The Copper Age,also called the Chalcolithic or (A)eneolithic,is an archaeological period characterized by regular human manipulation of copper,but prior to the discovery of bronze alloys. Modern researchers consider the period as a subset of the broader Neolithic,but earlier scholars defined it as a transitional period between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. It is also considered the first phase,of three,in the Metal Ages.
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age and the Bronze Age. The concept has been mostly applied to Iron Age Europe and the Ancient Near East,but also,by analogy,to other parts of the Old World. It is also considered the third phase,of three,in the Metal Ages.
The three-age system is the periodization of human prehistory into three time-periods:the Stone Age,the Bronze Age,and the Iron Age,although the concept may also refer to other tripartite divisions of historic time periods. In history,archaeology and physical anthropology,the three-age system is a methodological concept adopted during the 19th century according to which artefacts and events of late prehistory and early history could be broadly ordered into a recognizable chronology. C. J. Thomsen initially developed this categorization in the period 1816 to 1825,as a result of classifying the collection of an archaeological exhibition chronologically –there resulted broad sequences with artefacts made successively of stone,bronze,and iron.
Experimental archaeology is a field of study which attempts to generate and test archaeological hypotheses,usually by replicating or approximating the feasibility of ancient cultures performing various tasks or feats. It employs a number of methods,techniques,analyses,and approaches,based upon archaeological source material such as ancient structures or artifacts.
In archaeology,lithic analysis is the analysis of stone tools and other chipped stone artifacts using basic scientific techniques. At its most basic level,lithic analyses involve an analysis of the artifact's Morphology (archaeology),the measurement of various physical attributes,and examining other visible features.
The Bell Beaker culture,also known as the Bell Beaker complex or Bell Beaker phenomenon,is an archaeological culture named after the inverted-bell beaker drinking vessel used at the very beginning of the European Bronze Age. Arising from around 2800 BC,it lasted in Britain until as late as 1800 BC but in continental Europe only until 2300 BC,when it was succeeded by the Unetice culture. The culture was widely dispersed throughout Western Europe,being present in many regions of Iberia and stretching eastward to the Danubian plains,and northward to the islands of Great Britain and Ireland,and was also present in the islands of Sardinia and Sicily and some small coastal areas in north-western Africa. The Bell Beaker phenomenon shows substantial regional variation,and a study from 2018 found that it was associated with genetically diverse populations.
Franchthi Cave or Frankhthi Cave is an archaeological site overlooking Kiladha Bay,in the Argolic Gulf,opposite the village of Kiladha in southeastern Argolis,Greece.
Karain Cave is a Paleolithic archaeological site located at Yağca Village 27 km (17 mi) northwest of Antalya city in the Mediterranean region of Turkey.
Errett Callahan was an American archaeologist,flintknapper,and pioneer in the fields of experimental archaeology and lithic replication studies.
Prehistory,also known as pre-literary history,is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins c. 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of symbols,marks,and images appears very early among humans,but the earliest known writing systems appeared c. 5000 years ago. It took thousands of years for writing systems to be widely adopted,with writing spreading to almost all cultures by the 19th century. The end of prehistory therefore came at very different times in different places,and the term is less often used in discussing societies where prehistory ended relatively recently.
Throughout most of its existence,the Cucuteni-Trypillia culture was fairly stable. Near the end it began to change from a gift economy to an early form of trade called reciprocity,and introduced the apparent use of barter tokens,an early form of money.
Evidence of human activity during the Mesolithic period in Irish history has been found in excavations at the Mount Sandel Mesolithic site in the north of the island,cremations on the banks of the River Shannon in the west,campsites at Lough Boora in the midlands,and middens and other sites elsewhere in the country.
Sue Hamilton is a British archaeologist and Professor of Prehistory at the UCL Institute of Archaeology. A material culture specialist and landscape archaeologist,she was the UCL Institute of Archaeology's first permanent female director (2014–22).
Avi Gopher is an Israeli archaeologist. He is a professor at the University of Tel Aviv.
The Museum of Lebanese Prehistory is a museum of prehistory and archaeology in Beirut,Lebanon.
The Neolithic flint mines of Spiennes are among the largest and earliest Neolithic flint mines which survive in north-western Europe,located close to the Walloon village of Spiennes,southeast of Mons,Belgium. The mines were active during the mid and late Neolithic between 4,300 and 2,200 BC. Declared to be "remarkable for the diversity of technological solutions used for extraction" the site and its surroundings were inducted into the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 2000.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to prehistoric technology.
Amy Bogaard FBA is a Canadian archaeologist and Professor of Neolithic and Bronze Age Archaeology at the University of Oxford.
Caroline Rosa Wickham-Jones FSA was a British archaeologist specialising in Stone Age Orkney. She was a lecturer at the University of Aberdeen until her retirement in 2015.
The Armorican Tumulus culture is a Bronze Age culture,located in the western part of the Armorican peninsula of France. It is known through more than a thousand burial sites covered by a tumulus or otherwise. The culture is renowned for some exceptionally richly endowed burials of chieftains of the time,which are contemporary with the elite of the Wessex culture,in England,and the Unetice culture,in Central Europe.
