5 DIFFERENCES between Paleolithic and Neolithic

The differences between Paleolithic and Neolithic They are that the first were nomads and the second sedentary; The first were hunters and the second farmers... and many more!

The Stone Age is one of the most important periods in the history of humanity, being where the human being began to be what we are today, and therefore being the period in which the first human societies were born. The Stone Age is a very long period, and therefore has various stages in which various very different events happened.

For everything in this lesson of a Teacher we must talk about the differences between Paleolithic and Neolithic to understand human evolution in this period.

We must enumerate the main differences between Paleolithic and Neolithic, which will help us to understand How did human society evolve? throughout all these centuries.

The Main differences between Paleolithic and Neolithic were the following:

• In the Paleolithic, humans were hunters and gatherers, while in the Neolithic they became farmers and ranchers
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  . The discovery of agriculture and livestock was key for human beings, since they stopped depending on nature to be able to create their own food.
• In the Paleolithic, humans were nomads, since they never lived in the same area and traveled constantly, sleeping in caves or outdoors. On the other hand, in the Neolithic they became sedentary and live in towns continuously, giving birth to the system we know today.
• In the Paleolithic, humans lived in family tribes, while in the Neolithic the social classes they increased and began to be divided socially into towns. Humans maintained the family system, but they opened up to share their habits with other families, thereby generating what we understand as a society.
• In the Paleolithic, humans used carved stone, while in the Neolithic they began to use polished stone, which was much more useful to use the tools. Thanks to this change in the stone, humans were able to greatly advance their technology.
• In the Paleolithic people suffered the ice ages, so they were looking for ways to escape from very cold areas. in the Neolithic temperatures rose after the end of the ice ages, so people stopped having to look for temperatures high, this being one of the main reasons why human beings could become sedentary.

The Paleolithic is the first of the periods into which it is divided Stone ageTherefore, we can situate it chronologically between 2,500 million years ago and around 12,000 years ago. For all this it is considered as the longest stage of the entire history of humanity, since if we do calculations we can say that 90% of the history of humanity took place in this period.

Paleolithic features

To understand the relevance of this period, we must talk about its main characteristics, this being key to see what the situation of humanity was at this time. For all of them main characteristics of the Paleolithic are the following:

• It was a time closely linked to glaciers, causing human beings to have to travel to be able to withstand the low temperatures.
• It was the time when human beings achieved their first tools, being created by stone. It is usually considered that at this time there are various evolutions of the tools, depending on how capable they were with them.
• It is the time of cave paintings, being a series of artistic manifestations that the prehistoric people did in the caves.
• Economic life centered on the figure of the hunters and gatherers, there are few other tasks and being the center of the economy in every way.
• The first forms of religious beliefs, as the representations that appear in numerous tombs seem to demonstrate.

He Neolithic is he last of three periods in which the Stone Age is divided, being the stage in which some of the main elements that serve to pass from the Stone Age to the Metal Age, such as the appearance of the ranching or the end of nomadism. It could be said that this period takes place between 6,000 a. C and 3,000 a. C., being the end of the Stone Age and passing with it to the Bronze Age.

Characteristics

To understand this period, and as we have done with the Paleolithic, we must talk about its main characteristics, among which are the following:

• temperatures rose, allowing human beings to stay in one place without fear of low temperatures.
• Agriculture and livestock became common, allowing people to stay in the same place without the need to look for prey or crops in other places.
• The entire population becomes sedentary, so the first settlements begin to emerge and with it the first societies.
• Appearance of the aljafería, being a practice that would be key in later periods, and without which it would not be possible to understand how human beings were able to generate so many tools with metals.
• The polished stone began to be used, allowing stone tools to be much better, and generating a great evolution in all sections of prehistoric human society.