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The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic or Palæolithic,also called the Old Stone Age,is a period in prehistory distinguished by the original development of stone tools that covers 99% of the period of human technological prehistory. It extends from the earliest known use of stone tools by hominins c. 3.3 million years ago,to the end of the Pleistocene c. 11,650 cal BP.
The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge,a point,or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years,and ended between 4,000 BCE and 2,000 BCE,with the advent of metalworking. Though some simple metalworking of malleable metals,particularly the use of gold and copper for purposes of ornamentation,was known in the Stone Age,it is the melting and smelting of copper that marks the end of the Stone Age. In Western Asia,this occurred by about 3,000 BCE,when bronze became widespread. The term Bronze Age is used to describe the period that followed the Stone Age,as well as to describe cultures that had developed techniques and technologies for working copper alloys into tools,supplanting stone in many uses.
Early modern human (EMH) or anatomically modern human (AMH) are terms used to distinguish Homo sapiens that are anatomically consistent with the range of phenotypes seen in contemporary humans from extinct archaic human species. This distinction is useful especially for times and regions where anatomically modern and archaic humans co-existed,for example,in Paleolithic Europe. Among the oldest known remains of Homo sapiens are those found at the Omo-Kibish I archaeological site in south-western Ethiopia,dating to about 233,000 to 196,000 years ago,the Florisbad site in South Africa,dating to about 259,000 years ago,and the Jebel Irhoud site in Morocco,dated about 300,000 years ago.
Behavioral modernity is a suite of behavioral and cognitive traits that distinguishes current Homo sapiens from other anatomically modern humans,hominins,and primates. Most scholars agree that modern human behavior can be characterized by abstract thinking,planning depth,symbolic behavior,music and dance,exploitation of large game,and blade technology,among others. Underlying these behaviors and technological innovations are cognitive and cultural foundations that have been documented experimentally and ethnographically by evolutionary and cultural anthropologists. These human universal patterns include cumulative cultural adaptation,social norms,language,and extensive help and cooperation beyond close kin.
Africa has the longest record of human habitation in the world. The first hominins emerged 6-7 million years ago,and among the earliest anatomically modern human skulls found so far were discovered at Omo Kibish,Jebel Irhoud,and Florisbad.
The Upper Paleolithic also called the Late Stone Age is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly,it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago,according to some theories coinciding with the appearance of behavioral modernity in early modern humans,until the advent of the Neolithic Revolution and agriculture.
The Middle Paleolithic is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe,Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle Paleolithic in African archeology. The Middle Paleolithic broadly spanned from 300,000 to 30,000 years ago. There are considerable dating differences between regions. The Middle Paleolithic was succeeded by the Upper Paleolithic subdivision which first began between 50,000 and 40,000 years ago. Pettit and White date the Early Middle Paleolithic in Great Britain to about 325,000 to 180,000 years ago,and the Late Middle Paleolithic as about 60,000 to 35,000 years ago.
The Lower Paleolithic is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 3 million years ago when the first evidence for stone tool production and use by hominins appears in the current archaeological record,until around 300,000 years ago,spanning the Oldowan and Acheulean lithics industries.
Blombos Cave is an archaeological site located in Blombos Private Nature Reserve,about 300 km east of Cape Town on the Southern Cape coastline,South Africa. The cave contains Middle Stone Age (MSA) deposits currently dated at between c. 100,000 and 70,000 years Before Present (BP),and a Late Stone Age sequence dated at between 2000 and 300 years BP. The cave site was first excavated in 1991 and field work has been conducted there on a regular basis since 1997,and is ongoing.
The Ishango bone,discovered at the "Fisherman Settlement" of Ishango in the Democratic Republic of Congo,is a bone tool and possible mathematical device that dates to the Upper Paleolithic era. The curved bone is dark brown in color,about 10 centimeters in length,and features a sharp piece of quartz affixed to one end,perhaps for engraving. Because the bone has been narrowed,scraped,polished,and engraved to a certain extent,it is no longer possible to determine what animal the bone belonged to,although it is assumed to belong to a mammal.
