Slide 1Slide 2Slide 3Slide 4Slide 5Slide 6Slide 7Slide 8Slide 9Slide 10Slide 11Slide 12Slide 13Slide 14Slide 15Slide 16Slide 17Slide 18Slide 19Slide 20Slide 21Slide 22Slide 23Slide 24Slide 25The PaleolithicStone Age, a cultural periodLower Paleolithic: 2.5 mya - 250,000 yaAssociated with H. habilis 2.5 - 1.6 mya and H. erectus 1.8 mya - 250,000 yaWhat epoch, what is going on climatically?Pliocene 5.0 – 1.7 myaPleistocene, or Ice Age, 1.7 mya - 10,000 yaWhat hominids are associated with Lower Paleolithic or Old Stone Age?Oldest tools probably made of organic materials such aswood, bone and antler:don’t preserve well.Stone tools are preserved. Stone tools take some level ofsophistication to makeHomo habilis(Feder & Park 2001:249)Stone ToolsRichard Leakey named H. habilis because it made stone tools.These first tools are called the Olduwan tool tradition, and they signal the beginning of the Lower Paleolithic. Made from pebbles: take flakes off one or two sides to make Olduwan pebble chopper.Three tool types: chopper, flake, hammerstone Use the percussion method.hammerstoneMaking a chopperAnalysis of faunal remains indicates H. habilis was a scavenger rather than a hunter. Find:Mostly lower leg bones, not entire skeletons (little meat)Cut marks over teeth marks. The cut marks are not near joints, so were just cutting meat, not disarticulating.Homo habilisMade stone toolsScavenged for meat more than huntedPerhaps kept a butchering spot ready, storing tools thereProbably had languageCultural period of H. erectus is called Lower PaleolithicCharacteristic Acheulian handaxesRepresent new technology:bifacial with symmetrical shape Not found east of Movius Line(Feder & Park 2001:288)But overall H. erectus have more types of tools.For example, they make burins, which have a sharp tip foretching lines in things, like bonesThey selected finer raw material to make their toolsH. erectus continue to make Olduwan pebble choppers,flakes, and use hammerstones.(Feder & Park 2001:289)Cultural trends over 1 my of H. erectus:Tool kit stable except hand axes become more symmetrical and edges straighter, and there is agreater number of distinct flake tool forms.H. erectusspread out of Africa and into Asia and Europeduring the Ice AgeNo anatomical changes that adapted them to coldtemperatures . . . . Must have been cultural changes(Jolly & White 1995:268)(Feder & Park 2001:264) iceHomo erectus Cultural SummaryFire -- yesClothing -- yesLanguage -- yesShelters -- yesHunting -- by end, yesMini-summary of Lower PaleolithicLower Paleolithic 2.5 mya - 250,000 yaFound during end of Pliocene (5.0 - 1.7 mya)Lower Pleistocene (1.7 mya - 780,000 ya)and Middle Pleistocene (780,000 - 200,000 ya)Stone tool tradition that includes:Olduwan pebble choppers (H. habilis, H. erectus)Acheulian handaxes (H. erectus)During Lower Paleolithic:Make increasing variety of well-made stone tools,make fire, build shelters, make clothing, use language,move toward hunting rather than simply scavengingMiddle Paleolithic250,000 - 40,000 ya(during Middle-Upper Pleistocene)Associated with archaic Homo,Including that population best studied, NeandertalsMiddle PaleolithicNew flaking technique called Levallois:Make a prepared core and strike oval flakes off itflakecoreMaking more types of toolsIncreasing regional variation in toolsUsing better quality rock to make toolsName of tool tradition made by Neandertals isMousterian - make flakes into toolsUpper PaleolithicAssociated with H. sapiens 40,000 - 10,000 yain EuropeCharacterized by blade tools:Once the prepared core is made, blades can beproduced quicklyGet much more edgeper unit of raw material(Turnbaugh et al. 2002:331)Blade: A type of flake struck off a prepared core.A blade is at least 2x long as wide, parallel sided.Other technological advances:Made many burins (engraving tool)to carve and engrave antler, bone, ivory:Increased use of bone, ivory, antler for toolsHere’s the engraving pointPressure-flaked, (not just percussion)very well-made pointsMade composite tools (tools with several parts)For example, harpoonsBarbed bone harpoons from Katanda, Zaire90,000 ya(Feder & Park 2001:369)(National Geographic)Or an atlatl (spear thrower): example of composite toolMade nonutilitarian objectsMusical instruments -- bone flutesMore non-utilitarian objects,especially ornamentsSubsistence base broader:Hunt big game, fish, catch birds, trap small mammals;Gather a variety of plant foodsImplies greater variety of new technologies forobtaining food. For example, use of nets, trapping.Obtain exotic (non-local) raw materials:Perhaps through trade with other groupsLarger, more sedentary settlementsElaborate burials include personal items (grave goods)WhereasArchaic Homo neanderthalensissometimes buried with utilitarian goodsModern Homo sapiens:burials could be much more elaborateProduction of art, as early as 43,000 yaCarved stone, bone, antler, and ivoryProduced bas-reliefsMade ceramic figurinesEngraved objectsPainted cave wallsThe terminology for the cultural periodsdiffers for different parts of the worldIn Europe, we talk about the Paleolithic, Mesolithic,and NeolithicIn Africa, we talk about the Stone AgeIn eastern North America, we have thePaleoindian, Archaic, and Woodland
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