WEBVTT 00:00:02.300 --> 00:00:05.100 (narrator) As the world left the Paleolithic Period 00:00:05.100 --> 00:00:07.566 and traveled through the Mesolithic, 00:00:07.566 --> 00:00:10.632 it would not be long, historically speaking, 00:00:10.633 --> 00:00:13.199 before humans started to settle down 00:00:13.200 --> 00:00:17.700 in permanent farmsteads, villages, and communities. 00:00:17.700 --> 00:00:20.733 The Neolithic, or New Stone Age, 00:00:20.733 --> 00:00:23.566 was the final chapter of the Stone Age 00:00:23.566 --> 00:00:26.499 and the first step towards what we would consider 00:00:26.500 --> 00:00:28.200 to be civilization, 00:00:28.200 --> 00:00:30.000 loosely. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:34.366 Part of the Neolithic was the first agricultural revolution, 00:00:34.366 --> 00:00:37.432 where many human communities began transitioning 00:00:37.433 --> 00:00:40.099 away from life as hunter-gatherers 00:00:40.100 --> 00:00:43.600 in favor of farming crops and livestock. 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:47.133 This, in turn, allowed for populations to grow, 00:00:47.133 --> 00:00:50.066 and some settlements spread out to support this, 00:00:50.066 --> 00:00:54.599 forming the world's first large-scale communities. 00:00:54.600 --> 00:00:58.900 The Neolithic began roughly 12,000 years ago, 00:00:58.900 --> 00:01:02.433 and is actually marked by the first evidence of farming 00:01:02.433 --> 00:01:06.633 taking place in the fertile crescent of Western Asia. 00:01:06.633 --> 00:01:10.999 These early farms cultivated a small range of crops, 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:15.233 such as spelt, wheat, einkorn, and millet, 00:01:15.233 --> 00:01:17.666 and still kept dogs in their settlements 00:01:17.666 --> 00:01:20.566 to assist with hunting for meat. 00:01:20.566 --> 00:01:23.666 It wasn't until 8,000 BC 00:01:23.666 --> 00:01:25.799 when modern domesticated animals, 00:01:25.800 --> 00:01:28.800 such as pigs, goats, and sheep, 00:01:28.800 --> 00:01:32.300 were brought into human settlements. 00:01:32.300 --> 00:01:34.066 Where the Neolithic ends 00:01:34.066 --> 00:01:36.599 depends on where you're located. 00:01:36.600 --> 00:01:38.633 These West Asian cultures 00:01:38.633 --> 00:01:41.633 were the first to progress out of the Neolithic 00:01:41.633 --> 00:01:43.766 with the advent of metallurgy 00:01:43.766 --> 00:01:47.032 as they headed into the Bronze Age. 00:01:47.033 --> 00:01:50.599 Other regions of the world took longer to advance 00:01:50.600 --> 00:01:52.200 with cultures in Africa 00:01:52.200 --> 00:01:57.266 first progressing at around 3,150 BC, 00:01:57.266 --> 00:02:00.832 and Europe in 2,000 BC. 00:02:00.833 --> 00:02:05.666 Today, we will be examining these cultures in greater detail. 00:02:05.666 --> 00:02:08.432 How did the Neolithic humans of Europe, 00:02:08.433 --> 00:02:11.433 Asia, and Africa live their lives? 00:02:11.433 --> 00:02:14.999 How did they progress, learn, and thrive 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:17.400 in the early historical landscapes 00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:19.433 they would grow to call home? 00:02:19.433 --> 00:02:22.799 Join us as we answer these questions and more 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:25.000 exploring the Neolithic, 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:28.333 the mysterious and ancient New Stone Age. 00:02:31.200 --> 00:02:34.800 Asian cultures were by far the first to show evidence 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:36.900 of stable farming communities 00:02:36.900 --> 00:02:40.500 and the earliest forms of civilization. 