After experiencing one of the longest stages of Prehistory, such as the Paleolithic, a new era marked by climate change is bornThis period was called Neolithic or Polished Stone. A period where the ice retreats to the north and the temperature begins to warm up. Now there is no need to be moving in search of warmer areas where you can gather, hunt and shelter from the terrible cold of the glacial periods that had occurred in the Paleolithic. Nature offered new resourcesand the homo sapiens sapienshe knew take advantage of them. Let’s find out what happened in the Neolithic, why it is such an important period, what it meant in evolution. We will try to answer these and other questions in this article entitled Neolithic, The Lords of Metal.
Neolithic, the Lords of Metal | The beggining
Neolithic, new stone or polished stoneIt is one of the most important periods of prehistory. It can be considered that It is the stage in which the greatest changes occurred both in the type and in the lifestyle of Homo Sapiens.. The Neolithic spans from 8,000 BC to 4,000 BC approximately, giving way to Age of metals.
Born in the region known as Fertile Crescent that would encompass what was Mesopotamia (today Iraq), Turkey, Iran, Syria, Jordan, Israel and Palestine. At later dates, it would be extended by Europe (approx. 5,000 BC).
We can say that the change from the Paleolithic to the Mesolithicwas mainly due to the end of the last ice age. Climate change, going from the terrible cold that devastated much of the planet to a temperate climate, fundamentally caused:
- The discovery of new territories
- Sedentary lifestyle and with sedentary lifestyle the appearance of agriculture and livestock
As the climate began to warm up, the frozen areas of the planet thawed, the ice began to retreat to the north which caused species such as reindeer, one of the main sources of food for homo sapiens, to move towards colder areas.
Neolithic, the Lords of Metal | Agriculture and Livestock
Despite the lack of hunting, nature gave a new opportunity that man knew how to take advantage of, mild and temperate climate. At this time their way of life was transformed, they no longer saw the need to collect, now they could harvestthus ensuring the basic food.
With fresh pastures and plenty of water, they also didn’t need to go looking for parts to huntnow they could breed always having food at your disposal. It was not necessary to hunt large game, they could raise animals of smaller size that would provide them with the daily food.
Agriculture and domestication of animals appear and therefore a new system of life appears, the sedentary lifestyle. Without the need to constantly go looking for food andHomo sapiens manages to settle in a territory.
learned to grow cereals such as corn, rice or wheat raise animals such as goats, sheep and different birds. Faced with the need to control these animals, the first penswhich would later be improved by achieving larger structures, capable of housing larger animals such as cows, horses and even donkeys, the stalls.
With the crop arises the need to create new tools that facilitate the work as it was the wooden sickle, the polished stone axes that provided greater resistance, the mill to grind the grain. In order to store the grain, a container was needed that would allow its ventilation, as they appear the first wicker basketsmade with esparto like sacks and some primitive sandals.
They began to use the animals they raised for farm work, with the invention of the plow oxen began to be incorporated into agriculture, animals that would allow the land to be farmed much more quickly and comfortably, cIn this way, it covers a larger area of the land.
Neolithic, the Lords of Metal | Trade and Barter
Thanks to the observation of nature, man was able to achieve various harvests per year, which caused surplus. What a population center had left over, another nearby town could need, thus giving rise to an incipient barter-based trade.
With livestock, the need to look for fresh pastures in summer arises, transhumance and with it appear the first contacts between the different peoples. This fact will be very important since it will facilitate the interrelation between different tribes and therefore cultural exchange.
But not all regions evolved in the same wayNeither the climatology, nor the fauna, nor the land was the same in all parts of the planet, which made the times different. All these climatic modifications affected both the cro magnon man like to homo sapienscoinciding in time and each one evolving in a different way.
The one that best adapted was undoubtedly Homo Sapiens, until little by little Cro-Magnon disappeared due to the impossibility of surviving in the face of new circumstances and challenges.
Neolithic, the Lords of Metal | From Nomads to Sedentaries
With the appearance of agriculture and livestock, Neolithic man’s way of life changed from nomadic to sedentary, settling permanently in the same place.
With their food needs covered, they did not have to move. Find an area with good land to cultivate, where it exists variety of fauna to start taming and with a continuous water source it was all that Neolithic man needed. From here begin to appear the first population centers.
Leaving the caves, construction begins the first townsthey were houses made in adobe, more or less rectangular in shape, devoid of streets and with a flat roof. In other areas and perhaps due to the orography or due to needs, they have found circular floor cabinsin other places they were used underground mud constructions with only one room.
Neolithic, the Lords of Metal | The First Settlements
the first construction which has been recorded It is prior to the year 7,000 a. C, Jericho. A city formed by a stone wall that surrounded the entire perimeter, a moat and a circular tower that served as a silo.
The groupings gradually grew, first creating villagesto later form small towns, always located near water sources. The currents of the rivers served to invent an incipient artificial irrigation system, building small canals in order to get the water to the entire crop field.
With the growth of cities, the first public buildings appear such as palaces and temples. Places these in charge of the administrative tasks as was the control of trade and food production.
Both because of the need to control supplies and because of the need to control trade, the first vestiges of writing, mathematics and calculation.
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