Why is it that in the same Stone Age , there is still a distinction between the old and the new?

The crux of this question is that the classification criteria of the Neo-Paleolithic Age, in fact, we need to understand that for the "Stone Age", the old and the new are actually only the judgment of "relative age", that is, the chronology of cultural remains, and its establishment is mainly based on the "stratigraphy" and "typology" in archaeology.

For prehistoric archaeology, the staging of the Stone Age, i.e., the "Neo-Paleolithic", is an important issue. Since Luboff first put forward the concept of "Neolithic", the basic characteristics and connotations of the Neolithic have been in a state of renewal and exploration.

1.Use of polished stone tools.

2.Pottery burning.

3.Operate a settled primitive plantation agriculture.

In fact, there are certain limitations to this criterion, after all, the evolution of culture is staged and gradually produced with the development of social productive forces, so there is no guarantee that these characteristics will appear at the same time.

About "polished stone tools".

In fact, the name "Neolithic" itself highlights the importance of polished stone tools, and if it is not taken as the starting point and symbol of the beginning of the Neolithic Age, it will inevitably erase the meaning of the existence of the "Stone Age". Based on this understanding, they classified some cave sites in southern China where only partially polished stone tools were found, but pottery and reliable agriculture were missing, to the early Neolithic. <>

About "firing pottery".

The appearance of pottery as a sign of the Neolithic period was mainly popular in Soviet archaeology. Because Engels affirmed Morgan's standard for the periodization of human culture, Soviet archaeologists believed that the past saying that the Neolithic was a polished Stone Age was outdated, and some people even called the Neolithic Age "Pottery Age". However, it would be biased to expand the characteristics of pottery and make it the only standard.

About "settled agriculture".

If seeds of crops are found in a stratum that does not contain pottery, can it be assumed that agriculture can also replace pottery as a sign of the beginning of the Neolithic Age? It is undeniable that the emergence of agriculture has transformed human beings from a gathering economy to a production economy, and the accompanying primitive settlement has further changed the form of settlements and social organization, which can be called a revolutionary change in prehistory. <>

To sum up: as a sign of the beginning of the Neolithic Age, agriculture may be used as a major indicator, but at the same time, it is also necessary to refer to other characteristic elements of culture, in addition to paying attention to distinguishing the differences in the natural environment in which ancient cultures are located, and it is not advisable to use local characteristics as a universal standard!

Because the appearance performance and processing level of stone tools at different stages of development are differentThe Paleolithic period was dominated by stone tools, and the Neolithic period was dominated by polished stone tools. It's like the old and new China, isn't it all China, why divide the old and the new, there must be differences and development.

1. The "new" has improved on the basis of the "old", and the Neolithic is more refined than the Paleolithic. "Farewell to the old and welcome the new" is a New Year's wish for many people, it represents saying goodbye to the old past and welcoming the new future, the old thing has flaws or has not kept up with the growth of people and the development of the times, so it needs to be replaced by something more perfect and advanced. The same is true for stone toolsThe first stone tools were simple in appearance and had basic characteristics such as cutting and scraping, while the later polished stone tools were more sharp and practical in stone toolsIt is more effective than the "shoddy" paleolithic tools and is more conducive to people's production and life.

2. The "Stone Age" is mainly divided by the stages of the use of stone tools, the Paleolithic is about 3 million years ago to 10,000 years ago, and the Neolithic Age is about 10,000 years ago to 5,000 years ago. The ancient people of the Paleolithic Age mostly lived by hunting and gathering, and the way of survival was more primitive, and agriculture appeared in the Neolithic Age, and people began to settle down, sharpening hoes, sickles and other tools to develop agricultural production, while learning to raise livestock, and even inventing pottery to store food. Therefore, the Neolithic Age is the invention and innovation of people's slash-and-burn mode, not only improving the stone material from flint that is not hard enough to basalt and granite with high hardness, but also innovating equipment and appliances according to their own needs to develop agricultural pottery industry and textile industry, and even group life has a new system and mode of getting along.

In short, the Paleolithic is the era when primitive people lived in primitive ways, and it is the basis for the development of the Neolithic Age; The Neolithic was a civilization that developed into a higher civilization than the PaleolithicIt is a characteristic Stone Age in which people's activities, agricultural production, and quality of life have improved, perfected and even innovated.

There is a distinction between old and new because of the different ways in which stone was used in the Stone Age. The rough stone used in the Paleolithic period was already polished into tools in the Neolithic period.

Again, it was the Stone Age, but the Neolithic was already using grinding tools, which could be cultivated with sharp hoes, etc. The tools used in the Paleolithic were significantly crudely rudimentary.

Because there is a clear difference between the two. For example, the Paleolithic Age will naturally make fire, while the Neolithic Age will make artificial fire, which is a big change, so it makes sense to divide it like this.

The main difference between Paleolithic and Neolithic is twofold:

First, the stone tools used in the Paleolithic Age were made by touching stones with stones, and the Neolithic Age was polished on the basis of stone tools to make the stone tools sharper.

The second is that the Paleolithic people mainly obtained food by gathering food and hunting, and lived a nomadic life. Neolithic people lived a stable and sedentary life by growing crops and raising animals for food.

Mesolithic performance.

After a long period of labor and struggle, the physique of human beings has been continuously enhanced, the intelligence has been continuously improved, and the tools have been increased and improved day by day, so the pace of human progress seems to be accelerating day by day. So about 10,000 years ago, China's prehistoric humans entered the Mesolithic Age. The Mesolithic is a transitional period between the Neolithic and Paleolithic periods.