00:02:40.500 --> 00:02:42.766 This technology first came to light 00:02:42.766 --> 00:02:45.366 in Western Asia and the Levant, 00:02:45.366 --> 00:02:48.899 encompassing regions making up modern day Turkey, 00:02:48.900 --> 00:02:52.500 Syria, Iraq, and Jordan. 00:02:52.500 --> 00:02:54.800 This is suspected to have begun 00:02:54.800 --> 00:02:58.000 when hunter-gatherers began to understand the process 00:02:58.000 --> 00:02:59.933 in which plants grew. 00:02:59.933 --> 00:03:02.433 It is thought that, in the first instance, 00:03:02.433 --> 00:03:05.599 these hunter-gatherers would simply scatter seeds 00:03:05.600 --> 00:03:07.666 around the region they found them 00:03:07.666 --> 00:03:10.866 in order to prompt the growth of more plants, 00:03:10.866 --> 00:03:13.799 thus resulting in more food. 00:03:13.800 --> 00:03:15.833 There would have been a great deal 00:03:15.833 --> 00:03:18.299 of trial and error involved in this, 00:03:18.300 --> 00:03:22.300 as is the way with any new technology. 00:03:22.300 --> 00:03:25.733 Hunter-gatherers are thought to have finally made the leap 00:03:25.733 --> 00:03:29.099 when localized climate change forced parts of the planet 00:03:29.100 --> 00:03:31.200 into long dry seasons, 00:03:31.200 --> 00:03:33.300 a climate that favors plants, 00:03:33.300 --> 00:03:36.733 which complete their life cycle in one year. 00:03:36.733 --> 00:03:40.833 Certain grains and pulses were available to be harvested 00:03:40.833 --> 00:03:42.666 at differing points in the year, 00:03:42.666 --> 00:03:47.832 leading to a wide variety of food ready to eat year round. 00:03:47.833 --> 00:03:49.666 It was off the back of this 00:03:49.666 --> 00:03:53.032 that the first settlements were able to arise. 00:03:53.033 --> 00:03:55.866 Neolithic communities in the Levant 00:03:55.866 --> 00:03:58.332 are thought to have had a basic grasp 00:03:58.333 --> 00:04:00.966 over seed selection and reseeding, 00:04:00.966 --> 00:04:04.832 allowing the finest crops to be cultivated and harvested 00:04:04.833 --> 00:04:07.466 based on preferences. 00:04:07.466 --> 00:04:10.566 Some grains were ground down into flour 00:04:10.566 --> 00:04:12.532 using mortar and pestles, 00:04:12.533 --> 00:04:14.733 which, as technology progressed, 00:04:14.733 --> 00:04:19.333 would eventually be used to make a range of new foods. 00:04:19.333 --> 00:04:21.933 There is evidence from Jericho, however, 00:04:21.933 --> 00:04:27.233 that figs were in fact the first crop to be cultivated by humans. 00:04:27.233 --> 00:04:30.466 Fig remains were discovered in an ancient settlement 00:04:30.466 --> 00:04:35.699 which dated back to around 9,400 BC. 00:04:35.700 --> 00:04:38.566 These figs were a domesticated variety 00:04:38.566 --> 00:04:41.399 from trees that are only able to reproduce 00:04:41.400 --> 00:04:44.200 from cuttings selected by humans. 00:04:44.200 --> 00:04:47.866 Unless another crop is discovered that predates them, 00:04:47.866 --> 00:04:49.799 scientists have reason to believe 00:04:49.800 --> 00:04:54.233 that fig trees were the first domesticated plant. 00:04:54.233 --> 00:04:56.566 Agriculture is not a technology 00:04:56.566 --> 00:04:59.832 that was discovered once and spread across the globe, 00:04:59.833 --> 00:05:02.399 but one that was invented independently 00:05:02.400 --> 00:05:04.333 by many different cultures 00:05:04.333 --> 00:05:08.733 who were progressing technologically at the same time. 00:05:08.733 --> 00:05:10.933 There would have been plenty of spread 00:05:10.933 --> 00:05:13.866 in the immediate regions it was developed in, 00:05:13.866 --> 00:05:16.832 but agriculture is thought to have been instigated 00:05:16.833 --> 00:05:21.766 over 11 separate times by different cultures across the globe, 00:05:21.766 --> 00:05:24.732 starting in Western Asia. 00:05:24.733 --> 00:05:26.733 Neolithic humans in Asia 00:05:26.733 --> 00:05:30.466 were also the first to have set up a place of worship. 