Understanding the Basics of Paleolithic Age

Understanding Basics 

The time in history is divided into two types - Prehistory and History; the former is the time period from which we do not have any written records available and the latter is the time in which we have written records and with help of these records we can reconstruct history more easily in comparison to prehistory.

There is also another type of history but as the time period of this one is not as long as the former two, this type is known as Protohistory and in this time period we have written records but we are unable to decipher them yet, Harappan Script is a very prevalent example of proto history.

As here our main focus is on the paleolithic age which belongs to the prehistoric period of history. Generally the prehistory is divided into three archaeological periods known as-

• The Stone Age

• The Bronze Age, and

• The Iron Age 

All these three periods are very vast and have some sub categories in them so to understand the paleolithic we should devote our complete focus on the stone age.

The stone age is categorized into three sub age called the Paleolithic ( the old stone age), the Mesolithic ( the middle stone age) and the Neolithic ( the new stone age).

As history is very long, the periodization of history is also very vast and has a lot of further sub categories in every epoch. So the paleolithic age is also divided into three types known as The Upper Paleolithic( closest time period to the present), The Middle Paleolithic and The Lower Paleolithic(farthest from present).


Paleolithic Age

The paleolithic age in general is known as the old stone age and this lasted from about 2.4 million to 10,000 years ago.

This age was in inhabited by the early humans or the hunter, gatherers; who use to live in caves, these early humans practice nomadism and uses tools made up of stones and animal bones; and all these tools were made by using specific techniques like - Chopping tools were made using pressure flaking techniques other such techniques are step flaking , stone hammer, blunting etc.

All the tools were used for hunting birds, wild animals, cutting meat and tearing leather. Early humans were dependent on many other things for their subsistence like gathering, fishing, scavenging etc.

This era was also known as the transitional stage in cultural, social and environmental conditions. Origin of fire is also associated with this era only, but the fire was made out of an accident and later humans had learned to control it and use it wisely.

We all know about cave paintings and some have even seen them , these paintings were made by early humans only, it is the time in which they were engaged in experimenting and recreating the scenes in their leisure time that they had experienced, in the form of cave paintings.

This era of prehistory is also very significant in context of ritualistic practices like burying the dead with the concept of afterlife had emerged during this period only.

So, we can conclude that humans had learned many new things from nature during the paleolithic age for their existence on this planet.

Written By - Vanshu Verma