Neolithic Era 8000 BCE to 3500 BCE New Stone Age period of time that began when people took up farming (the Agricultural Revolution) and ended with the advent of civilization. farming

Humans learned how to domesticate both plants and animals.

Domesticated (tamed) animals were penned or herded to provide a ready supply of meat, milk, fur,etc. Domesticated pig Wild boar

How did the beginning of agriculture and the domestication of animals promote the rise of settled communities?

People could settle in one place because they didn’t have to search for food, water and shelter. Neolithic people in many parts of the world independently developed agriculture.

They built permanent dwellings and settled in small villages The key invention that ushered in the Neolithic Age was farming. This invention fundamentally changed the fabric of Mesolithic society because people no longer had to spend all their time hunting, and they were less likely to go hungry when game was hard to find. Additionally, they could built much larger, more permanent dwellings and, perhaps most importantly, this was the first period that people had enough 'spare time' in which to innovate.

They spent less time searching for food and had some 'spare time' in which to innovate and create new technologies.

Migration into the Fertile Crescent

What technologies were developed during the Neolithic era?

agriculture domesticated animals

advanced tools and weapons Flint axe

pottery

weaving

How do we learn about prehistoric humans?

Archaeologists Study past cultures by locating and analyzing human remains, settlements, fossils, and artifacts Archaeologists study people of the past through the things they left behind.

Artifacts Things made by people

Archaeologists apply scientific tests such as carbon dating to analyze fossils and artifacts. The half-life of carbon 14 is 5730 ± 30 years, and the method of dating lies in trying to determine how much carbon 14 (the radioactive isotope of carbon) is present in the artifact and comparing it to levels currently present in the atmosphere. Above is a graph that illustrates the relationship between how much Carbon 14 is left in a sample and how old it is.

Carbon 14 dating: used to find the age of organic materials.

The Ice Man

What Neolithic sites are being studied by archaeologists today?

TURKEY Catal Hoyuk Aleppo FERTILE CRESCENT (in white) Jericho Aleppo and Jericho: Two of the world’s earliest cities located in the Fertile Crescent, a region in the Middle East with rich soil for farming.

Aleppo Why did they build this city on top of a hill?

Jericho What’s Jericho famous for?

Catalhoyuk: An example of a large Neolithic settlement currently under excavation in Anatolia (present- day Turkey)

Stonehenge an example of an archaeological site located in England. It was begun during the Neolithic and completed during the Bronze Age.

Warm-up 3 Another name for the Neolithic Era is the Old Stone Age or the New Stone Age? The Neolithic Era began when humans learned agriculture or how to domesticate or gather plants and animals? Why were Neolithic humans able to settle in one place and build houses and villages? Name five technologies developed during the Neolithic Era? Name two Neolithic sites being studied by archaeologists today.

Warm-up 3 answers Why were Neolithic humans able to settle in one place and build houses and villages? Since they could farm and domesticate animals they had a ready supply of food Name five technologies developed during the Neolithic Era? agriculture, domesticated animals, weaving, pottery and advanced tools and weapons Name two Neolithic sites being studied by archaeologists today. Jericho, Aleppo, Catal Hoyuk, and Stonehenge