00:05:30.466 --> 00:05:32.532 A temple-like building located 00:05:32.533 --> 00:05:36.933 in the ancient Turkish archeological site of Göbekli Tepe, 00:05:36.933 --> 00:05:40.966 established around 9,500 BC, 00:05:40.966 --> 00:05:43.932 is thought to have been the first of its kind, 00:05:43.933 --> 00:05:45.599 and was actually developed 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:48.966 before the buildings around it were established. 00:05:48.966 --> 00:05:51.099 The people who built this structure 00:05:51.100 --> 00:05:54.933 were still very much living as hunter-gatherers. 00:05:54.933 --> 00:05:58.266 Around the temple lie seven stone circles, 00:05:58.266 --> 00:06:01.199 some of which are made up of limestone pillars 00:06:01.200 --> 00:06:04.933 engraved with depictions of various species of mammal, 00:06:04.933 --> 00:06:07.999 bird, and invertebrate. 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:10.066 Amazingly, hundreds of people 00:06:10.066 --> 00:06:12.632 are thought to have worked on these structures, 00:06:12.633 --> 00:06:16.766 which may have once been shrines adjacent to the main temple 00:06:16.766 --> 00:06:20.266 covered by basic roofing mechanisms. 00:06:20.266 --> 00:06:23.899 Similar but slightly younger sites have been uncovered 00:06:23.900 --> 00:06:29.333 in what is now Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon. 00:06:29.333 --> 00:06:34.199 As Asian settlements in the early Neolithic became long term, 00:06:34.200 --> 00:06:37.600 people started to abandon the nomadic lifestyle 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:39.733 in favor of a solid structure 00:06:39.733 --> 00:06:43.333 that would keep them warm and sheltered year round. 00:06:43.333 --> 00:06:46.566 These early houses were circular in shape, 00:06:46.566 --> 00:06:50.999 with only one room that served as a multi-purpose bedroom, 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:53.600 living area, and makeshift kitchen 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:57.300 to prepare food from cultivated crops. 00:06:57.300 --> 00:07:01.033 These earliest houses were made of mudbrick, 00:07:01.033 --> 00:07:05.666 air-dried blocks composed from mud bound with straw. 00:07:05.666 --> 00:07:09.799 In some cases, early communities had basic stone walls 00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:12.300 and even stone towers. 00:07:12.300 --> 00:07:14.900 These basic defenses were sufficient 00:07:14.900 --> 00:07:17.833 to keep communities safe from wild animals, 00:07:17.833 --> 00:07:19.799 rival groups of humans, 00:07:19.800 --> 00:07:24.433 and natural hazards such as floods and storms. 00:07:24.433 --> 00:07:26.899 Smaller walls can be found within 00:07:26.900 --> 00:07:29.633 that may have served as animal pens 00:07:29.633 --> 00:07:31.466 or food storage areas 00:07:31.466 --> 00:07:35.432 that would have been used by the whole settlement. 00:07:35.433 --> 00:07:38.999 Around 8,800 BC, 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:42.000 we start to see evidence of what has been coined 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:45.900 "the pre-pottery Neolithic B period." 00:07:45.900 --> 00:07:49.700 One major change taking place around this time 00:07:49.700 --> 00:07:51.300 is that round houses 00:07:51.300 --> 00:07:54.566 typically switch to rectangular or square houses 00:07:54.566 --> 00:07:56.632 with multiple rooms. 00:07:56.633 --> 00:08:01.133 This would have allowed families residing within further privacy 00:08:01.133 --> 00:08:05.533 and would form the bases of the houses we live in today. 