Stone Age Tools


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

Stone Age Tools

Stone Age: the stone age man lived in hilly areas by the side or rivers and lakes. In the beginning, he took shelter in the caves, rock shelters, in mud huts. The three stages of the Stone Age are:

1.   Paleolithic Age: in this period, man used crude stone tools and weapons and led a nomadic life. It was also known as Old Stone Age.

2.   Mesolithic Age: in the age, man used microliths stone tools which were binded or joined to handles or sticks of wood/bamboo. In this age, man started domesticating animals. It is also known as Middle Stone Age.

Neolithic Age: in this age, man used polished stone tools, domesticated animals, used tools for agriculture and led a settled life. It was also known as New Stone Age. The period from around 8000 to 4000BCE is known as the Neolithic Age. During this period, humans changed from hunters and gatherers to farmers and herders. Around 8000BC, the ice which had covered large parts of the earth during the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Age started to melt. The warmer climate encouraged the spread of plants and animals to previously cold regions. People learnt to grow crops of grains, and vegetables. This resulted in development of agriculture. People also started taming animals as they realized how useful they were

Tools: With farming as an activity growing in importance, there was a demand for better and more effective tools. Sickles and reaping knives were developed to harvest crops. Heavy tools were used for digging and leveling the land. Grinding stones were invented for processing cereals and other plant food. Stone axes were used to cut down trees and mattocks to break up the soil.  Stone tools have been found from many sites as well. Many of these are different from the earlier Paleolithic tools and that is why they are called Neolithic. These include tools that were polished to give a fine cutting edge, and mortars and pestles used for grinding grain and other plant produce.

 
 
 


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