Majharul Islam Siyam

 Topic: Transition From Paleolithic To Neolithic Age The transition of the Paleolithic Age to Neolithic Age of human beings was no wonder and it did not happen overnight. Rather, it happened gradually because any changes in human society take a very long time. But lastly, at a specific time, the changes become visible and clear to others. So, in this case, it was a radical change. Focusing on the Evolution of human society, it was divided into two ages. One was ‘Age of Stone’ and another was ‘Age of Metal’. Basically, these names have been taken from the fact of the main raw materials of tools and weapons. In the Age of stone, the raw material of tools and weapons was stone. On the other hand, in the Age of Metal, the raw material of tools and weapons was metal. Besides, the Age of stone was divided into two phases. One was the Paleolithic age or old stone period and the Neolithic Age or new stone period. Duration of the Paleolithic Age: It was started around 2.5 million years ago. The duration of the period was from 2,500,000 BCE to 10,000 BCE. The human species during this period are mostly Homo Habilis and Homo Erectus. Moreover, it was the longest and most painful period in the history of human evolution because humans had to learn very basic things in a very hard way with continuous trials and errors. Though, they had to pay very high price for their mistakes but gradually, they were learning from their mistakes. Duration of the Neolithic Age: It is quite difficult for historians to find the exact date of starting but it started after the end of Paleolithic age and continued till about 3,500 years BCE, when the first civilization emerged. The human species during this period is mostly Homo Neanderthal. Comparisons between “the Paleolithic Age and the Neolithic Age” The Paleolithic age and the Neolithic age were very different from each other in many ways. Here are the comparisons of three main aspects. (i)Livelihood : In the Paleolithic Age- During this age, there were two basic means of livelihood for human beings. Those were (a) Hunting and (b) Food gathering. (a) Hunting: In this period, humans had no surplus of food. That is why, they relied on hunting wild animals. The animals were very dangerous and it was too tough to kill them with primordial tools and weapons. Besides, they used their superior intelligence and made traps to kill wild animals. Though they had no strong weapons for hunting but their main strength was in their numbers. They stayed together for hunting. (b) Food gathering: Human beings of the Paleolithic age used to gather food from nature. They ate fruits, vegetables and roots etc. Most important fact, food gathering was mainly done by women. And because of hard physical labor, hunting was done by men. Also, they need to stay outside for days and obviously, it was not so easy for women. For this reason, they focused to gathering food and they were closed to nature. In the Neolithic Age- In this period, there were two different aspects of livelihood. Those were (a) Domestication of plants and (b) Domestication of animals. (a) Domestication of plants: In the Neolithic age, agriculture was invented for the very first time by women. Plants were domesticated by human being. Moreover, by close observation, they learned how to grow and control plants. For instance, they would bring the seeds and keep them in the soil and they started to build their houses closer to fields and rivers. Then after some days, plants began to grow up. Also they grew crops. For example, corns, wheat, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, squashes, tobacco. For this invention, their labor of gathering food became lower and they did not struggle anymore for gathering food as before. (b)Domestication of animals- In Neolithic period, humans learned the art of control wild animals. Though, training wild animal was not easy for them. Historians told that, most probably, dogs and some of its species were the first domestic animals in that period. Slowly, they became friendly with humans. Later, along with dogs, cows, horses, goats became domesticated. Then humans had no scarcity of foods, because they had plants and domesticated animals. So, they did not run after hunting. Additionally, the food chain was gradually developed than the Paleolithic age, because for the very first time they invented fire by rubbing stones. After that invention, they could cook food by the help of fire and they could eat nutritious food. Thus, their food chain was developed than the Paleolithic age. (ii) Residence: In both Paleolithic and Neolithic age, dwellings and residence were different from each other. In the Paleolithic Age- Humans stayed in temporary dwellings such as caves or mammoth bone huts. Mammoth bone huts were made by bones of large animals. But these were temporary because people had to move one place to another place in search of food, wild animals and natural resources of food like fruits, vegetables etc. In the Neolithic Age- Instead of living temporary cave and huts, people were started living in permanent houses. Those were made of mud bricks and tree branches, straws etc. Humans were started to lead a settled and organized life because they had enough food to eat, they grew pants