00:08:05.533 --> 00:08:08.066 We also start to gain a better insight 00:08:08.066 --> 00:08:10.199 into early human religions, 00:08:10.200 --> 00:08:13.566 beliefs, and cultures at this time. 00:08:13.566 --> 00:08:16.499 Figurines of both men and women 00:08:16.500 --> 00:08:19.266 found made from gypsum and stone 00:08:19.266 --> 00:08:23.966 have been discovered in settlements within what is now Syria, 00:08:23.966 --> 00:08:27.532 and there is evidence that these early mudbrick houses 00:08:27.533 --> 00:08:30.266 were the places of religious spectacles 00:08:30.266 --> 00:08:33.999 that would be considered obscene in the modern day. 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:38.266 Human remains found within and outside these houses 00:08:38.266 --> 00:08:40.566 suggest that these people worshiped 00:08:40.566 --> 00:08:43.499 or venerated their dead in some way, 00:08:43.500 --> 00:08:46.300 preserving their skulls within the houses 00:08:46.300 --> 00:08:51.266 and plastering them with dried mud to form facial features. 00:08:51.266 --> 00:08:54.632 Perhaps this was a way of keeping the deceased loved one 00:08:54.633 --> 00:08:57.499 with them after death, albeit a way 00:08:57.500 --> 00:09:01.933 that would be considered very strange in today's world. 00:09:01.933 --> 00:09:04.566 When families preserve their loved ones, 00:09:04.566 --> 00:09:07.666 they would leave the rest of the body outside to decay 00:09:07.666 --> 00:09:09.832 to nothing but bones. 00:09:09.833 --> 00:09:11.866 These bones would then be buried 00:09:11.866 --> 00:09:15.399 underneath the floor of the abode. 00:09:15.400 --> 00:09:17.466 Following on from this period, 00:09:17.466 --> 00:09:19.699 we enter the late Neolithic 00:09:19.700 --> 00:09:23.933 focused around the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East. 00:09:23.933 --> 00:09:25.733 This time is characterized 00:09:25.733 --> 00:09:28.066 by the first experiments with pottery, 00:09:28.066 --> 00:09:31.799 developed in the southern reaches of the Levant. 00:09:31.800 --> 00:09:35.766 These experiments are centered around North Mesopotamia 00:09:35.766 --> 00:09:40.632 and include sites such as Tell Hassuna and Jarmo. 00:09:40.633 --> 00:09:43.866 Thick, handmade pottery was developed here, 00:09:43.866 --> 00:09:47.932 alongside clay figurines of humans and animals, 00:09:47.933 --> 00:09:50.666 some of which depict pregnant women, 00:09:50.666 --> 00:09:54.799 entities that were revered as fertility goddesses. 00:09:54.800 --> 00:09:56.900 Later, pottery would be decorated 00:09:56.900 --> 00:09:59.533 with geometric shapes and patterns, 00:09:59.533 --> 00:10:01.599 which were traded with other settlements 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:04.633 for food and other resources. 00:10:07.033 --> 00:10:10.033 Some early communities within Africa 00:10:10.033 --> 00:10:13.233 followed the same processes as the ones listed 00:10:13.233 --> 00:10:15.533 in the previous segment of this video, 00:10:15.533 --> 00:10:19.233 just after they took place in Western Asia. 00:10:19.233 --> 00:10:22.166 Far Eastern Africa, for example, 00:10:22.166 --> 00:10:26.366 were the first to develop agriculture and farming capabilities, 00:10:26.366 --> 00:10:29.132 and agrarian societies started to appear 00:10:29.133 --> 00:10:32.466 around 8,000 BC. 00:10:32.466 --> 00:10:35.866 Domestication of more advanced animal species, 00:10:35.866 --> 00:10:38.466 specifically sheep and goats, 00:10:38.466 --> 00:10:42.999 is thought to have reached Egypt in around 6,000 BC 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:46.200 as a direct spread from Western Asian societies 00:10:46.200 --> 00:10:48.400 who were perhaps trading with them 00:10:48.400 --> 00:10:52.033 via the land bridge connecting the two continents. 