Differences Between Paleolithic and Neolithic Periods

The differences between Paleolithic and Neolithic periods are:

(a) Paleolithic is the Old Stone Age and Neolithic the new Stone Age.

(b) Paleolithic tools were heavy, crude and blunt whereas, Neolithic tools were sharper, lighter, of better utility and of more variety and polished.

(c) Paleolithic man was a nomad, hunter, and a food gatherer. Neolithic were a settler and an agriculturist, who could domesticate animals, grow a variety of crops.

(d) The dwellings of Paleolithic man were caves or skin tents. Neolithic made houses of mud, wood and thatch.

(e) The diet of Paleolithic man consisted of meat and food gathered trees and shrubs, like fruits, berries and wild grain. Neolithic man dairy products like milk, cheese, meat and a variety of edible grains wheat, barley, rice, etc.

(f) Clothes of Paleolithic man were made of animal skins and leaves, whereas Neolithic man made clothes of cotton and wool.

(g) In the Paleolithic age there was no specialization of occupation. In Neolithic age there was division of labour and some specialization occupation so that there was more variety of crafts like carpentry, weaving and pottery.

(h) Community life was better developed in Neolithic times with rules regulations to regulate behaviour. Man, being a wanderer and a nomad in the Old Stone Age, had to devote all his time to food hunting and could develop community life.

(i) Due to the invention of agriculture, mixed farming and wheel in the new Stone Age, revolutionary changes and progress came in man’s life which was absent in the old Stone Age.