Paleolithic

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

 This time period is part of the

Pleistocene epoch.

Pleistocene
      Paleolithic
            Lower Paleolithic
            Upper Paleolithic

Holocene
Mesolithic or Epipaleolithic
Neolithic

The Paleolithic (or Palaeolithic in Queen's English) - lit. old stone - period is the oldest part of the stone age, dating from the first use of stone tools by hominids (maybe 2,000,000 years ago) to the end of the Pleistocene epoch. Subdivisions of the Paleolithic include Lower Paleolithic, Middle Paleolithic, the time of the hand axe-industries Upper Paleolithic and the Epipaleolithic.

The Paleolithic is followed by the Mesolithic period in most of Europe. In regions such as the Middle East and Anatolia with a very early neolithisation, the Epipaleolithic is followed by the aceramic Neolithic (Pre-pottery Neolithic A and Pre-pottery Neolithic B) and the pottery Neolithic.

Notable paleolithic sites and cultures include:

Altamira, Spain, Upper Palaeolithic
Baile Herculane, Romania
Lascaux - cave paintings, France, Upper Palaeolithic
Olduvai Gorge, Lower Palaeolithic
Bilzingsleben, Germany, lower Palaeolithic
Koenigsaue, Germany, Middle Palaeolithic

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See also