On the mainland of China, it was found that the relics of ancient human culture belonging to this era include the Lingjing site and the Shayuan culture. At that time, economic life was dominated by fishing, hunting and gathering, and the tools manufactured and used were still mainly stone tools. However, it is worth noting that the bow has been invented, which has made hunting more efficient.

The differences are as follows:

1. Stone tools are different:

The Paleolithic period was dominated by the use of beaten stone tools, and the Neolithic period was dominated by the use of polished stone tools. In the Paleolithic period, there was a gathering and hunting economy, and in the Neolithic period, humans began to engage in agriculture and animal husbandry, sowing the fruits of plants and taming wild animals for food.

2. The distance time is different.

The Paleolithic Age, the stage of human material culture development marked by the use of stone tools, dates from about 3 million to about 10,000 years ago. The Neolithic Age is the beginning of the Paleolithic Age, that is, from about 10,000 years ago and ends from more than 5,000 to 2,000 years ago, and is marked by the use of polished stone tools, which is also the last stage of the Stone Age.

In the Paleolithic period, natural fire was used, and in the Neolithic period, artificial fire was made. The emergence of pottery, agriculture, livestock raising, and polished stone tool manufacturing served as the four elements of early Neolithic culture and marked the beginning of the Neolithic period.

Traditional archaeology divides the long history of early human beings in China into the Paleolithic Age and the Neolithic Age, which is about 10,000 years ago, and the Neolithic Age is divided into early, middle and late stages.

The transition between the Old and Neolithic Tools, or the transition between the Old and Neolithic Tools, was an important turning point in the evolution of culture, because not only did polished stone tools generally replace beaten stone tools, but also the types (functions), efficiency, and aesthetics of the main production tools were greatly improved.

Moreover, because of the domestication of animals and plants and the invention of pottery, the economic form has developed from the original hunter-gatherer to agriculture, and the population has become more and more settled, and local and social knowledge has been deepened and accumulated.

In short, the relationship between people, the land and the environment has changed profoundly, as have families, communities and villages, and cultural and social organizations have become more complex – a new way of production and life has emerged, which has eventually led to the arrival of cities, nations and civilizations.

Therefore, the transition between the Old and Neolithic periods, the emergence of agriculture and village societies, is a suitable starting point for tracing and observing Chinese cultural traditions.

1. Use different tools.

Paleolithic.

Stone tools are mainly used in the Neolithic period.

Polished stone tools were widely used.

2. The way to change the fire quietly is different.

In the Paleolithic period, natural fire was used, and in the Neolithic period, artificial fire was made. The emergence of pottery, agriculture, livestock breeding, and polished stone tools was used as a sign of the beginning of the Neolithic period as the four elements of early Neolithic culture and the beginning of the Neolithic period.

3. The time period is different.

Neolithic: more than 5,000 to more than 2,000 years ago. Paleolithic: about 3 million years ago to about 10,000 years ago.

Introduction: History is very magical, it can make us realize many things and understand the meaning of life, but we are also very much looking forward to going back to the source of history. From the Paleolithic to the Neolithic, there are many differences between them, the first of which is that they learned to make artificial fires, and at the same time they also cultivated their own rice.

Let's take a look.

In the Neolithic period, artificial fires were madeIn that primitive society at that time, life was also explored after a long time, many people don't know about life, basically food is eaten raw, which will also cause a lot of threats in terms of taste and bacteria, many people get sick because of eating raw things, and there are no medical conditions at that time, then life means death, after people learned the technology of life, it was in the Neolithic Age when people used their own lives to cook food, This greatly increases the taste of the food, and also makes many people keen to know the meaning of life and eating. In the Paleolithic Age, people did not know that artificial life would only use some stone tools, and natural polishing could make fire, which was very inconvenient, and sometimes it was impossible to live at all.

Some crops were grown during the Neolithic periodAt that time, people were very scarce, they could only eat some fruits or fish, and people didn't know how to plant some crops, which was unimaginable in the Paleolithic Age, and the Neolithic people had learned to use fire to engage in fishing and hunting, and then plant crops, these are the new stages of human material culture development, and many people will sigh when using some crops and farm tools in the Neolithic Age. This is also confirmed in later archaeology, and some of the seeds of encouragement at that time were collected by the people of that time and used for the next year's crops, which were all developed by the wisdom of the ancients and explored in the practice of life.

All in all, the Paleolithic and Neolithic made a new leap.

The stone tools of the Paleolithic are not as fine as those of the Neolithic, the stone tools of the Paleolithic are made by beating, and the stone tools of the Neolithic are made according to the grinding, and the Paleolithic will only make some stone tools roughly, while the Neolithic will apply the period to decoration, and the Paleolithic and Neolithic will exist at a different time.

The Paleolithic and Neolithic periods were different in time, and their main tools and main undertakings were also different; The Paleolithic period was about 3 million to 10,000 years old, mainly stone tools, and the new era, about 5,000 years ago to 2,000 years ago, mainly polished stone tools, began to engage in agriculture and animal husbandry.

The main reason is that the background of the times is different, and there are some differences in the thinking of some people in the two eras. At the same time, there are some differences in the tools they use. Moreover, the Neolithic has many advantages over the Paleolithic, and some improvements and advancements have been made in the market.

There has been a qualitative leap.