The New Stone Age brought about earth shattering change that we are still feeling the effects of today. What caused the shift? How did it effect the culture? What effect does it have today?
Humans came into what scholars call the Old Stone Age with the invention of stone tools. These humans were hunter-gatherers, moving with the seasons and with animal herds to hunt and gather necessary plants and fruits necessary for survival. The food they found were put their by "mother nature." Then something happened. These early humans discovered that the seeds these foods produced could be planted in the soil would reproduce new plants. By being able to plant food and grow crops, gathering could be limited to one specific area. We know it today as a farm or garden. No longer would they have to search for these plants. Meat was also an important staple in their diet. The learned how to catch and use some of these animals for their own purposes. Some animals were butchered for food, others milked, some to obtain their eggs, some to bear heavy loads, and even some to warn of danger. Humans would never be the same. This discovery of domesticating plants and animals brought about the New Stone Age.
Humans would now stay close to their gardens, sometimes migrating with the seasons or with animal herds that migrated. In these places, civilizations began to form. What started as camps turned to villages. Villages became cities-states. With greater food production came better nutrition. People began to live longer and have more children.With greater population came the benefit of having more than enough people to do the work. People began to specialize their abilities and people became artisans. Others began to study the world around them and make other discoveries. This eventually led to the Bronze Age.
We still feel the effects of the New Stone Age discoveries. We still rely on the concepts discovered thousands of years ago. Scientist and farmers are still looking for better ways to grow crops, raise livestock, and used the resources they provide.
The New Stone Age was a time of great change. Without it's discoveries, nothing we have would exist today. Humans may not even exist. Could humans have survived the bubonic plague without the nutrition agriculture provided? We will never know. What we do know is that agriculture allowed humans to evolve and move to the top of the food chain, master many new resources, harness the wind and break the bounds of earth.
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