Neolithic Age - Meaning, Tools, Time Period & Characteristics

The Neolithic period is the final stage of the Stone Age, after the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic. It is distinguished by several novel cultural features, such as the use of new technology to create stone tools, new means of subsistence, new patterns of housing, etc. Animal domestication and agriculture began during the Neolithic era. The Fertile Crescent region of Egypt and Mesopotamia, the Indus region, the Ganges valley of India, and China all contain early Neolithic cultural evidence. In these areas, agriculture first appeared between 10,000 and 5000 BCE, which started a number of cultural advancements.

Neolithic Age of Prehistoric Period

This new stone age developed in the Holocene epoch, preceded by the Mesolithic age. This prehistoric periodwas characterised by the development of agriculture, pottery, and permanent settlement, thus marking the beginning of the first human civilisation often termed the Neolithic Revolution.

• The Neolithic period was characterised by a cultural revolution. Man progressed from being a seeker of the natural world to its master.
• Tools from this period required more time to complete and were more durable. In addition to stone tools, the people brought ceramics, which served a variety of functions.
• Although they continued to use earlier tools, prehistoric people used pecking, grinding, and polishing to fashion tools from various types of igneous rocks during this period in order to adapt to their environment.
• The surface of a wet sandstone was used as an abrasive. The tools thus made were more durable and one took a longer time to make them.
• Thus, mostly the Neolithic industry is referred to as the pecked and groundstone tool industry.

Neolithic Revolution

During the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic stages, the mode of subsistence was hunting and gathering, which changed significantly in the Neolithic age.

• Technological advancement: The Neolithic period is associated with the advancement in stone tool technology, particularly the making of ground, pecked, and polished stone tools, and the advent of food production.
  • Changes in the stone tools were in line with the changes in subsistence strategies.
• Started Sedentary Living: The emergence of small and relatively self-sufficient village communities, as well as a division of labour based on sex, resulted in a sedentary life for the first time in human history.
• Food production by artificial means: In the Neolithic age, humans started using artificial means to produce food for the first time.
  • Agriculture and the domestication of animals were the two novel practices that developed at this time.
  • Some wild animal species, like goats, sheep, and cattle, were domesticated and were being used for transportation and agriculture.
  • Similar to this, early crops included wild varieties of paddy (especially in Asia), wheat, barley, etc.
  • Agriculture proved to be such a significant invention that a small portion of society was able to provide the entire community with food.
• Pottery: Neolithic pottery was pioneering and made by hand at first, then using wheels.
  • Weaving and spinning were also invented in this age.
• The Neolithic Age opened an entirely new way of life and sowed the seeds of civilisation. That is why this phase is called the Neolithic Revolution to highlight the enormous significance of these changes.
  • This revolution was gradual and took place several times in different regions, with varied features and results.

The Neolithic Age and the Beginnings of Food Production

The domestication of plants and animals was the outcome of a long series of collective experiments spanning several generations of men, women, and children, stretching out over possibly thousands of years.

• It involved taking plants and animals out of their natural habitat and selectively breeding and raising them in controlled artificial environments for human benefit.
• The balance of subsistence strategies can be gradually observed to have shifted from hunting and gathering to agriculture and animal husbandry.
• The next stage was that of incipient (early) agriculture, which, over time, led to the stage of developed agriculture.
• Over time, these changes were linked to advancements in technology, increased food availability, population growth, an increase in the quantity and size of human settlements, and more intricate social and political structures.

Neolithic Culture in India

India's Neolithic cultures can be broken down into a number of regional groups, each of which had its own prosperous time. It started very early in the northwest regions of Pakistan and India. The Neolithic cultures emerged in north-eastern India towards the beginning of recorded history, which is a very late date.

Life in Neolithic India

• Tools: All Indian sites possessed polished or ground stone axes. They also included earlier tools such as microliths and blades.
• Pottery: The early neolithic culture of a few sites, such as in Kashmir, Balochistan, and South India, was without any pottery. Later, earthen pots were the distinctive features.
• House: In the form of simple huts (across India) and pit dwellings (in Kashmir and Deccan). The huts were of various shapes - circular, rectangular, etc.
• Arts and crafts: Beads made of semi-precious stones and clay figures of animals and mother goddesses are notable items.
• Social organisation and belief system: People started to live in sedentary and semi-sedentary settlements.
  • They probably had a tribal level of social organisation.
  • As they domesticated plants and animals, the concept of land and plant ownership developed.
  • The presence of small houses may suggest the presence of nuclear families.
  • The ceramics and beads suggest an improvement in material cultural production.
  • The dead were buried within the houses, and animal burials are sometimes found. It suggests the adoption of specific rituals and the worship of the dead. 
  • They may have worshipped the natural forces.
  • The pieces of evidence of art objects are very few, but the terracotta images of cattle suggest some kind of fertility cult.

Neolithic Age FAQs

Q1. What is the Neolithic Age?

Ans. An archaeological period known as the Neolithic or New Stone Age marks the end of the Stone Age in Europe, Asia, and Africa. It witnessed the Neolithic Revolution, a broad range of innovations that seem to have originated separately in multiple regions of the globe.

Q2. What is the significance of Neolithic culture?

Ans. The Neolithic culture was characterised by the development of agriculture, pottery, and permanent settlement, thus marking the beginning of the first human civilisation. The tools of this period were more durable and took a longer time to finish.

Q3. What is the Neolithic Revolution?

Ans. A surplus of grains was produced by agriculture flourishing on the rich soil that the rivers had left behind. The development of early civilizations was greatly aided by the production of surplus food. Pottery evolved, and large villages started to exist. Permanent homes were built. For these reasons, the cultural developments of the Neolithic age are known as the Neolithic Revolution.

Q4. Which tools were used in the Neolithic culture of India?

Ans. All Indian sites of the Neolithic age possessed polished or ground stone axes. They also included earlier tools such as microliths and blades.

Q5. What were Neolithic tools made of?

Ans. Throughout all stages of the Neolithic, a great deal of work was done with tools made of stone, bone, and deer antlers for both inside and outside the settlement (e.g., food preparation, weaving, hunting, and agriculture).