neolithic

neolithic
    adj 1: of or relating to the most recent period of the Stone Age
           (following the mesolithic); "evidence of neolithic
           settlements"
    n 1: latest part of the Stone Age beginning about 10,000 BC in
         the Middle East (but later elsewhere) [syn: {Neolithic
         Age}, {Neolithic}, {New Stone Age}]
    

Neolithic \Ne`o*lith"ic\, a. [Neo- + -lith + -ic.] (Archaeol. &
   Geol.)
   Of or pertaining to, or designating, an era characterized by
   late remains in stone; the late stone age. Estimated as
   beginning around 9000 b. c. in the Middle East, this period
   is characterized by the beginnings of farming, the
   domestication of animals, and the manufacture of textiles and
   pottery.
   [1913 Webster +PJC]

         The Neolithic era includes the latter half of the
         "Stone age;" the human relics which belong to it are
         associated with the remains of animals not yet extinct.
         The kitchen middens of Denmark, the lake dwellings of
         Switzerland, and the stockaded islands, or "crannogs,"
         of the British Isles, belong to this era. --Lubbock.
   [1913 Webster]