Stone Age
The stone age is a very large prehistoric duration, in which we see most of tools and weapons were made up of organic material ( plant and animals ) and stone.
History of Stone Age
The stone age started out approximately 2.6 million years in the past and lasted for more or less 3.4 million years and ended between ( 4000 BCE) and (2000 BCE). while the Bronze Age started out.
Why is it known as the Stone Age?
The Stone Age was called due to the fact that most human-made things were of stone such as flint (a type of stone ), for weapons, and tools. For lightning firestone was used. Humans lived in caves so they were called cavemen. These stone equipment are the earliest recognized human equipment.
How did become life in the Stone Age?
Stone Age people had two important concerns - meals and safe haven. People in this stone age were dependent on hunter-gathering for food This method was that they both hunted the meals they wanted or collected meals from trees and different plants. In the early stone age, humans lived in caves (consequently the call cavemen) however different forms of shelter had been advanced as the stone age progressed. There had been no everlasting settlements during the stone age. People moved around from area to area in order that they might get the meals and shelter they wanted.
How houses in the stone age were constructed?
The first human shelters were natural caves or rock shelters. People of the Paleolithic period (early stone age period 2.5 million - 10,000 BCE). In this era shelters and huts, frames were made of either wood or animal bones, for the purpose of their covering, animal hides were used. In the Mesolithic period, ( Middle stone age period, 10000-8000 BCE) huts style became more advanced. The huts were covered with reeds, mud, and peat. In the Neolithic period, (The final period of the Stone Age,45,00- 10,000 BCE) people built more permanent houses with wattle and daub. This involved reeds sticking around a structure and then filling the gaps with a mixture of soil, clay, or animal manure.
Nomads
People who had lived in the early ancient stone age were nomads.“ These early people never had settled although wandered from place to place.
Hunter-Gatherers
In the early stone age ( Paleolithic period), people were hunter-gatherers. It means they hunted the food they needed, or collected trees and other plants for food. Instead of growing food (keeping animals and growing crops), they moved around the landscape, depending on the season, gathering wild foods and hunting wild animals.
Types of Humans in the Stone Age
Humans in the stone age are of the following types
- Toolmakers (called homo habilis)
- Fire makers (called home erectus)
- Neanderthals (called homo neanderthalensis)
- Modern humans (called homo sapiens)
Periods of Stone Age
Stone Age is typically broken into three distinct periods
- Paleolithic Period (Approximately from 10,000 - 2.5 million years BC)
- Mesolithic Period (Approximately from 8,000 BC to 10,000 BC)
- Neolithic Period (Approximately from 8,000 BC to 4,500 BC)
Paleolithic Age
Paleolithic is a word that comes from the two Greek words palaios meaning old or early, lithos meaning stone Paleolithic age is the first phase of the stone age marked by the lifestyle and use of stone tools.
- Paleolithic humans were hunters and gathered fruits and berries. Humans live in caves,
- Paleolithic humans made simple tools out of stone
- They were capable of making fires.
- Paleolithic humans do cave footprints
Periods of Paleolithic Age
The paleolithic age of the stone age is further divided into three periods
Lower Paleolithic Period (Approximately from 2.4 million years ago to 12000 BC)
The lower paleolithic is the first of these periods and is identified by the first use of stone tools. There are only two main types of stone tools in this period, one is a chopper and the other is scrapers, later humans probably used hand axes to kill animals, which means they were not advanced in hunting and gathering. The lower paleolithic period was probably the time when humans first discovered and used fire, an important thing for all of humanity.
Middle Paleolithic Period
The middle paleolithic period marked a transition from the scavenging times of the period before the introduction of hunting and gathering for food. There are beginnings of huntingtin directly with the use of more advanced and sharper tools since they would be necessary for killing and skinning the animals.
Upper Paleolithic Period
The upper paleolithic also called the late stone age is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or old stone age. The upper paleolithic age was characterized by the appearance of new flint industries and Homo Sapiens (Modern type men) in the world context. It was the last part of the Paleolithic that gave rise to the upper paleolithic culture.
Mesolithic Age
Mesolithic is a word that comes from the two Greek words meso meaning middle or intermediate and lithos meaning stone. Mesolithic age is the middle stone age marked by the advancement of hunting and gathering practices among humans during which a wide range of animal resources was used. The mesolithic age is considered a transitional phase between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic Age. People of this age lived by, fishing, hunting, and gathering. Later they also domesticated animals.
Neolithic Age
Neolithic is a word that comes from the two Greek words Neo means later or last, while lithos means stone. The neolithic age is the last phase of the stone age, marked by the domestication of animals, the development of agriculture, and the manufacture of pottery and textiles. Humans shifted to agriculture and food production and started a sedentary lifestyle. Neolithic humans sustained themselves through agriculture and pets.
