• Neolithic tomb
• Ötzi
• Rock art of the Djelfa region
• Tabon Man
• Two layer hypothesis
• Neolithic in China
• Neolithic in the Near East