Neolithic

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the final major phase of the Stone Age, associated in many regions with farming, permanent settlements, and polished stone tools

   Grinding and polishing stone tools became widespread during the Neolithic.

2. 2
   adj

   relating to the Neolithic period or its peoples and material culture

   Archaeologists uncovered a Neolithic settlement beside the ancient riverbed.

Formed from neo-, 'new,' + -lithic, 'of stone,' from Greek neos and lithos. John Lubbock introduced Paleolithic and Neolithic in Pre-historic Times (1865) to distinguish older chipped-stone industries from the later period of ground and polished stone tools.

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