Comparison Periods of Paleolithic Age
| Mesolithic Age | Paleolithic Age | Neolithic Age |
Food | Hunted for meat and gathered nuts, berries, eggs, insects, and fruits | Hunted for meat and gathered their food | Obtained food through keeping domestic animals and by forming |
Shelter | Shelter Lived in temporary homes such as caved and mammoth (belong to elephant family) bone huts | Cone-shaped shelters in groups built of wooden poles and covered with animal skins and bark | They lived in permanent homes near their crops and animals |
Clothing | women clothes were made by animal fur | Wore clothes made up of barks and leaves and animal skins | Wore animal fur and clothing made of woolen cloth |
Tools | Simple shaped stone tools like cutters, hand axes, primitive spear tips, and sharpened sticks Tools | Backed blade, core, point, triangle, lunette, the main Mesolithic tools and were trapeze | More advanced stone implements, bow and arrows, fine spearheads, harpoons |
Metal Age
The age of metals is the name given to one of the periods in which prehistory is divided. It started at the end of the stone age and lasted until 450 AD. The main feature and what the name gives it is the use of metals by humans. Stronger, more manageable metals replaced stone as the main component of tools and weapons. The metal ages have been periods of discovery, invention, and operation of various metals and metallurgical processes. In the metal age, people made a variety of metal objects. They also invented new techniques for creating clay ceramics. The most characteristic examples are beaker pots.
Stages of Metal Age
The metal age is divided into three stages:
- The Copper Age (3200-2300 BCE)
- The Bronze Age (2.300-700 BCEJ
- The Iron Age (700-1BCE)
Copper Age/Chalcolithic Age
The transitional period which is now considered between the metal age and the stone age is the chalcolithic age.
In addition to the stone tools, the people of this period made copper tools as well. This age is also called the
copper age, which is considered broader Neolithic according to scholars.
Bronze Age
A prehistoric period that followed the Stone Age and preceded the iron age, when weapons and tools were made of bronze rather than stone. Bronze is considered a major discovery and advancement in metallurgy of this bronze age period, produced by combining tin and copper metal. A more durable material than its stone and copper predecessors, bronze allowed the production of more durable weapons, armor, art aids, and luxury items. During the bronze age, many people moved across from mainland Britain to Europe. They traveled in long wooden boats rowed by oarsmen. The boats carried people, animals, and trading goods. They were loaded with metals
from mine, precious swards, pots, and jewelry.
The Iron Age
Generally follows the bronze age, although some societies transitioned from the stone age to the iron age.
During the
iron age, people across much of Europe, Asia, and parts of Africa began making tools and weapons from iron and steel.
During the Late Iron Age, many people lived in hilltop fortresses. Forts were surrounded by walls and moats and warriors defended their people from enemy attacks. former of the iron age mostly grow vegetables and crops. They kept goats, geese, pigs and had flocks of sheep, large herds of cows. Some people worked as metallurgists, carpenters, and potters. Men and boys' passion was to be trained as warriors.
The production of iron tools helped to make the agricultural process simpler and more efficient. Farmers could plow the hardest soil, allowing to collect new crops. New varieties of livestock and crops were introduced at different times throughout the iron age.
Stone age people progressed in agriculture, after being hunter-gatherers.
Preparation of soil, planting crops, raising animals.
Stone Age Techniques and Tools
Most
stone age tools were created to help humans survive. These tools were castoff for.
- Agriculture
- Hunting
- Food preparation
The reason behind the name of the stone age is these things were made up of stone, the following are some important tools and techniques of the stone age.
Stone tools
Stone tools, arguably and widely recognized as the very first human invention,
sharp flints were used for various purposes like cutting, hacking, pounding, by the people of the stone age recognized by the archeological experts as the first invention. These were used for hacking, pounding, or cutting.
Boat
Primitive people created boats that they made use of for hunting. the
boats were only for short-distance travel.
Controlled fire
The controlled fire was one of the most important discoveries of the paleolithic period. It helped to cook food to keep the body warm and keep away predators. Fire control helped the primitive humans on their way to civilization.
The bow and arrow
The bow and arrow were very useful tools in the stone age. This allowed humans to kill their food over long distances, helping to keep them safe. This discovery has a lot easier and safer hunting.
Oil Lamp
The
oil lamp was a significant achievement since it could be used for portable lighting viewing things during the night and decoration purposes. Early men made lamps from stone or seashell crucibles filled with animal fur, with a piece of vegetation as the wick.
Sling
A
sling is a projectile weapon typically used to throw a blunt projectile such as a stone, clay. or lead. It was a great success at that time because it was cheap to make light to carry, and relied on readily available ammunition.
Pottery
Pottery is a late neolithic invention. People of this age used this for storing food for longer periods of time. This allowed them to settle and lay the foundations of civilization.
Clothing
Stone age humans had to use animal skins for clothing. It was difficult to make leathers that could be used as clothing. They had to be resized, washed, dried and stretched before being used.
Atlatl
An atlatl is a tool that allowed humans to throw spears farther and faster. The animals were dangerous and strong that humans had huntedAtlatl has helped to give people an advantage. Flintknapping is a technique that early humans used to shape stones to create tools. A stone such as a flint and other flake stones can be shaped by chipping the flakes to create.
Loom
The neolithic period also gave birth to the loom, allowing for people to begin making textiles and clothing with the materials they harvested from nature and their livestock.
Wheel
The neolithic period in particular introduced the world to wheels. The wheel allowed people to transport heavy materials back and forth.
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