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The Paleolithic (or Palaeolithic) is a prehistoric era distinguished by the development of stone tools. It covers the greatest portion of humanity's time on Earth, extending from 2.5 million years ago, with the introduction of stone tools by hominids such as Homo habilis, to the introduction of agriculture around 10,000 BCE.

The term Paleolithic, literally "Old Age of the Stone", was coined by archaeologist John Lubbock in 1865 and derives from the Greek "παλαιός", paleos ("old") and "λίθος", lithos ("stone"). The Paleolithic era ended with the Mesolithic, or in areas with an early neolithisation, the Epipaleolithic.

The Paleolithic is characterized by the use of knapped stone tools, although at the time, humans also used wood and bone tools. Other organic commodities were adapted for use as tools, including leather and vegetable fibers; however, given their nature, these have not been preserved to any great degree.

Traditionally, the Paleolithic is divided into three periods: the Lower Paleolithic, Middle Paleolithic, and the Upper Paleolithic. The three ages mark technological and cultural advances in different human communities.

Paleolithic

Lower Paleolithic

Olduwan culture

Acheulean culture

Clactonian culture

Middle Paleolithic

Mousterian culture

Aterian culture

Upper Paleolithic

Châtelperronian culture

Aurignacian culture

Gravettian culture

Solutrean culture

Magdalenian culture

This cranium, of Homo heidelbergensis, a Lower Paleolithic predecessor to Homo neanderthalensis, dates to some time between 500,000 to 400,000 BCE

Main article: Human evolution

Human evolution is the part of biological evolution concerning the emergence of humans as a distinct species. It is the subject of a broad scientific inquiry that seeks to understand and describe how this change and development occurred. The study of human evolution encompasses many scientific disciplines, most notably physical anthropology, linguistics, and genetics. The term human, in the context of human evolution, refers to the genus Homo, but studies of human evolution usually include other hominids, such as the australopithecines.

The timeline of human evolution outlines the major events in the development of human species and the evolution of the ancestors to humans. This timeline does not explain the evolution of, for example, lions, dinosaurs, or birds. It includes a more detailed explanation of other animals, species, or genus, which are possible ancestors of Homo sapiens sapiens.

It begins with the time of the origin of life and presents a possible line of descendants that led to humans. This timeline is based on studies from paleontology, developmental biology, morphology, and from anatomical and genetic data. The study of human evolution is a major component of anthropology.

The timeline below shows a simplified genealogy of Paleolithic humanity, although other ideas of human genealogy exist for the same period:^[1] Timeline scale is in thousands of years.

Currently agreed upon classifications as Paleolithic geoclimatic episodes

Main article: Stone Age

The Old Stone Age, or Paleolithic, comprises more than a million years, and during this period major climatic and other changes occurred which affected the evolution of humans. Humans themselves evolved into their current morphological form during the later period of the Stone Age.

Paleolithic humans appear to have ranged widely and were distributed sparsely, but uniformly. The Paleolithic remains which have been found are astonishingly uniform, everywhere in the range of humans. Implements of the same type have been found in what is now Britain, France, and along the banks of the Nile.^[2]

The economy of a typical Paleolithic society was primitive, with humans living a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. They hunted for and gathered food, firewood, and materials for their tools, clothes, or cabins.

During the interglacial period, about 100,000 years ago, some small family groups of Homo neanderthalensis wandered over Europe, leaving behind nothing but their flint implements.^[2]

In general, the methods of fabrication for tools did not change a great deal during the Paleolithic, despite the number of cultures that existed throughout the era.

During this time people made tools of stone, bone, and wood. People also wore rough animal skins as articles of clothing.

An artist's rendering of a temporary wood house, based on evidence found at Terra Amata (in Nice, France) and dated to around 400,000 BCE

Neanderthals seemed acquainted with the use of fire, and as the last glacial era approached in Europe they began to seek shelter under rock ledges and in caves, leaving their remains for later discovery.

More primitive humans or societies vanished, and the crudest type of Paleolithic implements vanished. It is not certain whether they were absorbed into the new groups or displaced by them.

Among their prey were the large mammals. They brought the large bones of these animals into caves to crack for the marrow. Animal skins were being used. These people were right-handed, demonstrated by the fact that the left side of their brains were larger than the right.^[2]

Paleolithic humans were grouped in clans that ranged from 25 to 50 members; these clans were formed by several families. By the end of the paleolithic era—which ended about 6,000 years ago—people began to settle down into permanent locations and agriculture began to be relied upon for sustenance in many locations.

There is very little or no archaeological evidence of social inequalities or violent battles between groups (i.e. war) during the paleolithic.^[3]

The diet of the Paleolithic hunting and gathering peoples consisted primarily of animal flesh, fruits, and vegetables and there are no signs of malnutrition.

Please help improve this Article by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (June 2007)

Abbassia Pluvial Geologic time scale Ice age List of notable Paleolithic sites Mousterian Pluvial Pleistocene Neolithic Paleolithic style diet

Three-age system Stone Age · Bronze Age · Iron Age List of archaeological periods

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