Stone Age

C

Neolithic

Farming originated at different times in different places—as early as about 9,000 years ago in some parts of the world. In some regions, farming arose through indigenous developments, and in others it spread from other areas. Most archaeologists believe that the development of farming in the Neolithic was one of the most important and revolutionary innovations in the history of the human species. It allowed more permanent settlements, much larger and denser populations, the accumulation of surpluses and wealth, the development of more profound status and rank differences within populations, and the rise of specialized crafts.

Neolithic toolmaking generally shows a great deal of technological continuity with the Mesolithic. Neolithic industries often include blade and bladelet (small blade) technologies, sometimes with microliths, and a wide range of retouched tools, including endscrapers (narrower scrapers for working hides), backed blades or bladelets (some of which were set into handles and used as sickles), and a wide range of projectile points. In addition, ground and polished axes and adzes—which would have been used for forest clearance to plant crops, as well as for woodworking activities—are characteristic of the Neolithic. Such tools, although labor-intensive to manufacture, tended to last a long time without requiring resharpening and consequently were highly prized by these early farmers. Large-scale trade networks of axes and stone are documented in the Neolithic, with artifacts sometimes found hundreds of miles from their sources. Other technological developments in the Neolithic include grinding stones, such as mortars and pestles, for the processing of cereal foods, the widespread use of pottery for surplus food storage and cooking, the construction of granaries for storage of grains, the use of domesticated plant fibers for textiles, and weaving technology.

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1

The Rise of Farming

Archaeologists have a number of theories to explain why humans began farming. The reasons probably differed somewhat from one region to another. Some theories maintain that population pressure or changes in environment may have forced humans to find new economic strategies, which led to farming. Another theory maintains that a population of humans may have lived in a region where it was relatively easy to domesticate wild plants and animals, making the development of agriculture essentially a historical accident. Still another theory proposes that the rise of farming may have been a function of social change, as individuals began to use agriculture as a means to acquire wealth in the form of food surpluses.

Different plant crops were cultivated in different places, depending on what wild plants grew naturally and how well they responded to cultivation. In the Near East, important crops included wheat, barley, rye, legumes, walnuts, pistachios, grapes, and olives. In China, millet and rice predominated. In Africa, millet, sorghum, African rice, and yams were commonly grown. Rice, plantains, bananas, coconuts, and yams were important in Southeast Asia. Finally, in the Americas, corn, squash, beans, potatoes, peppers, sunflowers, amaranths, and goosefoots were commonly grown.

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Domesticated animals also varied from one region to another according, again, to availability and their potential to be domesticated. In Eurasia, Neolithic people domesticated dogs, sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, chickens, ducks, and water buffalo. In the Americas, domesticated animals included dogs, turkeys, llamas, alpacas, and guinea pigs. In Africa, the primary domesticated animals—cattle, sheep, and goats—probably spread from the Near East.

Well-studied early farming sites in Eurasia include Jericho, in the West Bank; Ain Ghazal, in Jordan; Ali Kosh, in Iran; Mehrgarh, in Pakistan; Banpocun (Pan-p’o-ts’un), in China; and Spirit Cave, in Thailand. Important African sites include Adrar Bous in Niger, Iwo Eleru in Nigeria, and Hyrax Hill and Lukenya Hill in Kenya. In the Americas, sites showing early plant domestication include Guila Naquitz, in Mexico, and Guitarrero Cave, in Peru.

Larger Neolithic settlements show a wide variety of new architectural developments. For instance, in the Near East, conical beehive-shaped houses or rambling, connected apartment-style housing were often constructed with mud bricks. In Eastern Europe, houses were made with wattle and daub (interwoven twigs plastered with clay) walls, and, in later times, longhouses were constructed with massive timbers. In China, some settlements contain semisubterranean houses dug into clay, with evidence of walls and roofs made out of thatch or other materials and supported by poles.

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2

Neolithic Social Change

The domestication of plants and animals led to profound social change during the Neolithic. Surpluses of food, such as stored grain or herds of livestock, could become commodities of wealth for some individuals, leading to social differentiation within farming communities. Trade of raw materials and manufactured products between different areas increased markedly during the Neolithic, and many foreign or exotic goods appear to have developed special symbolic value or status. Some Neolithic graves contain rich stores of goods or exotic materials, revealing differentiations in terms of wealth, rank, or power.

In certain areas, notably parts of the Near East and Western Europe, Neolithic peoples erected massive ceremonial complexes, efforts that would have required extensive, dedicated work forces. Large earthworks and megalithic (“giant stone”) monuments from the Neolithic (including the Avebury stone circle and the earliest stages of Stonehenge, in England, and the monuments of Carnac, in France), suggest more highly organized political structures and more complex social organization than among most hunter-gatherer populations. In the Americas, sites such as the mounds of Cahokia, in Illinois, also indicate a more complex, organized political and social order. The technological innovations and economic basis established and spread by Neolithic communities ultimately set the stage for the development of complex societies and civilizations around the world.

IV

The End of the Stone Age

Humans produced metal tools and ornaments from beaten copper as early as 12,000 years ago in some parts of the world. By about 6,000 years ago, early experiments in metallurgy, particularly extracting metals from copper ore (smelting), were being conducted in some parts of Eurasia, notably in Eastern Europe and the Near East. By 5,000 years ago, copper and tin ores were being smelted and alloyed in some regions, marking the dawn of the Bronze Age. Casting of bronze tools—such as axes, knives, swords, spearheads, and arrowheads—became increasingly common over time. At first, copper and bronze tools were rare and stone tools were still very common, but as time went on, metal tools gradually replaced stone as the principal raw material for edged tools and weapons.

In Eurasia and parts of Africa, the rise of metallurgical societies appears to coincide with the rise of the earliest state societies and civilizations, such as ancient Egypt, Sumer, Minoan Culture, Mycenae, and China. In the Americas, parts of sub-Saharan Africa, Australia, and the Pacific Islands, societies continued to use stone and other nonmetal materials as the principal raw materials for tools up to the time of European contact, starting in the 15th century ad. Although, technically, populations in these areas could have been said to be Stone Age groups, many had become agricultural societies and had formed flourishing civilizations.

Stone technology enjoyed a brief resurgence within iron-using societies with the advent of flintlock firearms, beginning in the 17th century. Carefully shaped flints—reminiscent of the geometric microliths of the Mesolithic and early Neolithic—were struck against steel to create a spark to ignite the firearm. By the end of the 20th century few human groups had a traditional stone technology, although a few groups on the island of New Guinea still relied on the use of stone adzes. Tools of metal, plastic, and other materials had replaced stone technologies virtually everywhere.