Concept in Definition ABC

The study of prehistory has developed a chronology of the periods that seeks to order the data and findings according to shared characteristics. In this sense, the Neolithic is considered the last stage of the Stone Age that would begin approximately around the year 9500 BC and that would develop until 3500 when tools built in stone began to be replaced for metal.

During the Neolithic period, one of the most important and great changes in the history of Humanity would take place: the invention of the farming. With this fabulous advance, prehistoric men went from being nomadic men to sedentary beings who no longer needed to travel large areas of territory in search of food. Agriculture would mean the most relevant technological advance because it would make man independent of nature to transform him into a being capable of providing himself with food.

At the same time, during the Neolithic period the human being was able to achieve the domestication of animals that would be kept as livestock and would also serve as food, pack animals and shelter providers, among others things. Domesticated animals varied according to the region of the planet but were mostly animals such as donkeys, sheep, goats, llamas and guanacos. They remained close to the human being's dwelling in ranch species. Also in the Neolithic period, man reached the skills to make ceramic materials and fabrics that would allow him to preserve food as well as shelter from the cold.

The Neolithic name comes from the Greek and means "new stone", just the opposite of what the paleolithic. This name is related to the encounters dated to this time that showed that the human being could build tools a lot more complex than simple sharp rocks, in addition to inventing a large variety of instruments that were used for different activities.

Finally, in many spaces investigated for this period, the remains demonstrated to researchers that Neolithic man made different types of symbols and elements that had magical meanings and religious. Normally, they were found inside the houses (which proves that religious worship took place there), or around them.

The Neolithic period would go into decline when the human being could dominate metal, an element much more difficult to work with. Thus, around 3500 BC the Age of Bronze.