Neolithic

The Neolithic, or New Stone Age, is a period in the development of human technology and society characterized by the domestication of plants and animals, the establishment of permanent settlements, and the use of more advanced ground or polished stone tools. It roughly begins after the end of the last Ice Age, with earliest developments in the Fertile Crescent around 10,000 BCE and later in various regions such as East Asia, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Americas, with regional dates widely variable. The term Neolithic Revolution is often used to describe these changes, though many scholars view them as gradual and regionally varied.

Agriculture and animal husbandry allowed people to produce surplus food, support larger populations, and establish villages. This shift from foraging to farming is accompanied by new crafts, including pottery, weaving, and the construction of durable houses and granaries. Tools tend to become ground and polished rather than exclusively flaked, and ground-stone implements, sickles, mortars, and figurines appear.

Social organization grew more complex, with evidence of planned settlements, storage facilities, trade networks, and sometimes ritual or religious practices connected to farming cycles. The Neolithic is also associated with the spread of sedentary life and the beginnings of urbanization in later Neolithic periods.

The end of the Neolithic is regionally varied, often marked by the adoption of metalworking and the transition to the Chalcolithic or Bronze Age. The term remains a standard descriptor in archaeology, reflecting a broad phase rather than a single uniform culture or technology.