00:10:52.033 --> 00:10:53.899 In some regions, however, 00:10:53.900 --> 00:10:56.033 the domestication of crops and animals 00:10:56.033 --> 00:11:00.333 is thought to have happened independently, with no influence 00:11:00.333 --> 00:11:04.333 on early hunter-gatherers from outside cultures. 00:11:04.333 --> 00:11:07.799 This is still a topic of debate among scholars, 00:11:07.800 --> 00:11:11.966 with some arguing that crops were domesticated indigenously, 00:11:11.966 --> 00:11:14.599 and others claiming that migrant farmers 00:11:14.600 --> 00:11:16.933 settling in Africa from Asia 00:11:16.933 --> 00:11:20.233 brought some technologies with them. 00:11:20.233 --> 00:11:23.199 Whilst Egypt and the regions that surrounded it 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:27.233 were the first to enter the Neolithic period in Africa, 00:11:27.233 --> 00:11:31.933 other areas of the continent took slightly longer to progress. 00:11:31.933 --> 00:11:36.133 In areas such as Algeria and Morocco, for example, 00:11:36.133 --> 00:11:39.899 agrarian societies cropped up as a result of farming 00:11:39.900 --> 00:11:42.133 being introduced by Europeans 00:11:42.133 --> 00:11:44.599 living on the Iberian Peninsula 00:11:44.600 --> 00:11:48.533 who had already discovered the technologies. 00:11:48.533 --> 00:11:51.433 As humans traveled across to Africa, 00:11:51.433 --> 00:11:54.066 they would have brought domesticated grains, 00:11:54.066 --> 00:11:55.999 as well as knowledge, with them 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:58.033 to the early African cultures 00:11:58.033 --> 00:12:01.166 who adopted the lifestyle for themselves. 00:12:01.166 --> 00:12:04.066 This led to some North African societies 00:12:04.066 --> 00:12:06.566 leading pastoralist lifestyles, 00:12:06.566 --> 00:12:10.632 relying on the wide open plains and scrublands of the continent 00:12:10.633 --> 00:12:13.799 to allow their livestock to graze. 00:12:13.800 --> 00:12:18.433 Pastoralism is practiced in many modern day mountainous regions, 00:12:18.433 --> 00:12:23.599 and was vital to the lifestyles of these early North Africans. 00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:27.000 Some pastoralists will occasionally move 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:30.366 with the seasons and availability of resources, 00:12:30.366 --> 00:12:32.766 herding their animals to new locations 00:12:32.766 --> 00:12:35.332 when pastures are fully grazed. 00:12:35.333 --> 00:12:38.399 This leads to a great degree of flexibility, 00:12:38.400 --> 00:12:41.166 and, as a result, some of these early people 00:12:41.166 --> 00:12:46.066 were not fixed to the regions in which they initially settled. 00:12:46.066 --> 00:12:50.132 Morocco was the earliest non-Egyptian region of Africa 00:12:50.133 --> 00:12:52.899 to adopt pottery making technologies, 00:12:52.900 --> 00:12:56.300 most notably at this site known as Kaf El Ghar 00:12:56.300 --> 00:12:59.366 in the modern country's Taza province. 00:12:59.366 --> 00:13:01.999 There is also extensive evidence here 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:05.800 for the early adoption of cereal grain domestication, 00:13:05.800 --> 00:13:08.233 as well as animal husbandry, 00:13:08.233 --> 00:13:11.066 as sheep and goats were brought into the region 00:13:11.066 --> 00:13:14.632 from both Europe and the Levant. 00:13:14.633 --> 00:13:18.533 The people of Sub-Saharan Africa adopted pastoralism 00:13:18.533 --> 00:13:20.433 as their main way of life, 00:13:20.433 --> 00:13:23.633 rather than becoming wholly agrarian. 00:13:23.633 --> 00:13:27.599 This spread across the regions surrounding the Rif Valley, 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:30.733 where sheep, goats, and eventually cattle 00:13:30.733 --> 00:13:35.399 were domesticated for their meat, skins, and milk. 00:13:35.400 --> 00:13:38.566 Earthenware pots were developed in these areas, 00:13:38.566 --> 00:13:40.632 as were mortars and pestles, 00:13:40.633 --> 00:13:44.066 grindstones, and stone bowls. 