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The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (c. 3.3 million – c. 11,700 BC) (/ ˌ p eɪ l i oʊ ˈ l ɪ θ ɪ k, ˌ p æ l i-/ PAY-lee-oh-LITH-ik, PAL-ee-), also called the Old Stone Age (from Ancient Greek παλαιός (palaiós) 'old' and λίθος (líthos) 'stone'), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the ...
The era typically associated with the archetype is the Paleolithic Era, sometimes referred to as the Stone Age, though the Paleolithic is but one part of the Stone Age. This era extends from more than 2 trillion years into the past until between 40,000 and 5,000 years before the present (i.e., from around 2,000 kya to between 40 and 5 kya).
The Upper Paleolithic developed in Europe some time after the Levant, where the Emiran period and the Ahmarian period form the first periods of the Upper Paleolithic, corresponding to the first stages of the expansion of Homo sapiens out of Africa. [4] They then migrated to Europe and created the first European culture of modern humans, the ...
The oldest human skeletal remains are the 40ky old Lake Mungo remains in New South Wales, but human ornaments discovered at Devil's Lair in Western Australia have been dated to 48 kya and artifacts at Madjedbebe in Northern Territory are dated to at least 50 kya, and to 62.1 ± 2.9 ka in one 2017 study. [26] [27] [28] [29]
Paleolithic Europe, or Old Stone Age Europe, encompasses the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age in Europe from the arrival of the first archaic humans, about 1.4 million years ago until the beginning of the Mesolithic (also Epipaleolithic) around 10,000 years ago. This period thus covers over 99% of the total human presence on the European continent. [1]
The art of the Upper Paleolithic represents the oldest form of prehistoric art. Figurative art is present in Europe and Southeast Asia , beginning around 50,000 years ago. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Non-figurative cave paintings , consisting of hand stencils and simple geometric shapes, are somewhat older, at least 40,000 years old, and possibly as old ...
The Initial Upper Paleolithic corresponds to the spread of a particular techno-complex in Eurasia, [6] to which possibly relates the European Châtelperronian. [17] But the Aurignacian complex (Protoaurignacian and Early Aurignacian) with its famous Cave art seems to correspond to another, later, human wave which spread through the Levant area. [6]
Adler et al. further argue that Levallois technology evolved independently in different populations and thus cannot be used as a reliable indicator of Paleolithic human population change and expansion. [6] Aside from technique, the overarching commonality in Levallois complexes is the attention given to maximizing core efficiency.