and mostly they engaged themselves in agriculture. In addition, they had domestic animals, so they did not have to chase wild animals any longer. For this reason, they stopped migrating and started to live in one place and they built society. (iii) Tools and Weapons: As before those two aspects here also tools and weapons were different from the Paleolithic age to Neolithic age. In the Paleolithic age- Humans used small tools as weapons. These tools are known as fist hatchet because it was held in a fist and also it was known as small hand axe, because it served the purpose of an axe too. However, like modern axe, it had no handle to hold properly. For this, humans need to hold it in their fist. The upper side of the fist hatchet had a very sharp corner. By this sharp corner, humans used it as a knife. Furthermore, they used this side to kill animals and also they chopped the meat by this sharp corner or edge. On the other hand, the lower part of the fist hatchet was blunt and humans used the blunt side like hammer to crash foods and hard objects. They used this kind of tools and weapons in their everyday life to survive because in the Paleolithic age, they did not have enough storage of foods. So, everyday they need to hunt the wild and dangerous animals with this small fist hatchet. With the help of the primitive weapons, human beings survived for over 2 million years during this period. In the Neolithic Age- During the Neolithic period, human beings were not bounded only with the used of fist hatchet. Rather, they learned to make new kinds of weapons which were far better than the Paleolithic age. Besides, they started to use varieties of tools and weapons in their everyday life and their lives became easier than the Paleolithic age. However, it was also very tough to make those weapons, because in that period, they had no electric machine to drill holes between the stones and polished them. It was such a difficult task for them without using any modern technology. But, humans of the Neolithic period learned that type of sophisticated technology. To add, they made real hammers and hammer like objects. Very amazingly, they had invented a new kind of weapon. It was named Boomerang. It was made from tree branch not with very refine things. Boomerang was used to kill birds or flying objects. Humans threw the boomerang at any flying bird, if it hit the bird, it would serve its purpose. The bird would fall and the hunter would collect it with boomerang. However, the most interesting part of the boomerang was, if by chance it misses the bird, it will back to the same place from where it was thrown. Doubtlessly, it was very skilled invention by humans of the Neolithic age, because it reduced a lot of trouble, labors and saved time. Apart from these three main aspects, there are many comparisons between the Paleolithic age and the Neolithic age. (iv) Clothings: In the Paleolithic period, humans usually did not wear cloths. They used long leaves to just cover their private areas. But they learned to make niddle out of animal’s bone. Unfortunatley, they did not know, how to weave cloths. But during the new stone or the Neolithic age, they knew knitting and weaving as they knew how to make niddles before. So, they started to make cloths from the skin of animals and covered themselves. (v) Art: In the Paleolithic age, humans did cave painting and these paintings made with black or red pigments. Additionally, they used iron oxides for red and charcoal for black. Also in the Neolithic age, humans did wall paintings of farming, dancing, family, animals, etc. Historians are not sure about the exact reason for these paintings but, humans used a lot of signs in their paintings, and maybe through these, they did their conversations, because they could not talk, as they did not have any language. (vi) Religions: In the Paleolithic age, people had a devotion to animalism. With animalism, they also believed in animism, giving spirits to natural and inanimate objects, and used rock paintings, etc. During the Neolithic Age, there were many kinds of religious rites related to the climate and crops, and humans of that period performed rituals when they wanted it to rain or the sun to rise. (vii) Economy: In Paleolithic age, there was no demand of private property, humans stayed together and hunted all day, used natural resources, after these they left the place. But in the Neolithic age, humans understood the importance of private land and property and ownership for better livestock, also so they started to owning lands. In conclusion, for the Neolithic revolution, human life became more easy and accessible than the Paleolithic period. Briefly speaking, that time they adopted the process of agriculture and domesticating animals. For these reasons, they had enough foods, settled life and they increased their population. Also, they did not need to shift their positions very often, they could stay at one place for long time and they got enough chance to increase their family members. In the Paleolithic age, they moving continuously, that is why, their babies could not survived for less food, less nutrition, and sometimes for the bad weather. By comparing these aspects, we can see transitions from the Paleolithic age to the Neolithic age.