00:13:44.066 --> 00:13:46.566 The dead were buried in "cairns," 00:13:46.566 --> 00:13:49.499 a type of communal indoor graveyard, 00:13:49.500 --> 00:13:53.333 as opposed to within the settlements themselves. 00:13:53.333 --> 00:13:56.433 Eventually, this way of life would spread south 00:13:56.433 --> 00:14:00.099 to tribes such as the KhoeKhoe, a group of people 00:14:00.100 --> 00:14:05.066 we have covered previously on this channel. 00:14:05.066 --> 00:14:08.266 Farming technologies are thought to have entered Europe 00:14:08.266 --> 00:14:11.232 as early as 7,000 years ago, 00:14:11.233 --> 00:14:14.633 as the technology spread throughout the Mediterranean 00:14:14.633 --> 00:14:17.333 from the Near East and the Levant. 00:14:17.333 --> 00:14:21.599 Between 5,000 and 4,000 years ago, this technology 00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:24.733 would then reach the western parts of the continent, 00:14:24.733 --> 00:14:27.699 running through what is now Germany and Poland, 00:14:27.700 --> 00:14:29.033 through to France, 00:14:29.033 --> 00:14:33.966 as well as South through Italy and the Iberian Peninsula. 00:14:33.966 --> 00:14:36.732 Scandinavia and the British Isles, 00:14:36.733 --> 00:14:39.433 as a result of their relative isolation, 00:14:39.433 --> 00:14:42.333 were the last to have developed the technology, 00:14:42.333 --> 00:14:44.633 as migrant farmers traveled north 00:14:44.633 --> 00:14:48.466 from what is today France and Germany. 00:14:48.466 --> 00:14:51.932 Regardless of the time they entered the Neolithic, 00:14:51.933 --> 00:14:54.033 many cultures and communities 00:14:54.033 --> 00:14:56.999 that sprung up across Europe in this time 00:14:57.000 --> 00:15:00.433 shared several basic characteristics: 00:15:00.433 --> 00:15:02.799 they lived in small villages, 00:15:02.800 --> 00:15:04.766 often in family groups, 00:15:04.766 --> 00:15:09.066 with a divided labor between both animals and plant farmers, 00:15:09.066 --> 00:15:13.599 as well as hunters, potters, and woodworkers. 00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:16.633 Wood was chopped using basic stone axes 00:15:16.633 --> 00:15:21.199 from the dense surrounding forests of Europe, which was then applied 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:24.033 to the infrastructure of houses and buildings, 00:15:24.033 --> 00:15:26.733 as well as fires to keep communities warm 00:15:26.733 --> 00:15:30.099 in the long, cold winters. 00:15:30.100 --> 00:15:34.066 Some Neolithic communities from around the Mediterranean 00:15:34.066 --> 00:15:36.632 took their settlements a step further, 00:15:36.633 --> 00:15:41.666 reinforcing their villages with palisade walls and sentry towers, 00:15:41.666 --> 00:15:45.466 likely to ward off and scout out approaching invaders 00:15:45.466 --> 00:15:49.432 or raiders from neighboring settlements. 00:15:49.433 --> 00:15:52.133 Some communities in Neolithic Britain 00:15:52.133 --> 00:15:54.899 favored a pastoralist lifestyle. 00:15:54.900 --> 00:15:57.333 They would herd cattle across the hills 00:15:57.333 --> 00:15:59.833 and forests of this ancient land, 00:15:59.833 --> 00:16:01.333 subsiding on their meat 00:16:01.333 --> 00:16:05.033 and supplementing their diet with plant matter. 00:16:05.033 --> 00:16:07.499 There is also evidence to suggest 00:16:07.500 --> 00:16:11.433 that the Neolithic peoples of Europe were religious. 00:16:11.433 --> 00:16:14.899 An artifact discovered at an archeological site 00:16:14.900 --> 00:16:18.233 in what is now the Vidin province of Bulgaria 00:16:18.233 --> 00:16:20.499 was identified in 2018 00:16:20.500 --> 00:16:22.666 as the head of a figure that is thought 00:16:22.666 --> 00:16:25.832 to have represented a mother goddess. 