Final answer:
The relationship of Neolithic people to plants and animals changed primarily due to climatic changes and human innovations, leading to the Neolithic Revolution and the development of agriculture, which subsequently led to larger populations, societal changes, and new religious practices.
Step-by-step explanation:
People in the New Stone Age, or the Neolithic period, had a different relationship to plants and animals due primarily to climatic changes and human innovations. This era marked the beginning of the Neolithic Revolution, which was a significant transformation in human history, moving from hunting and gathering to agriculture. This shift allowed human populations to grow and develop labor specialization, leading to the establishment of sophisticated settlements and changes in social and religious structures.
Agriculture enabled people to produce a surplus of food, abandon the egalitarian society of hunter-gatherers, and led to the domestication of animals. There was also a rise in religious practices centering on agricultural fertility, and communities built elaborate monuments and engaged in rituals to honor deities who were believed to encourage this fertility.
The Neolithic use of stone tools became more sophisticated and, combined with the domestication of plants and animals, set the foundation for human civilization, with the earliest form being various forms of animism which later evolved into more complex religions due to societal changes brought by agriculture.