I'd like to know a good amount of detail about the Stone Age and up to the Neolithic Revolution. In particular I'm interested in the knowledge, beliefs, and technology of people living at those times. Are there any good books on the subject? I have in mind books like college textbooks: Things that are somewhat introductory in that they don't focus on a very narrow region or time, but also somewhat academic in that they provide a good amount of detail.

When I traveled to Athens I couldn't help but notice all the happy stray dogs running around the city. When I asked my tour guide he informed me that rather than put them down the city neuters them and then set them free. Its someones job to feed them and its a inside joke that the dogs are "city employees"

Across the sea in Istanbul its the exact opposite, Cats rule the city. They are everywhere and entitled like divas. They sit on your table when eating at a restaurant, walk into stores, chill on monuments.

I was wondering if there was some historical basis to this.

I recently saw a documentary on the methods of constructing a 12th century castle, and something that struck my imagination was the castle walls. They claimed the walls were built in three layers, an exterior of hard stone and a core of smaller, softer stone. To increase the strength of the wall, some exterior stones would be sunk into the interior to hold the two together. This got me thinking- assuming time and resources were no limitation, how thick could a castle wall be? Often fantasy books mention ancient castles with walls hundreds of feet thick, but is this feasible? Thanks!

It seems like the composition would stand out more if it was given a name like Für Elise.

Okay, this is a bit high concept so bear with me as I try to explain myself - take for example the 1920s fashionable "flapper" silhouette which was very lean and thin, and the 1940s silhouette which was very triangular (shoulders emphasized, little booty), then the 1950s with an hourglass fashion.

It seems like men's silhouettes "echoed" the women's in some instances, like the 1920s male fashion plate was a very trim fellow, and the 1940s ideal man was a big broad-shouldered GI, but then the 1950s man was not a wasp-waisted dandy.

So what I think I'm asking is - in the larger scope of fashion do broad trends in women's clothing noticeably influence menswear?

I understand there is limited information on this, but were the front parts of the ships carved for cultural/ religious purposes or did the help the ship cut through waves or add extra drive?

Now, granted, I could be wrong that it has, but from several places I've heard/read that, since the 80's, the idea that the "Dark Ages" constituted a significant step backward for Europe has garnered less support among historians than it once held.

Is this true? If it is, what are the reasons for the change in interpretation of events?

If my understanding is correct, that great mayan cities were populated by people whos ancestry came across from Russia, through Alaska, then south till they reached South America.. why does it seem that civilization was so much more advanced than the Native Americans of North America?