PICA

Humanities
The Stone Age

Sanjana Bhandiwad 04,

Sayali Said 62
 The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period of human development,
characterized by the creation and use of stone tools. The period lasted roughly 3.4
million years and ended between 8700 BCE and 2000 BCE with the advent
of metalworking. Its origin coincides with the discovery of the oldest known stone
tools, , is usually divided into three separate periods — The Paleolithic Period, The
Mesolithic Period, and The
Neolithic Period, based on the
degree of sophistication in the
fashioning and use of tools.

Stone Age artifacts include

tools used by modern humans
and by their predecessor species
in the genus Homo, and possibly
by the earlier partly contemporaneous
genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus. Bone tools were used during this period
as well but are rarely preserved in the archaeological record. The Stone Age is
further subdivided by the types of stone tools in use.
The Neolithic Age
The Mesolithic Age
The Paleolithic Age
 The Paleolithic Period, also
known as the Old Stone Age,
is characterized by the use
of rudimentary chipped stone
tools.

The onset of the Paleolithic

Period has traditionally
coincided with the first evidence
of tool construction and use
by the Homo some 2.58 million
years ago, near the beginning
of the Pleistocene Epoch. In
2015, however, researchers
excavating a dry riverbed near
Kenya’s Lake Turkana
discovered primitive stone tools
embedded in rocks dating to 3.3
million years ago—the middle of
the Pliocene Epoch Those tools predate the oldest confirmed specimens of Homo by
almost 1 million years, which raises the possibility that tool making originated
with Australopithecus or its contemporaries and that the timing of the onset of this
cultural stage should be reevaluated.

Throughout the Paleolithic, humans were food gatherers, depending for their
subsistence on hunting wild animals and birds, fishing, and collecting wild fruits,
nuts, and berries.

• Paleolithic Tool making

At sites dating from the Lower Paleolithic Period (2,580,000 to 200,000 years
ago), simple pebble tools have been found in association with the remains of what
may have been some of the earliest human ancestors. A somewhat more-
sophisticated Lower Paleolithic tradition known as the Chopper chopping-tool
industry is widely distributed in the Eastern Hemisphere and tradition is thought to
have been the work of the hominin species named Homo erectus. It is believed
that H. erectusprobably made tools of wood and bone, although no such fossil tools
have yet been found, as well as of stone.
 About 700,000 years ago a new
Lower Paleolithic tool, the hand ax,
appeared. The earliest European
hand axes are assigned to
the Abbevillian industry, which
developed in northern France in the
valley of the Somme River; a later,
more-refined hand-ax tradition is
seen in the Acheulean industry,
evidence of which has been found
in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Some of the earliest known hand axes
were found at Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) in association with remains of H.
erectus. Alongside the hand-ax tradition there developed a distinct and very
different stone tool industry, based on flakes of stone: special tools were made from
worked (carefully shaped)
flakes of flint. In Europe
the Clactonian industry is one
example of a flake tradition.
The early flake industries
probably contributed to the
development of the Middle
Paleolithic flake tools of
the Mousterian industry, which
is associated with the remains
of Neanderthals. Other items
dating to the Middle Paleolithic
are shell beads found in both
North and South Africa. In
Taforalt, Morocco, the beads
were dated to approximately
82,000 years ago, and other,
younger examples were
encountered in Blombos Cave,
Blombosfontein Nature
Reserve, on the southern
coast of South Africa. Experts
determined that the patterns of wear seem to indicate that some of these shells were
suspended, some were engraved, and examples from both sites were covered with
red ochre.
The Upper Paleolithic Period (beginning about 40,000 years ago) was
characterized by the emergence of regional stone tool industries, such as
the Perigordian, Aurignacian, Solutrean, and Magdalenian of Europe as well as
other localized industries of the Old World and the oldest known cultures of the New
World. Principally associated with the fossil remains of such anatomically modern
humans as Cro-Magnons, Upper Paleolithic industries exhibit greater complexity,
specialization, and variety of tool types and the emergence of distinctive regional
artistic traditions.
• Paleolithic Art
Two main forms of Paleolithic art are known
to modern scholars: small sculptures;
and monumental paintings, incised designs, and
reliefs on the walls of caves. Such works were
produced throughout the Mediterranean region
and other scattered parts of Eurasia and Africa
but survived in quantity only in eastern Europe
and parts of Spain and France.
Small sculptured pieces evidently dominated
the Upper Paleolithic artistic traditions of eastern
Europe; typical were small, portable clay
figurines and bone and ivory carvings. The works
from this area include simple but realistic stone
and clay animal figurines, as well as carved
stone statuettes of women, referred to by
scholars as Venus figures. These small stylized
figures are characteristically rotund, emphasizing
parts of the female body associated
with sexuality and fertility; many are so abstract
that only protuberant breasts and exaggerated
hips are clearly distinguishable.
Monumental arts flourished in western
Europe, the province of the so-called Franco-
Cantabrian school, where limestone caves—such
as those of Chauvet–Pont d’Arc and Lascaux
Grotto—provided a sheltered surface for paintings, incised designs, and relief
carvings. These caves have preserved much small carving of fine quality and an
abundant and varied sample of prehistoric graphic art, from simple finger tracings in
clay to sophisticated polychrome paintings, generally depicting animals,
of dynamic naturalism and exquisite design.
The function or purpose of art in
Paleolithic life remains a subject of
debate. Some scholars see the
human and animal representations
as evidence of the use of magical
rites to ensure success in hunting
or to guarantee fertility. Others
have suggested that Paleolithic
artists’ accurate representations of
animals’ coats may be an early
attempt to produce a seasonal
notation system. Another
viewpoint, disregarding utility
altogether, sees the art of
Paleolithic peoples solely as an
outgrowth of a basic human need
to creatively record and reproduce
aspects of the surrounding world.
Among the bone and ivory carvings
dating to the Paleolithic are several
examples of partial bone or ivory
flutes, including one with five finger
holes, found at Hohle Fels Cave, near Ulm, Germany, and dated to about 35,000
years ago. Those flutes give evidence of yet another art form practiced in prehistoric
cultures.
 Mesolithic Period, also known as the Middle Stone Age existed between
the Paleolithic Period (Old Stone Age), with its chipped stone tools, and the Neolithic
Period (New Stone Age), with its polished stone tools. It began with the end of the
last glacial period over 10,000 years ago and evolved into the Neolithic period; this
change involved the gradual domestication of plants and animals and the formation
of settled communities at various times and places.

