To start this lesson,

examine these steps

of. “How to Make a
Primitive Stone
Tool”

This reflects the

process of shaping a
stone and making it a
tool for usage. Over
time, the environment
played a crucial role
in the survival of
humanity. It
sometimes posed a
threat but it also
provided for
humanity’s means of
living. The stones in the environment aided them in their day to day hustle. This lesson will present
the development of culture from using primitive stone tools until the discovery of metal technology.
This will also trace the evolution of early human’s nomadic state as they searched for resources from
one area to another, until the domestication of animals and learning growing of crops and developing
agriculture.

B. Engage
To study the human past, Danish scholar, Christian Thomsen created the framework of Three
Age Systems. The basis of this framework is the technological usage, it argues that history is a series
of successive periods or ages; namely, Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age. This succession of
periods is technologically advanced than the one before it.

The idea of Three Age System was coined by Thomsen as archeological sites revealed
artefacts materials that displayed consistencies in terms of what materials they were made of. Stone-
made tools were unearthed in the deepest part of surface, bronze artefacts were layered above the
deepest stone tools, and lastly the iron artefacts which were the closest to the ground or surface.

This approach however received backlash and criticisms hence the pattern of stone-bronze-iron do not
apply outside the European continent. Nevertheless, amidst the criticism, this is still widely utilized
by the academe.

Food for Thought

Tools and weapons during the Stone Age were
not exclusively made of stone: organic materials
such as, antler, bone, leather and wood were also
employed.

In this lesson, we will focus on Stone Age.

The Stone Age is divided into three periods.

1. Paleolithic 2. Mesolithic 3. Neolithic

Age Age Age
(2.5 million
years ago) (9600 BCE) (9000 BCE)

Have you ever wondered how and what life was for earliest human ancestors? This time
period is coined by scholars as the Stone Age. This period is divided into three, the Paleolithic,
Mesolithic and Neolithic Age. These distinct periods have different beginnings and endings
depending on the area or continent. The estimated time frame of these events are reflected above.
Let’s start going back to Paleolithic Age. Enjoy!

1. PALEOLITHIC AGE (2.5 million years ago)

It is derived from the Greek words, Palaios – old, and lithic – stone. Thus, it is called the “Old
Stone Age”. This is considered to be the longest Stone Age period which lasted until the end of the
last Ice Age, about 9600 BCE)
IMPORTANT EVENTS:
1. It is characterized by the emergence of basic stone tools and stone art in the archaeological
record.
The earliest is known as the Oldowan Stone Tools, which were geographically discovered
ranging
from Africa, Europe and Asia.

These Oldowan stone tools are simple

choppers and flakes. It has rough edges
and uniform pattern. (About 2.5 million
years ago)

2. In this period, expressions of artistic life,

cave paintings and mobiliary art (portable
art) are recorded.
One of these is called, Venus Figurines.
 The oldest known Venus, the Venus
of Hohle Fels, was found in a cave of the
same name in Schelklingen, Germany and is
believed to be between 35,000 and 40,000
years old. It is carved from wooly mammoth
ivory. In place of a head, the Venus
of Hohle Fels has a loop, which suggests it
may have been worn as a pendant. (Liew,
2017)

The purpose of these Venus figurines according to scholars is mainly a symbol of religious ritual.
These served as fertility symbols. Other also added that these could also be deities or goddesses
which are associated with childbearing.
 2. MESOLITHIC AGE (9600 BCE)

About 1.7 million years ago, a new stone

tool was discovered, the Acheulean Stone
Tools. These stone tools are more
complex, refined, polished. Symmetrical
This shapes and sharp
is also called edges
Middle characterized
Stone Age.
It began in these
the period
type of stone tools. as the last cold snap or the last ice age; this is known as the
known in geology
Younger Dryas which marked the end of the ice age.

IMPORTANT EVENTS
1. As the climate get warmer, ice glaciers were melting. This paved the way for new lands to emerge
which were soaked by ice and sea-level arose. This created major changes in the geographical
landscape of the Earth. This period is the time of the late-hunter gatherers.

Remember: This period is the transitionary era. As, Mesolithic period ends when agriculture begins,
there is no single age as to when did this period stop because agriculture developed differently from
the other regions of the world. In some areas such as the Near East, they do not have a Mesolithic
period, they developed agriculture after the end of the ice ages.
3. NEOLITHIC AGE (9000 BCE)

This is called as New Stone Age.

IMPORTANT EVENTS
1. It began with the introduction of farming, dating variously from c. 9,000 BCE in the Near East, c.
7,000 BCE in Southeast Europe, c. 6,000 BCE in East Asia, and even later in other regions.

2. The period where cereal cultivation is introduced and animal domestication. This made the people
settled in one area as there is no need to find resources since they already knew how to develop and
grow food. Nomadic life where they transfer from one place to another due to availability of
resources is no longer evident in this period.

This phenomenon significantly impacted the way humans lived. They were able to develop farming
technology such as plows and irrigation systems. These led them to develop storing food to be
consumed for a longer period of time. Furthermore, archaeologist, Gordon Chile popularized the term,
Neolithic Revolution, to describe the massive effect of farming and agriculture to the Neolithic Period.
 Viollati (2014) in his article Stone Age, emphasized that Towards the end of the Neolithic
era, copper metallurgy is introduced, which marks a transition period to the Bronze Age, sometimes
referred to as Chalcolithic or Eneolithic era.
He added that, with the introduction of Bronze metallurgy, the Stone Age came to an end.
Bronze is a mixture of copper and tin, which has greater hardness than copper, better casting
properties, and a lower melting point. Bronze could be used for making weapons, something that was
not possible with copper, which is not hard enough to endure combat conditions. In time, bronze
became the primary material for tools and weapons, and a good part of the stone technology became
obsolete, signaling the end of the Stone Age. By the Iron Age, civilizations with writing had arisen
from Ancient Egypt to Ancient China.