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How did life change in the Neolithic period?

Animated Neolithic settlement

4,000 years ago, people started farming. This was the new Stone Age or Neolithic period.

  • 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 permanent homes.
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What were the first farms like?

A prehistoric boy sits by a fire with a dog.
  • By 3500BC people in many parts of Britain had set up farms.

  • 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.

  • Neolithic farmers kept lots of animals:

    • 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.

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Watch: Take a tour inside a Stone Age house at Skara Brae

Take a look at this Stone Age house at Skara Brae on the Orkney Isles.
It dates from between 3200 and 2700BC.

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What monuments did Neolithic people build?

  • Neolithic people built grave mounds to bury their dead.

  • People stored the bones of the dead in large graves known as long barrows. These graves were built from stone and covered with a mound of earth.

  • People started to build stone circles. This practice continued in the early Bronze Age.

The ancient neolithic dolmen at Pentre Ifan in Wales is a vast Celtic burial mound
Image caption,
A Neolithic grave at Pentre Ifan, Wales. When it was built, the stones would have been covered by a large mound of earth.
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Activities

Activity 1: What tools did they make?

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?

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Activity 2: Neolithic Stone Age quiz

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Play fun and educational primary games in science, maths, English, history, geography, art, computing and modern languages.

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