• Material culture
Mesolithic material culture is characterized by
greater innovation and diversity than is found in the Paleolithic. This diversity may be
the result of adaptations to changed ecological conditions associated with the retreat
of glaciers, the growth of forests in Europe and deserts in N Africa, and the
disappearance of the large game of the Ice Age. Characteristic of the period were
hunting and fishing settlements along rivers and on lake shores, where fish and
mollusks were abundant. Microliths, the typical stone implements of the Mesolithic
period, are smaller and more delicate than those of the late Paleolithic period.
Pottery and the use of the bow developed,
although their presence in Mesolithic
cultures may only indicate contact with early
Neolithic peoples. The Azilian culture, which
was centered in the Pyrenees region but
spread to Switzerland, Belgium, and
Scotland, was one of the earliest
representatives of Mesolithic culture in
Europe.

The Azilian was followed by the

Tardenoisian culture, which covered much
of Europe; most of these settlements are
found on dunes or sandy areas. The Maglemosian, named for a site in Denmark, is
found in the Baltic region and N England. It occurs in the middle of the Mesolithic
period. It is there that hafted axes, an improvement over the Paleolithic hand axe,
and bone tools are found. The Ertebolle culture, also named for a site in Denmark,
spans most of the late Mesolithic. It is also known as the kitchen-midden culture for
the large deposits of mollusk shells found around the settlements. Other late
Mesolithic cultures are the Campignian and Asturian, both of which may have had
Neolithic contacts. The Mesolithic period in other areas is represented by the
Natufian in the Middle East, the Badarian and Gerzean in Egypt, and the Capsian in
N Africa. The Natufian culture provides the earliest evidence of an evolution from a
Mesolithic to a Neolithic way of life. 

• Mesolithic tools
Mesolithic tools were
generally composite devices
manufactured with small
chipped stone tools called
microliths and retouched
bladelets. The Paleolithic
utilized more primitive stone
treatments, and the Neolithic
mainly used polished rather
than chipped stone tools.

• Mesolithic Rock Art

A number of notable
Mesolithic rock art sites exist on
the Mediterranean coast of Spain. The art consists of small painted figures
of humans and animals, which are the most advanced and widespread
surviving from this period in Europe and possibly worldwide.
Notably, this collection is the largest concentration of such art in
Europe. The human figure is frequently the main theme in
painted scenes. When in the same scene as animals, the human
runs towards them. Hunting scenes are the most common,
but there are also scenes of battle and dancing, and
possibly agricultural tasks and managing domesticated
animals. In some scenes gathering honey is shown,
most famously at Cuevas de laAraña en Bicorp.

