Neolithic Cultures
Key Terms and People
excavation digging carefully for bones and other ancient objects
Before You Read
In the last lesson, you read about how humans settled and developed
an early culture.
In this lesson, you will read more about Neolithic cultures.
As You Read
Fill in a chart to review the Neolithic cultures mentioned in the
lesson.
PRE-CIVILIZATION CULTURES
Why is it important to study early
cultures?
Some people think that researchers
should study civilizations and not the
cultures that came before. However,
researchers have learned a lot from their
archaeological excavations. They use
artifacts to understand the people of the
past and the culture they developed. We
can use this information to compare
Neolithic cultures to modern cultures.
One important pre-civilization culture
was from the town of Jericho. The
Neolithic Age began in 8000 BC. Most
people during this time were nomads.
Jericho, however, was surrounded by a
30-foot-high wall. They planned the
town around a spring that provided
water. The people of Jericho traded.
They were on their way to creating a
ew civilization.
Another was the village of Skara
ae. The people of this village lived
se together in stone houses. They
used axes and spears made of stone.
They also made clothing from animal
skins and jewelry from bone beads.
Researchers found that their culture
divided people into social classes-
which they thought started after
civilizations developed.
In China Neolithic people made
pottery, possibly using pottery wheels.
They also buried pots and bowls with
the dead. Unlike the people of Skara
Brae, all of the dead were buried with
the same kinds of pottery. Researchers
use these clues to support the idea that
the cultures did not separate the wealth
from the poor people.
1. What did researchers learn from th
burials in Skara Brae and in China