The early acquaintance with a food-producing economy in the PontoCaspian Steppe is assigned to this period. The transition from a food-gathering to a food-producing economy through farming and stock-keeping, led to a profound social and cultural change. Hunting and river fishing have likely continued to play a significant role in subsistence, especially in the forest-steppe areas. This transition to animal husbandry played a critical role in the history of the rise of human society, and is a significant contributor to the "Neolithic revolution". Simultaneously, a new way of life emerged with the construction of more comfortable settlements for plant and animal domestication, craft activities (resulting in the wide use of ornaments) and burial practices, including the erection of the first burial mounds in the Eneolithic period (the transition between Neolithic and the Bronze Age).