The image on the left of The Man of Bicorp who is holding

onto lianas to gather honey from a beehive as depicted on an
8000-year-old cave painting near Valencia, Spain.
 The below given
painting known
as The Dancers
of Cogul is a
good example of
the depiction of
movement in
static art. In this
scene, nine
women are
depicted,
something new
in art of this
region, some
painted in black
and others in
red. They are
shown dancing around a male figure with abnormally large phallus, a figure that was
rare if not absent in Paleolithic art. Along with humans, several animals, including a
dead deer or buck impaled by an arrow or atlatl, are depicted.
The native Mesolithic populations were slow in assimilating the agricultural way of
life, starting solely with the use of ceramics . It took a thousand years into the
Neolithic period before they adopted animal husbandry (which became especially
important to them) and plant cultivation. When they eventually developed interest in
the more fertile areas utilized by the late Danubian cultures, they compelled the
Danubian farmers to fortify their settlements.

• Findings from Archaeological Excavations

Excavation of some megalithic monuments in Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia, and
France has revealed evidence of ritual activity, sometimes involving architecture,
during the Mesolithic Period. One megalith (circa 9350 BCE), found submerged in
the Strait of Sicily, was over 39 feet long and weighing nearly 530,000 pounds. Its
purpose remains unknown. In some cases, however, megalith monuments are so far
removed in time from their successors that continuity is unlikely. In other cases, the
early dates or the exact character of activity are controversial.
 An engraved shale pendant unearthed in Star Carr, England in 2015 is believed to
be the oldest Mesolithic art form on the island of Great Britain. Engraved jewelry
from this period outside of Scandinavia is extremely rare. Although the hole in the
upper angle of the rock suggests that it was worn, archaeologists are currently
analyzing the object to
determine whether this was the
case. The incised patterns are
similar to those on pendants
found in Denmark, which
suggests contact with cultures
on the continent or migration
from the continent to Britain.
However, these possibilities
remain under investigation.

Star Carr pendant: The incised lines bear striking similarities to similar objects
found in Denmark.

In northeastern Europe, Siberia, and certain southern European and North

African sites, a “Ceramic Mesolithic” can be distinguished between 7,000-3,850
BCE. Russian archaeologists prefer to describe such pottery-making cultures as
Neolithic, even though farming is absent. These pottery-making Mesolithic cultures
were peripheral to the sedentary Neolithic cultures. They created a distinctive type of
pottery with point or knob base and flared rims, manufactured by methods not used
by the Neolithic farmers. Though each area of Mesolithic ceramics developed an
individual style , common features suggest a single point of origin. The earliest
manifestation of this type of pottery may have been around Lake Baikal in Siberia.
 Neolithic Period, also called New Stone Age, final stage of cultural evolution or
technological development among prehistoric humans.   about 12,000 years ago
when the first development of farming appeared in the Epipalaeolithic Near East,
and later in other parts of the world.  It was characterized by stone tools shaped by
polishing or grinding, dependence on domesticated plants or animals, settlement in
permanent villages, and the appearance of such crafts as pottery and weaving. The
Neolithic followed the Paleolithic Period, or age of chipped-stone tools, and
preceded the Bronze Age, or early period of metal tools.

