Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Neolithic period began approximately 12,000 years ago and ended in the Near East around 6,500 years ago during the Chalcolithic transitional period. This era marked the development of metallurgy and the transition to the Bronze Age and Iron Age.
John Lubbock coined the term Neolithic in 1865 as a refinement of the three-age system. This term marked the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe, and Africa.
The temple area at Göbekli Tepe in southeastern Turkey, dated to around 9500 BC, is the oldest known human-made place of worship. This site was developed by nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes and contains at least seven stone circles with limestone pillars carved with animals, insects, and birds.
The Neolithic period in Ancient Egypt ended during the Protodynastic period in 3150 BC. In China, the period lasted until circa 2000 BC with the rise of the pre-Shang Erlitou culture.
The identifying characteristic of Neolithic technology is the use of polished or ground stone tools, in contrast to the flaked stone tools used during the Paleolithic era. The polished stone axe was the primary tool that allowed large-scale forest clearance and exploitation of farmland.