The Middle Stone Age was a period of African prehistory between the Early Stone Age and the Late Stone Age. It is generally considered to have begun around 280,000 years ago and ended around 50–25,000 years ago. The beginnings of particular MSA stone tools have their origins as far back as 550–500,000 years ago and as such some researchers consider this to be the beginnings of the MSA. The MSA is often mistakenly understood to be synonymous with the Middle Paleolithic of Europe,especially due to their roughly contemporaneous time span,however,the Middle Paleolithic of Europe represents an entirely different hominin population,Homo neanderthalensis,than the MSA of Africa,which did not have Neanderthal populations. Additionally,current archaeological research in Africa has yielded much evidence to suggest that modern human behavior and cognition was beginning to develop much earlier in Africa during the MSA than it was in Europe during the Middle Paleolithic. The MSA is associated with both anatomically modern humans as well as archaic Homo sapiens,sometimes referred to as Homo helmei. Early physical evidence comes from the Gademotta Formation in Ethiopia,the Kapthurin Formation in Kenya and Kathu Pan in South Africa.
The Klasies River Caves are a series of caves located to the east of the Klasies River mouth on the Tsitsikamma coast in the Humansdorp district of Eastern Cape Province,South Africa. The three main caves and two shelters at the base of a high cliff have revealed evidence of middle stone age-associated human habitation from approximately 125,000 years ago. The 20 metres (66 ft) thick deposits were accumulated from 125,000 years ago. Around 75,000 years ago,during cave remodelling,the stratigraphic sediments were moved out into external middens.
Ishango is a Congolese lakeshore site located in the north-eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa,previously known as Zaire. This present day village is known as a "fishermen settlement" as it lies on the shores of the Semliki River,flowing out of Lake Edward,serving as one of the sources of the Nile River. This site is known best for its rich biodiversity and archaeological significance,indicating previous human occupation.
The Semliki harpoon,also known as the Katanda harpoon,refers to a group of complex barbed harpoon heads carved from bone,which were found at an archaeologic site on the Semliki River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo;the artifacts which date back approximately 90,000 years. The initial discovery of the first harpoon head was made in 1988. When the artifact was dated to 88,000 BCE,there was skepticism within the archaeological community about the accuracy of the stated age;in that the object seemed too advanced for human cultures of that era. However,the site has yielded multiple other examples of similar harpoons,and the dates have been confirmed.
The Later Stone Age (LSA) is a period in African prehistory that follows the Middle Stone Age.
Paleolithic religions are a set of spiritual beliefs and practices that may have appeared during the Paleolithic time period. Paleoanthropologists Andre Leroi-Gourhan and Annette Michelson believe unmistakably religious behaviour emerged by the Upper Paleolithic,before 30,000 years ago at the latest,but behavioral patterns such as burial rites that one might characterize as religious —or as ancestral to religious behaviour —reach back into the Middle Paleolithic,as early as 300,000 years ago,coinciding with the first appearance of Homo neanderthalensis and possibly Homo naledi.
The oldest undisputed examples of figurative art are known from Europe and from Sulawesi,Indonesia,dated about 35,000 years old . Together with religion and other cultural universals of contemporary human societies,the emergence of figurative art is a necessary attribute of full behavioral modernity.
Prehistoric technology is technology that predates recorded history. History is the study of the past using written records. Anything prior to the first written accounts of history is prehistoric,including earlier technologies. About 2.5 million years before writing was developed,technology began with the earliest hominids who used stone tools,which they may have used to start fires,hunt,and bury their dead.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to prehistoric technology.
Sally McBrearty is an American paleoanthropologist and Paleolithic archaeologist. She was a professor and head of the anthropology department at the University of Connecticut.
References
- 1 2 3 "Alison Brooks | The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program". humanorigins.si.edu. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Alison S. Brooks | Elliott School of International Affairs | The George Washington University". elliott.gwu.edu. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
- ↑ http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/2518998.html.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - 1 2 3 4 5 McBrearty, Sally; Brooks, Alison (2000). "The revolution that wasn't: a new interpretation of the origin of modern human behavior". Journal of Human Evolution. 39 (5): 453–563. doi:10.1006/jhev.2000.0435. PMID 11102266.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Yellen, John; Brooks, Alison; Cornelissen, Els; Mehlman, Michael; Stewart, Kathlyn (1995). "A middle stone age worked bone industry from Katanda, Upper Semliki Valley, Zaire". Science. 268 (5210): 553–6. Bibcode:1995Sci...268..553Y. doi:10.1126/science.7725100. PMID 7725100.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Brooks, Alison; Smith, Catherine (1987). "Ishango revisited: new age determinations and cultural interpretations". African Archaeological Review. 5 (1): 65–78. doi:10.1007/BF01117083. S2CID 129091602.
- ↑ "The Revolution That Wasn't: A New Interpretation of the Origin of Modern Behavior Human Behavior - Google Scholar". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
- ↑ "Sally McBrearty | Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA)". carta.anthropogeny.org. Retrieved 2018-05-30.