Neolithic
Late Stone Age
The Neolithic period is the final era of the Stone Age, marked by the shift from hunting and gathering to farming and settled communities.
Neolithic peoples domesticated animals, cultivated crops, and built permanent structures like the village at Çatalhöyük or the monuments at Stonehenge.
Neolithic revolution describes this transformation in human society. (Lowercase neolithic appears in informal or figurative use.)
Prehistoric megalithic circle
- dolmenMegalithic stone tomb
- menhirPrehistoric upright stone monument
- Göbekli TepeAncient megalithic ritual site
- cromlechMegalithic stone monument
henge · standing stones · Carnac · passage grave · tumulus · barrow · cairn · alignments
Small rural community
- dwellingPlace of residence
- longhouseElongated communal dwelling structure
- hearthFireplace floor area
- postholeCavity for fence supports
wattle-and-daub · mudbrick · thatch · granary · midden · enclosure · ditch · palisade
Stone made smooth, lustrous
- flintSpark-producing sedimentary rock
- knappingFracturing stone for tools
- chertFine-grained siliceous stone
- adzeTransverse-bladed hewing implement
arrowhead · grinding stone · quern · scraper · axehead · hammerstone · obsidian · blade
Adapting species to captivity
- cultivationFostering growth through care
- farmingCultivating land for food
- harvestGathering mature crops
- granaryBuilding for storing cereals
irrigation · pastoralism · horticulture · wheat · barley · emmer · legumes · millet
Act of unearthing
- prehistoricBefore documented civilization
- artifactsHuman-made historical objects
- radiocarbon datingDetermining age via isotope decay
- stratigraphyStudy of rock layers
dig · site · fieldwork · antiquities · chronology · typology · midden · assemblage
Stonehenge
Prehistoric megalithic circle
- dolmenMegalithic stone tomb
- menhirPrehistoric upright stone monument
- Göbekli TepeAncient megalithic ritual site
cromlech · henge · standing stones · Carnac · passage grave · tumulus · barrow · cairn · alignments · earthworks
village
Small rural community
posthole · wattle-and-daub · mudbrick · thatch · granary · midden · enclosure · ditch · palisade · communal
Çatalhöyük
Proto-city in Turkey
polished stone
Stone made smooth, lustrous
- flintSpark-producing sedimentary rock
- knappingFracturing stone for tools
- chertFine-grained siliceous stone
adze · arrowhead · grinding stone · quern · scraper · axehead · hammerstone · obsidian · blade · core
domestication
Adapting species to captivity
- cultivationFostering growth through care
- farmingCultivating land for food
- harvestGathering mature crops
granary · irrigation · pastoralism · horticulture · wheat · barley · emmer · legumes · millet · flax
excavation
Act of unearthing
- prehistoricBefore documented civilization
- artifactsHuman-made historical objects
- radiocarbon datingDetermining age via isotope decay
stratigraphy · dig · site · fieldwork · antiquities · chronology · typology · midden · assemblage · relative dating
- ancient worldancient Greece, ancient Rome, ancient Egypt, pyramids, pyramid
- prehistorystone tools, Stone Age, caveman, cavemen, Bronze Age
- ancientantiquity, archaic, classical, medieval, Middle Ages
- Historical AgesStone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Copper Age, Golden Age
- historical erasStone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Middle Ages, Renaissance
- Prehistoric Timesprehistory, ancient times, Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age
NeolithicPaleolithic
Earliest archaeological era
Bronze Age · Iron Age · Lower Paleolithic · Mesolithic · Chalcolithic
Neolithichunter-gatherer
Pre-farming subsistence lifestyle
nomadic · foraging · mobile · Paleolithic · Mesolithic
Neolithicmodern
Of recent times
contemporary · digital age · industrial · post-industrial · high-tech
- Neolithic periodEra of early agriculture
- Neolithic RevolutionAdoption of farming, settlement
monolith, monolithic, lithograph, neo, megalith, megaliths, lithography, lithographer, lithosphere