The Neolithic

The Neolithic or New Stone Age covers the period from around 4000 BC to 2300 BC. During the Neolithic the hunting and gathering life style was replaced with one based on subsistence farming. Barley and wheat were grown and a range of domesticated animals including goats, sheep, cattle and pig were kept. The adoption of farming led to permanent settlements and a developing sense of territoriality, land ownership and social hierarchy. Agricultural surplus encouraged contact and exchange between groups and by the end of the Neolithic there were extensive trading networks across much of the British Isles.