How did people in the Neolithic age overcome their challenges?

Neolithic people had to deal with the disappearance of the big game that had been abundant during the palaeolithic period. The animals that they hunted either died out (e.g., mammoths) or migrated north. Large forests emerged where previously there was polar tundra. Accordingly, they had to pay more attention to other sources of food; they responded to this challenge by fishing, designing traps for small game, and especially gathering plants. Following the end of Ice Age, the climate was wet and there were plenty of plants to collect. Later, however, it became drier, especially in the Middle East and North Africa. The Sahara desert expanded during this time.
People in the Middle East had to adjust to the drier climate (from approximately 9,000 B.C.E.) and a growing population; gathering wild plants no longer sufficed to provide a stable supply of food. Therefore they began to plant wild strains of wheat, barley, and other seeds near their settlements. In this way they gradually transitioned to agriculture and animal husbandry, which started with smaller animals such as goats and sheep. In the Middle East, the transition to agriculture began in the Fertile Crescent (corresponding to modern Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, and coastal Palestine), where there was enough rain to permit agriculture.
Archeologists excavated one such settlement in Abu Hureyra, in modern Syria, where people grew barley, rye, and wheat as early as 8,300 B.C.E.; there is some evidence of rye cultivation much earlier at this same site. Instead of plows, which appeared only after the end of the Neolithic period, Neolithic farmers used hoes; this was more labor-intensive. Women milled grain using large grinding stones, which helped them developed strong muscles but also led to the deformation of bones and caused much suffering. Diseases also increased in Neolithic settlements due to lack of hygiene and the presence of domesticated animals such as sheep (Abu Hureyra) or goats.
Nevertheless, after the Neolithic revolution (the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture and animal husbandry), the human population grew much more rapidly because of the abundant supply of food and the presence of more carbohydrates in the diet, which helped women to maintain their pregnancies. Large-scale migrations took place as people from the Middle East moved in search of additional fertile lands, especially along such major rivers as the Danube in Europe. In China people learned to grow rice approximately 10,000 years ago. In Central America, people domesticated maize (from approximately 7,000 years ago), a very productive plant that provided about twice as much food as wheat per square acre.
In the second half of the Neolithic period the Secondary Products revolution began as people learned to grow grapes and olives and transform them into wine and olive oil, raise animals for their milk and use that milk to make cheese, etc. During this period, people also improved their ability to store food with the invention of pottery, initially hand-shaped and then produced with a pottery wheel. Greater productivity and economic diversification during the second half of the Neolithic period allowed for the growth of relatively large settlements with a few thousands inhabitants, such as Catal Huyuk in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). These large settlements are sometimes called neolithic cities. Catal Huyuk thrived because of international trade; it was located near valuable sources of obsidian, a stone that could produce razor-sharp edges for stone tools. Catal Huyuk’s houses stood next to each other and included special ritual buildings with walls covered in frescoes. By the end of the Neolithic period (approximately 3,000 B.C.E.) extensive trade networks had spread across much of Asia, Africa, and parts of Europe. From approximately 4,000 B.C.E., the Nile valley witnessed a rapid growth in human settlements and social differentiation, while parts of Mesopotamia underwent urbanization; these changes marked a gradual transition from pre-historic societies to early civilizations; similar processes were taking place during the same period in the Hindus valley and in parts of Northern China. During this time, the Uruk civilization extended its influence over vast areas of the Middle East from Iran to Palestine. The challenge posed by thousands of people living together in close proximity demanded the emergence of elaborate government and record keeping. This led to early forms of pictographic writing. The newly emerging elite classes started looking for status symbols, such as elaborate jewelry; this, in turn, led to a growth in metalwork, especially with gold, silver and copper.