The Island Sunrise: Prehistoric Culture in the British Isles

All human achievement depends on a food surplus — only when a hunter could provide more than enough food for his own needs could others concentrate on toolmaking, carving, or even painting. During the vast period of time covered by this book, man developed from a primitive, restless, ape-like creature to a dweller in settled communities, capable of husbanding his resources and organising sustained corporate effort. The Stone Age hunters made beautiful and highly effective flint weapons. The farming communities of the Neolithic period developed the axes they needed for clearing the land, but they also decorated them. In the Bronze and Iron Ages, man found sufficient time and prosperity to offer patronage to craftsmen, priests, and poets.