Neolithic Europe: Culture, Tools, and Subsistence Strategies

1 Neolithic Europe Jaron Clonts Ivy Tech Community College ANTH 254: Introduction to Archaeology Professor Simpson February 20, 2022

Clonts 2 Introduction: Neolithic Europeans were an ancient hominid group within Europe spanning from roughly 7000-1700 B.C.E. The name neolithic defines this group because many of their remains are found with or near stone tools, many of which were used to completely change the human diet, as well as the human lifestyle. ○ State major field work projects. Who were the lead archaeologists ? ○ What excavation techniques or dating methods have been used on materials associated with this culture? (If you cannot find anything from your sources, make a suggestion on what you think would work. See Chapter 4) . Carbon dating & linguistic (Wikipedia), seriation, thermoluminescent, genetic, and uranium-series. ○ What types of artifacts and features are associated this group? Or... state some of this society's major accomplishments . Stone tools are most associated with Neolithic Europeans. Tools were largely used for hunting animals, as well as for gathering plants on occasion (Richards). Eventually, separate tools would come about for the purpose of agriculture and domesticated farming (Zvelebil). Hand-made pottery is another characteristic associated with the culture (Wikipedia). ○ Describe the role this culture played in the local ecology. For example, what was their subsistence strategy? Were they hunters and gatherers or did they practice any sort of animal and plant domestication. You may want to note what types of animal and plant remains have been found at associated sites. Likewise, did this group alter the landscape? If so, how ? The Neolithic groups would use their stone tools to clear out forests for living space and materials for building, as well as farm space later on. In the beginning of the era, the people would use their tools for hunting game and harvesting and gathering flora for food. We know this because of

Clonts 3 examples where a red deer skeleton was found with a wooden spear embedded within its remains (Richards). Later on, the people came across domesticated animals and crops and began farming them, butchering the animals and planting and harvesting crops with their tools. Many of these domesticated animals and plants include: wheat and barley, lentils, goats, pigs, sheep, and cattle (Wikipedia). ○ What scale of society was this group (i.e. a forging band or a complete state level society) ? This group would be easily considered a foraging band society. ○ Have any skeletal remains been recovered from this culture? If so, what has bioarchaeology revealed ? As stated before, one set of remains from a red deer revealed that wooden and stone tools would be often used for hunting game. This same article gives another example of remains of women, whose bone structures had shown evidence of strain associated with various tasks, such as grinding grain. The remains of bones from both Neolithic and Paleolithic eras show differences in tooth health. Paleolithic shows overall healthy teeth with few issues, while Neolithic teeth show worn down teeth that makes evident the consumption of poorly-ground flour (Richards). ○ Is there evidence for exchange or other contact with outsiders? If yes, describe . The Neolithic Europeans had access to crops and animals domesticated in Southwest Asia, so either those animals migrated to Europe just to be domesticated again and the crops evolved very conveniently, or some form of trade or raiding kept going on for years, slowly bringing the crops and animals far over to these Europeans (Wikipedia).

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

Clonts 4 References Zvelebil, Marek. “The Agricultural Transition and the Origins of Neolithic Society in Europe.” Documenta Praehistorica XXVIII , 22 Dec. 2001, https://revije.ff.uni- lj.si/DocumentaPraehistorica/article/view/28.1/6173 . Richards, MP. “A Brief Review of the Archaeological Evidence for Palaeolithic and Neolithic Subsistence.” Nature News , Nature Publishing Group, 20 Dec. 2002,

Clonts 5 https://www.nature.com/articles/1601646/ . “Neolithic Europe.” Wikipedia , Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Nov. 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic_Europe .

Neolithic European Peoples

Related Documents