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The societies in the Neolithic period transitioned from hunter-gatherer to agrarian. During this time period, people created larger and more permanent communities in single locations. Neolithic societies created human sculptures, pottery, engravings, and megaliths. Permanent settlement allowed the time and energy required to build megalith monuments that would not have been possible to prior nomadic cultures. Art in this time portrayed farming, community, and spirituality.
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Cueva de las manos is an archaeological site compromising of almost 2,000 stenciled handprints. Created in three waves, the second wave, starting around 5,000 BCE, replaced hunting scenes with motionless animal figures and concentrations of overlapping hand stencils in purple, red, yellow, white, and black. Men, women, and children either painted their hands and placed them on the walls, outlined the hand with a brush, or blew natural pigment to create a stencil. -
In the Archaic period, thousands of Native Americans travelled and lived along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The people made bannerstones, carefully chosen pieces of stone that were carved, drilled, and polished. They're symmetrical and drilled down the center, suggesting they were hoisted on rods in the air as banners. Bannerstones were made from many types of stones, some relatively soft and commonly used, and others harder and requiring more time to carve. -
The earliest phase of construction of Stonehenge was around 3,000 BCE, and it is believed it took 1,000 years to construct. It is aligned with the sunrise of the summer solstice and sunset of the winter solstice. Although it is not certain wether the structure was used for ritual practices or death ceremonies, it is possible it's purpose was an astronomical calendar to help early agrarian societies acclimate to the approaching growing season and harvest.