00:16:25.833 --> 00:16:29.766 These figures have been found across Europe and Asia, 00:16:29.766 --> 00:16:34.366 and are argued by some to represent the embodiment of fertility. 00:16:34.366 --> 00:16:36.066 Others disagree, 00:16:36.066 --> 00:16:38.266 stating that these are figurines 00:16:38.266 --> 00:16:42.432 that are intended to represent wisdom and wealth. 00:16:42.433 --> 00:16:47.466 Some cultures are also known to have constructed huge megaliths. 00:16:47.466 --> 00:16:52.032 These structures can be composed of a single or multiple stones, 00:16:52.033 --> 00:16:56.199 often arranged in intricate patterns or shapes. 00:16:56.200 --> 00:17:01.666 The most famous of the over 35,000 located in Europe alone 00:17:01.666 --> 00:17:04.199 is, without a doubt, Stonehenge, 00:17:04.200 --> 00:17:07.200 located on what is now the Salisbury Plain 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:09.900 of Wiltshire in England. 00:17:09.900 --> 00:17:13.500 Constructed in the late Neolithic, some of the stones 00:17:13.500 --> 00:17:16.366 are thought to have been brought to the location 00:17:16.366 --> 00:17:20.366 from over 150 miles away. 00:17:20.366 --> 00:17:22.499 It was constructed using joints 00:17:22.500 --> 00:17:25.933 that are not found in any other megalithic structure, 00:17:25.933 --> 00:17:28.633 making it one of the most sophisticated 00:17:28.633 --> 00:17:30.866 and advanced pieces of architecture 00:17:30.866 --> 00:17:33.532 of the entire Neolithic. 00:17:33.533 --> 00:17:36.533 Its purpose is thought to have been religious, 00:17:36.533 --> 00:17:39.033 perhaps used as an ancient temple 00:17:39.033 --> 00:17:41.999 aligned with the sun's movements. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:45.133 The sun rises directly over the Heel Stone 00:17:45.133 --> 00:17:48.733 on both the shortest and longest days of the year, 00:17:48.733 --> 00:17:52.433 the Summer and Winter solstices. 00:17:52.433 --> 00:17:55.633 By the time the Neolithic came to an end, 00:17:55.633 --> 00:17:59.999 the people of Europe had settled into more agrarian societies, 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:04.033 complete with a whole host of animals on their farms. 00:18:04.033 --> 00:18:06.499 As well as cattle, sheep and goats 00:18:06.500 --> 00:18:09.733 provided milk, meat, and wool, 00:18:09.733 --> 00:18:12.233 whilst wild pigs were kept in the woods 00:18:12.233 --> 00:18:14.633 and farmed for their meat. 00:18:14.633 --> 00:18:17.533 Dogs, domesticated much longer ago, 00:18:17.533 --> 00:18:19.799 were trained to help on farms, 00:18:19.800 --> 00:18:22.333 herding sheep and keeping a close eye out 00:18:22.333 --> 00:18:24.633 for predators or raiders. 00:18:26.966 --> 00:18:29.699 So, that's a rundown of the key events 00:18:29.700 --> 00:18:32.366 and happenings of the Neolithic. 00:18:32.366 --> 00:18:36.166 The Neolithic was to be the last instance in history 00:18:36.166 --> 00:18:41.232 when stones were used as a primary construct in technologies. 00:18:41.233 --> 00:18:43.433 The forthcoming Chalcolithic, 00:18:43.433 --> 00:18:46.333 the subject of our next part in this series, 00:18:46.333 --> 00:18:49.333 would see the introduction of the very first metals 00:18:49.333 --> 00:18:52.099 harnessed and applied by ancient peoples: 00:18:52.100 --> 00:18:54.600 copper and tin. 00:18:54.600 --> 00:18:57.566 As people moved into this new age, 00:18:57.566 --> 00:19:01.532 they would experience a whole host of new technologies, 00:19:01.533 --> 00:19:03.899 weapons, and ways of living, 00:19:03.900 --> 00:19:06.700 all of which would contribute significantly 00:19:06.700 --> 00:19:11.100 in laying the foundations of the world we recognize today.