What was life like in the Neolithic Stone Age?

The Neolithic period brought many changes to Britain. This period is also known as the ‘New’ Stone Age.

It was a time when people stopped hunting and gathering and began to farm.

They used tools to build settlements, permanent homes and monuments — special structures created to remember people or important events. Examples of Neolithic monuments include stone circles and tombs for people who had died.

The remains of these tools and buildings have helped archaeologists, who study objects and places from the past understand how Neolithic people lived and what was important to them.

Important words on what we know about Prehistoric Britain.

Around 6,000 years ago, instead of spending all their time hunting and gathering, people in Britain started living in a new way.

They began to set up farms.

These farms marked the start of a new age in Britain – the Neolithic period (or new Stone Age):

The early farmers chopped down trees so they could grow crops and vegetables.

They kept cattle, sheep and pigs.

People began to settle down in one place and build settlements and permanent homes that were made to last.

As well as setting up farms and permanent homes, they also built monuments. These were special structures created to remember people or important events. Some examples are stone circles and tombs.

Some of the monuments and homes they built can still be seen today.

By 3500BC people in many parts of Britain had set up farms.

They made clearings in the forest and built groups of houses, surrounded by fields.

The early farmers grew wheat and barley, which they ground into flour.

Some farmers grew beans and peas.

Others grew a plant called flax, which they made into linen for clothes.

The early farmers still went hunting and gathered nuts and berries to eat, but they spent most of their time working on their farms.

Neolithic farmers kept lots of animals.

They had herds of wild cows that had been domesticated (tamed).

The cattle provided beef, as well as milk and cheese.

Sheep and goats provided wool, milk and meat.

Wild pigs were domesticated and kept in the woods nearby.

Dogs helped on the farms too.

They herded sheep and cattle and worked as watchdogs.

Dogs were also probably treated as family pets, just like they are today.

Most Neolithic people built houses with wooden frames, but there were some places where wood was hard to find.

On the Orkney Islands, off the coast of Scotland, there are no trees.

Neolithic people on the islands therefore built their houses out of stone.

The Skara Brae settlement on the Orkney Islands dates from between 3200-2700BC.

It is made up of a group of one-roomed circular homes.

These houses have built-in furniture made completely from stone.

There are stone seats and beds and even stone shelves where precious objects were kept.

Today, the homes at Skara Brae are open to the air, but they were probably covered with roofs of turf and bracken.

Each home would have been linked by a set of covered passageways, so people could visit whilst keeping warm and dry.

Neolithic people built many large monuments for different a variety of reasons.

They built grave mounds and long barrows to bury their dead in.

Long barrows were long mounds, often constructed from stone and covered with earth. Archaeologists know that many were used to store the bones of the dead, but some may have been used for other purposes.

These graves were built from stone and covered with a mound of earth.

The graves had a central passage, with several side-chambers containing sets of bones.

There were also smaller graves, with a single burial chamber.

They also built large wood circles, such as Woodhenge, and stone circles, such as Stonehenge, which were used for religious ceremonies.

People also met at circular platforms known as causewayed enclosures. These were large circular shapes dug into the ground where people could carry out ceremonies.

During the Neolithic period, the practice of building stone circles continued into the early Bronze Age.

The Neolithic period was a very long time ago and before people started writing things down.

This means archaeologists need to use clues to understand what may have happened and what life was like at that time.

The discovery of Neolithic tools, homes like the Skara Brae settlement, and monuments such as Stonehenge, have helped archaeologists understand how Neolithic people may have lived and what was important to them.

Archaeologists have also discovered coins, weapons, jewellery and lots of everyday Neolithic items.

Have a look at the thinking points below and think about your answer to each question. You could even write them down on a piece of paper or discuss them with somebody else if you want to.

• The early Neolithic farmers still went hunting and gathering even though they had farms. Why do you think they did this?

• The Neolithic people built many monuments, such as causewayed enclosures, stone and wood circles and long barrows. Why do you think the building of these are thought as significant events in the Neolithic period?

• What do you think is similar or different about the way Neolithic people and people today get their food?

Neolithic people made a range of tools and other objects to help them in their daily life. Click on each object to find out more.

What would you make if you lived like them?

Let's find out what you know about life in the Neolithic Stone Age in this quiz.

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