Neolithic is of or relating to the cultural periods of the Stone Age beginning around 10,000 B. C. in the Middle East and later elsewhere, characterized by the development of agriculture and the making of polished stone artifacts. The Neolithic Period is also called the New Stone Age. Many water pots and ceramic figures were found in the ruins of Neolithic society plots of earth. People of Neolithic times made many artifacts that were symbolic of their ways of life and culture such as water pots, fish, hunting and medical objects.
Out of the artifacts found from the Neolithic period, the fish is symbolic to me because of the times spent with my father during fishing trips. The Neolithic Period extended from 10,000 B. C. to 3,000 B. C.
It is also called the New Stone Age, and many new Advances and changes took place in this time. Unlike the nomadic life of the Old Stone Age, the New Stone Age was the dawning of settled life. People lived more towards lakes and river instead of caves and tree trunks. The change in environment led to the change of jobs, society, and culture.
Neolithic everyday objects reveal that fishing and hunting were the main occupations of the people. Neolithic art is represented by a large number of objects found in isolated areas in Eastern Europe, Siberia and Central Asia. Neolithic people decorated clay water vessels in a wide variety of ways that were very large and colorful. They also created bone, horn and wooden figurines of people and animals. The Earliest Neolithic pottery found in Siberia and Central Asia is similar to pottery found in northern Britain, suggesting that early Neolithic colonist may have come to Ireland from northern Britain. The pottery bowls were made by winding coils of clay in a circle to form the sides of the bowl, smoothing them, and finally firing them on an open fire.
After the making of these vessels were mastered, pottery was decorated with dots or lines in the surface of the clay. Neolithic people lived near rivers and lakes. The artifacts and life in the water became and important part of their lives by supporting them with food, cleansing and ceremonial artifacts such as fish and shells. Fishing was an important job, and way of life because the abundance of fish fed entire villages. The fish were appreciated so much to the Neolithic people that they began making clay fish, as a symbol for their way of life.
Just as fishing, and the way of the water benefited the people of the Neolithic times, it also benefited my father and I. At one time, my father and I lived in the same house with no problems, however we never had a decent conversation of life and love for one another. Though I had no hatred towards my father, I always wondered what my father thought of me, and what did he think of my choices in life. It was my idea to have an outing with my father, without my stepmother, that would make us talk. Since I had never been fishing I asked my father if he could teach me how to fish. Because fishing is a quiet sport, it gave us no reason not to talk on the quiet boat.
After the first fishing trip, my father and I began having so much more to talk about. The fishing trip was not only a fishing trip, but also an information session. Not only did I solve the problem of open communication with my father, I also learned how he felt on the accomplishments, and choices that I was making in life. Fish now play a very special part in my life. Every time I eat fish, it reminds me of the accomplishment I made of establishing better communication with someone I love.
The fishing trips even went as far as me and my father hosting a big fish fry every summer for friends and relatives. The fish fry resembles a family reunion, because it brings everyone who attends closer together, returning every year with another great story to tell.
