stone age

The Stone Age was a time in history when early humans used tools and weapons made out of stone. It started at almost 2.5 million years ago.

The Stone Age started when the first stone tools were made by our ancestors in around 6000 BC and ended with the introduction of metal tools a few thousand years ago in 2500 BC.

At the end of the Stone Age, the people started to smelt copper and tin. The introduction of Bronze metallurgy marked the end of the Stone Age. With time, Bronze replaced stone as the primary material for tools and weapons.

Three Phases of Stone Age

The Stone Age is divided into three periods – Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolilthic.

The term ‘lithic’ comes from the ancient Greek word for stone or rock.

1. Paleolithic (Old Stone Age)

This was the longest period in the history of the Stone Age. It lasted from the first use of stones until the end of the last Ice Age.

The Neanderthal (cave-men) existed during this period. During this time, the man was hunter-gatherer - gathered food by hunting wild animals and birds, fishing and collecting fruits and nuts.

The tools used during this period were mainly made of stones and pebbles. These tools were not very efficient.

Near the end of the Paleolithic Age, humans started to make shelters, wear sewn clothes, and build sculptures. During this time, they greatly improved their tools-building skills.

The Paleolithic Age ended in 9600 BC with the end of Ice Age.

2. Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age)

The Mesolithic Age lasted from the end of the last Ice Age until the start of farming.

This period saw the development of smaller and finer stone tools like spearheads and arrows. Due to the adaptations to the changing ecological conditions, humans adopted different techniques of hunting, fishing, and food-gathering.

Canoes were made for the first time during this period, which implies that men could hunt as well as fish.

The dog was the first animal to be domesticated during this period. Dogs could help with hunting, warn of danger and provide warmth and comfort.

The Mesolithic Age ended at different times in different regions.

3. Neolithic (New Stone Age)

The Neolithic Age lasted from the start of farming until the first use of metal.

The gradual development of agriculture and the domestication of animals during the Neolithic period meant that people could live in settled communities. They established villages dependent on the cultivation of crops like wheat and barley and raising cattle like sheep and goat. Humans transitioned from food-collecting to food-producing.

The Neolithic Age was terminated with the introduction of metal tools. With the termination of the Neolithic Age, the Stone Age came to an end in 2500 BC.

Stone Age People

There are four different types of human species that emerged at different times during the Stone Age:

1. Toolmakers (Homo habilis)

• Homo habilis means ‘skilled man’
• They were the first humans to make stone tools
• They had moderately large brains and nimble hands
• They lived from 2.4 to 1.6 million years ago in East Africa
• They used their sharp-edged tools to cut up the carcasses of animals to eat

2. Fire makers (Homo erectus)

• Homo erectus means ‘Upright man’
• They were the first humans who learned how to make fires to keep warm, create a light, frighten away animals, and cook meat
• They were the first humans to have the same body proportion and size as us
• They lived in Africa, but they were probably the first humans to move into Asia and Europe
• They had large brains and made hand axes to chop meat and dig root vegetables out of the ground

3. Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis)

• They were similar to us, but they were shorter and stronger
• They lived across Europe and western Asia during the Ice Age
• To cope with the cold weather, they made warm clothes from fur and animal skins
• They had a heavy ridge over their eyebrows, and a large nose, which may have helped them breathe more easily while hunting in freezing conditions
• They usually lived in caves and had hard and dangerous lives
• They lived in family groups, cared for the sick, and carefully buried relatives when they die

4. Modern Humans (Homo sapiens)

• Homo sapiens means “wise man”
• They had slender bodies and large brains
• The first Homo sapiens originated around 200,000 years ago in Africa
• There were some other species of humans alive at that time
• However, all the other species when extinct around 24,000 years ago and only Homo sapiens were left
• Modern humans made art, painting rocks and cave walls with pictures of animals, hunting, and people
• They carved bone into animal and human shapes and began to make pottery from clay, carving and painting the surface
• By about 10,000 years ago, human began to grow crops of wheat and other grains to eat, and keep animals for their milk and meat

Stone Age beliefs

Some of the Stone Age beliefs include contacting the spirit of animals when hunting, telling stories of thunderstorms and sunrise, worshipping nature, offering gifts and performing ceremonies, and construction of megaliths or tomb boulders. Megaliths were a link between the living and dead. Megalith comes from two Greek words: mega, meaning “big,” and lithos meaning “rock” or “stone”.