The Paleolithic era spanned from 2.6 million to 10,000 years ago and saw the emergence of early hominids, the development of stone tools, and the expansion and migration of populations. Paleolithic societies were hunter-gatherer and nomadic, with little social hierarchy. The era ended with the development of agriculture and settled communities. Artifacts from the era include cave paintings and engravings, with some depicting animals and hunting scenes, and others possibly representing religious or magical beliefs.
The Paleolithic era, which means “early stone age,” is a very long period of human prehistory, extending from the earliest hominids using tools at least 2.6 million years ago, to about 10,000 years ago. Based on tools and other artifacts, the era is divided into Lower (2.6 million years ago – 300,000 years ago), Middle (300,000 years ago – 30,000 years ago), and Upper (50,000 years ago – 10,000 years ago); there is some overlap in time periods as the transitions took place at different times in different places. The end of the era was marked by a general warming of the earth’s climate, which caused the retreat of continental glaciers. This appears to have led to the development of agriculture, resulting in the settlement of communities and the end of the nomadic and hunter-gatherer lifestyles that characterized this period.
Humans come from an evolutionary line that split from chimpanzees about 6 million years ago. The Paleolithic era saw the emergence of many early species of Homo – known collectively as hominids – the immediate ancestors of modern humans. This period of prehistory was a time of slow population expansion, migration, evolution and development of stone tools. Because it contains no written records, there is much uncertainty about the details of how these early hominids lived, but archaeologists have been able to piece together much information about Paleolithic technology, migration, society, and art.
Tools and technology
The development of technology during the Paleolithic was slow, especially before the evolution of modern humans in East Africa about 250,000 years ago, but it was the creation of stone tools during this era that gave rise to the term “Stone Age”. The oldest prehistoric tools date from the beginning of the era to about 1.4 million – 600,000 years ago, a part of the Lower Paleolithic known as the Oldowan period. The tools consist of crude choppers, cleavers, scrapers and awls, with only one side of the tool worked into an edge. This period of tool making started the Acheulian tool industry over a period of almost a million years, at different times in different places. Acheulian tools consist of distinctive oval and pear-shaped axes created by cutting both edges and reworking them to obtain a sharp edge.
The transition to the Middle Paleolithic was marked by the appearance of the first composite tools, such as spears made of sharpened stones attached to wooden shafts. Harpoons, used to impale fish, may also have been used. It was during this period that the use of fire became common, although it may have first been employed during the Lower Paleolithic.
During the Upper Paleolithic, there was a great diversification in tool making, with the appearance of a wide variety of relatively specialized tools. For example, new hunting tools, such as the bow and arrow and bolas, seem to have been invented during this period. New materials have also been used, such as bone. This period saw the emergence of the first works of art, in the form of cave paintings and carved stones, along with the necessary pigments and tools.
Expansion and Migration
Population density during the Paleolithic was low: about one human per square mile. The total hominid population probably never exceeded one million until the end of the era, by which time all species of Homo except modern humans – Homo sapiens – had become extinct. The global population is thought to have been around 5 million at this point, and the range was on every continent besides Antarctica.
About 1.8 million years ago (mya), some hominids began tentatively colonizing areas just outside Africa, such as modern-day Israel. Around 1.4 million years ago, Acheulian tool users, in the form of Homo erectus, left Africa to colonize Asia, where numerous artifacts have been found, particularly in China. Hominids first arrived in Europe about 1.2 million years ago. About 250,000 years ago, modern humans evolved in Africa and, starting about 80,000 years ago, they rapidly spread across Eurasia, displacing other species of Homo that preceded them. About 10,000 years ago, humans had inhabited every part of the Earth except Antarctica and a few isolated islands like New Zealand and Hawaii.
Society
What is known of Paleolithic societies is based partly on archaeological and other scientific evidence and partly on studies of “Stone Age” tribes that survived into relatively modern times. The Paleolithic era is defined as pre-agricultural and its societies would have been of the “hunter-gatherer” type, with groups, or tribes, of perhaps 20-50 individuals. It is thought that hunting animals for meat was mainly done by men, while women were mainly responsible for gathering various types of plant-based foods, such as fruits, nuts, and edible stems and roots. It was estimated that plants made up about 70% of the diet and meat only about 30%, making women the main suppliers of food. It is possible that because of this, women at this time may have played a greater role in society than in post-Paleolithic times.
The hunter-gatherer lifestyle dictated a nomadic existence, with people having to move frequently due to seasonal fluctuations in the availability of plant and animal food. This made permanent settlements impossible and limited the amount of material goods individuals or families could accumulate. It seems probable, therefore, that these societies did not exhibit the marked divisions based on wealth and social status that manifested themselves in the establishment of fixed communities based on an agricultural way of life. Tribes may have had leaders, but there was probably little in the way of social hierarchy.
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Many paintings and engravings have been preserved from the Upper Paleolithic. The paintings were made using red and yellow pigments from iron compounds found in rocks. It appears that these were ground into a powder and mixed with saliva to form a kind of paint which was then applied to suitable rock surfaces in the caves. These paintings generally depict animals that early humans would have hunted for food, as well as explicit hunting scenes. There are also some representations of half-human, half-animal creatures that are thought to be related to religious or magical beliefs.
A number of engravings from this period have been found. They are made from a variety of materials, including stone, bone, and horn. While there are many animal sculptures, much interest has focused on the sculptures of female figures. These are sometimes called “Venus figures” and many researchers have speculated that they may be symbols of fertility or that they may represent a “mother goddess”. Others have suggested that they may have simply been a form of Stone Age pornography.
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