• Social organization
Anthropomorphic Neolithic figurine

During most of the Neolithic age of Eurasia, people

lived in small tribes composed of multiple bands or
lineages. There is little scientific evidence of
developed social stratification in most Neolithic
societies; social stratification is more associated with
the later Bronze
Age. Although some late
Eurasian Neolithic societies
formed complex stratified
chiefdoms or even states, generally states evolved in
Eurasia only with the rise of metallurgy, and most
Neolithic societies on the whole were relatively simple
and egalitarian. Beyond Eurasia, however, states were
formed during the local Neolithic in three areas, namely
in the Preceramic Andes with the Norte Chico
Civilization, Formative Mesoamerica and Ancient
Hawaiʻi. However, most Neolithic societies were
noticeably more hierarchical than the Upper
Paleolithic cultures that preceded them and hunter-
gatherer cultures in general.
Clay human figurine (Fertility goddess) Tappeh Sarab,
Kermanshah ca. 7000-6100 BC, Neolithic period,
National Museum of Iran
The domestication of large animals (c. 8000 BC)
resulted in a dramatic increase in social inequality in
most of the areas where it occurred.Possession of
livestock allowed competition between households and
resulted in inherited inequalities of wealth. Neolithic
pastoralists who controlled large herds gradually acquired more livestock, and this
made economic inequalities more pronounced. However, evidence of social
inequality is still disputed, although some homes do appear slightly larger or more
elaborately decorated than others.
Families and households were still largely independent economically, and the
household was probably the center of life. There is a large body of evidence for
fortified settlements at Linearbandkeramik sites along the Rhine, as at least some
villages were fortified for some time with a palisade and an outer ditch. Settlements
with palisades and weapon-traumatized bones, such as those found at the Talheim
Death Pit, have been discovered and demonstrate that "...systematic violence
between groups" and warfare was probably much more common during the Neolithic
than in the preceding Paleolithic period. This supplanted an earlier view of the Linear
Pottery Culture as living a "peaceful, unfortified lifestyle"
Control of labour and inter-group conflict is characteristic of tribal groups with social
rank that are headed by a charismatic individual — either a 'big man' or a proto-
chief — functioning as a lineage-group head. Whether a non-hierarchical system of
organization existed is debatable, and there is no evidence that explicitly suggests
that Neolithic societies functioned under any dominating class or individual, as was
the case in the chiefdoms of the European Early Bronze Age
• Shelter and sedentism

Reconstruction of Neolithic house in Tuzla, Bosnia

and Herzegovina
The shelter of the early people changed
dramatically from the Upper Paleolithic to the
Neolithic era. In the Paleolithic, people did not
normally live in permanent constructions. In the
Neolithic, mud brick houses started appearing that
were coated with plaster The growth of agriculture
made permanent houses possible. Doorways were
made on the roof, with ladders positioned both on the inside and outside of the
houses.[54] The roof was supported by beams from the inside. The rough ground was
covered by platforms, mats, and skins on which residents slept. Stilt-
houses settlements were common in the Alpine and Pianura Padana (Terramare)
region. Remains have been found at the Ljubljana Marshes in Slovenia and at
the Mondsee and Attersee lakes in Upper Austria, for example.
 • Agriculture
Food and cooking items retrieved at a European
Neolithic site: millstones, charred bread, grains and
small apples, a clay cooking pot, and containers made
of antlers and wood
A significant and far-reaching shift in
human subsistence and lifestyle was to be brought
about in areas where crop farming and cultivation were
first developed: the previous reliance on an
essentially nomadic hunter-gatherer subsistence
technique or pastoral transhumance was at first
supplemented, and then increasingly replaced by, a
reliance upon the foods produced from cultivated lands.
These developments are also believed to have greatly
encouraged the growth of settlements, since it may be
supposed that the increased need to spend more time
and labor in tending crop fields required more localized
dwellings. This trend would continue into the Bronze
Age, eventually giving rise to permanently settled
farming towns, and later cities and states whose larger populations could be
sustained by the increased productivity from cultivated lands..
Lithic technology
The identifying characteristic of Neolithic technology is the use of polished or
ground stone tools, in contrast to the flaked stone tools used during the Paleolithic
era.
Neolithic people were skilled farmers, manufacturing a range of tools necessary for
the tending, harvesting and processing of crops (such as sickle blades and grinding
stones) and food production (e.g. pottery, bone implements). They were also skilled
manufacturers of a range of other types of stone tools and ornaments,
including projectile points, beads, and statuettes. But what allowed forest clearance
on a large scale was the polished stone axe above all other tools. Together with
the adze, fashioning wood for shelter, structures and canoes for example, this
enabled them to exploit their newly won farmland.
Clothing
Most clothing appears to have been made of animal skins, as indicated by finds of
large numbers of bone and antler pins that are ideal for fastening leather. Wool cloth
and linen might have become available during the later Neolithic, as suggested by
finds of perforated stones that (depending on size) may have served as spindle
whorls or loom weights. The clothing worn in the Neolithic Age might be similar to
that worn by Ötzi the Iceman, although he was not Neolithic (since he belonged to
the later Copper age).

The Paleolithic was an age of purely hunting and gathering, but toward the
Mesolithic period the development of agriculture contributed to the rise of permanent
settlements. The later Neolithic period is distinguished by the domestication of plants
and animals. Some Mesolithic people continued with intensive hunting, while others
practiced the initial stages of domestication. Some Mesolithic settlements were
villages of huts , others walled cities.