Question

What was the difference between tools of the Neolithic Age and the Paleolithic Age?
A) Neolithic tools were sharper and better.
B) Neolithic tools were made of stone.
C) Neolithic tools were more easily made.
D) There was no difference between the two.

Answer 1

Hint: The names of the different eras are always significant and describe the main characteristic of that particular era. For e.g. Paleolithic age comes from the words “paleo = old” + “lithic = stone” i.e. old stone age. Similarly, Neolithic age means “neo = new” + “lithic = stone” i.e. new stone age.

Complete answer:

PALEOLITHIC AGE	NEOLITHIC AGE
This is a period of prehistory which lasts from 2.6 million years ago to 10,000 years ago.	This age began around 10,000 years ago and lasted up to 4000 years ago.
The people during that time lived in caves, huts and skin tents.	People during this period lived in houses made of mud-brick which were supported by timber.
They used chipped stones combined with pieces of wood as their only tool. These were not sharp and were lightweight	They used polished stones as a tool. They even polished them further to sharpen them (by grinding) and use them as lethal weapons, for hunting etc.
They wore clothes made of animal skin.	In addition to animal skin, they had started weaving.

To understand the difference between the tools of the Paleolithic and the Neolithic age, let us look at their differences as a whole.

Option A) Neolithic tools were sharper and better –Neolithic tools were sharpened by grinding and hence were better tools. This statement is absolutely correct.
Option B) Neolithic tools were made of stones –It is not different as tools were made of stone in both the Paleolithic and Neolithic ages. This option is incorrect.
Option C) Neolithic tools were more easily made – Neolithic tools were not easy to make as they required extra sharpening and grinding. Thus, this option is incorrect.
Option D) There was no difference between the two – There was a big difference, that Neolithic tools were sharper and better. Hence, this option is also wrong.

Thus, the correct answer is an option (A) i.e, Neolithic tools were sharper and better.

Note: The people in the Paleolithic age lived nomadic lives. They travelled from place to place in groups of 40-50 and gathered food and hunted on the way. The Neolithic humans lived a more sedentary life. They had developed agriculture, formed permanent settlements and even started herding domestic animals. They grew crop plants like wheat, corn etc.