Palaeolithic
The Old Stone Age, lasting in Europe from about 2.5 million to 9000 years ago, during which humans used primitive stone tools made by chipping stones and flints.
Paleolithic Quick reference
A Dictionary of Genetics (8 ed.)
... that phase of human history prior to the cultivation of plants during which tools were manufactured, food was obtained by hunting, fishing, or collecting wild nuts and fruits. The Paleolithic culture lasted from about 500,000 years ago up to the beginning of the Neolithic stage about 10,000 years...
Paleolithic
Dictionary of the Social Sciences
... The “Old Stone Age,”identified by John Lubbock ( Prehistoric Times , 1865 ). The term designates the earliest human cultural era, characterized by hunting and gathering societies that used chipped and flaked stone tools. It includes such early hominids as Australopithecines and the first varieties of the genus Homo . It was followed by the Mesolithic and the Neolithic ...
Paleolithic Reference library
Derek A. Roe, Gonen Sharon, and Anthony Sinclair
The Oxford Companion To Archaeology (2 ed.)
...R. The Palaeolithic Settlement of Asia , 2009. Gamble, Clive . The Palaeolithic Settlement of Europe , 1986. Gowlett, John A. J. Ascent to Civilization: The Archaeology of Early Man , 1984. Isaac, Barbara , ed. The Archaeology of Human Origins: Papers by Glynn Isaac , 1990. Klein, R. G. The Human Career , 3d ed., 2009. Stringer, Christopher B. , and Clive Gamble . In Search of the Neanderthals: Solving the Puzzle of Human Origins , 1993. Derek A. Roe ; revised by Gonen Sharon Paleolithic: Upper Paleolithic The Upper Paleolithic is the...
Palaeolithic Reference library
The Oxford Dictionary of Local and Family History
... . The Old Stone Age , the earliest period of human activity following the last Ice...
Palaeolithic ([CP]) Quick reference
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (3 ed.)
... [CP] Literally, the Old Stone Age, spanning the three and a half million years of human evolution from the advanced hominins to the end of the last Pleistocene glaciation, around 11 000 years ago. It is generally subdivided into the Lower, Middle , and Upper Palaeolithic ...
Palaeolithic Quick reference
A Dictionary of Biology (8 ed.)
...Palaeolithic The Old Stone Age, lasting in Europe from about 2.5 million to 10 000 years ago, during which humans used primitive stone tools made by chipping stones and...
Palaeolithic Quick reference
A Dictionary of World History (3 ed.)
... (US Paleolithic ) The earlier part of the Stone Age , when primitive stone implements were used; a period, which extends from the first appearance of artefacts, some 2.5 million years ago, to the end of the last ice age c .10,000 bc . It has been divided into the Lower Palaeolithic , with the earliest forms of mankind and the presence of hand-axe industries, ending c .80,000 bc , the Middle Palaeolithic (or Mousterian ), the era of Neanderthal man, ending c .33,000 bc , and the Upper Palaeolithic , which saw the development of Homo...
Palaeolithic Quick reference
World Encyclopedia
... ( Old Stone Age ) Earliest stage of human history, from c .2 million years ago until between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago. It was marked by the use of stone tools. It covers human evolution from Homo habilis to Homo sapiens...
Palaeolithic Quick reference
The Oxford Companion to Local and Family History (2 ed.)
... The Old Stone Age , the earliest period of human activity following the last Ice Age. Deposits in caves and scattered stone artefacts form the basis of archaeological investigation of this remote...
Palaeolithic Quick reference
A Dictionary of Environment and Conservation (3 ed.)
... The second part of the Stone Age , following the eolithic , which began in Europe between about 750 000 and 500 000 bc and lasted until the end of the last ice age about 8500 bc...
Notation, Paleolithic Reference library
Steven Mithen
The Oxford Companion To Archaeology (2 ed.)
...originated in the Upper Paleolithic or was first developed only in the early civilizations of the Near East. [ See also Paleolithic: Upper Paleolithic ; Rock Art: European Paleolithic Art ; Writing: Petroglyphs . ] D’Errico, Francesco . “Paleolithic Lunar Calendars: A Case of Wishful Thinking.” Current Anthropology 30 (1989): 117–118. Marshack, Alexander . “A Lunar Calendar Stick from North America.” American Antiquity 50 (1985): 27–51. Marshack, Alexander . “The Taï Plaque and Calendrical Notation in the Upper Palaeolithic.” Cambridge Archaeology...
Paleolithic Technology Reference library
Encyclopedia of Evolution
...this book spurred much discussion and critique but remains highly influential. Clark, G. World Prehistory: A New Outline . London, 1969. This is a classic synthetic work. Although somewhat dated, the system for classification of Paleolithic technological systems into “modes” is still widely used. Gamble, C. The Palaeolithic Societies of Europe . Cambridge, 1999.An innovative overview of technological, economic, and social evolution in Europe during the Middle and Upper Pleistocene. Isaac, G. L. Olorgesailie: Archeological Studies of a Middle...
Paleolithic Art Reference library
The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature
... Art It is clear that Paleolithic art – or at least some of it – must be religious, but debate has always raged about what kind of beliefs lay behind its imagery. It is self-evident that these supremely talented artists, who mastered a very wide range of media and techniques, were remarkable observers of animal anatomy and behavior, and could convey a great deal of detail with a few simple strokes. They were a part of the natural world, they lived among the animals which gave them food and raw materials, and therefore one might expect their fellow...
Art—Paleolithic Reference library
Wilfried VAN DAMME
Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History (2 ed.)
...Paleolithic art have become topical again, although speculation remains. One important impetus to rejuvenating the field are the archaeological discoveries that have recently been made in Africa. These discoveries prompt us to completely reconsider early artistic behavior in terms of both time and place. Various new theories attempting to explain the emergence of art making add excitement to the field. This article introduces some of the latest developments in Paleolithic art studies. The Beginning of Aesthetics and Meaning The Paleolithic era, or...
Paleolithic Religions Reference library
The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature
...way, thus focusing on the relationship between Paleolithic people and the natural world. Paul G. Bahn Further Reading Bahn, Paul G. and Jean Vertut . Journey Through the Ice Age . London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson / Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. Leroi-Gourhan, André . The Art of Prehistoric Man in Western Europe . London: Thames and Hudson, 1968. Otte, Marcel . Préhistoire des Religions . Paris: Masson, 1993. See also: Hunting and the Origins of Religion ; Paleolithic Art ; Paleolithic Religions and the Future...
Paleolithic Era Reference library
Yu JIANG
Berkshire Encyclopedia of China
...London: Yale University Press. Chen, T. M. , & Zhang Y. Y. (1991). Paleolithic chronology and possible coexistence of Homo erectus and Homo sapiens in China. World Archaeology , 23 (2), 147–154. Lu, Zuner . (Ed). (2004). A century-end reflection of China’s archaeological studies (archaeology of the Paleolithic era . [In Chinese]. Beijing: Science Press. Shapiro, H. (1975). Peking Man . New York: Simon and Shuster. Wang Youping . (2000). Archaeology of the Paleolithic era [In Chinese]. Beijing: Wenwu Press. Wang Youping . (2005). Roots of...
Cannibalism – Paleolithic Reference library
The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature
...– Paleolithic Cannibalism – the eating of human flesh by humans – has often been claimed to exist in different periods of the human past, usually on the flimsiest of evidence. In recent years, a better understanding of taphonomy (i.e., what happens to bones between being buried and being unearthed by archeologists) as well as greater familiarity with the huge variety of funerary rituals around the world, and a more objective assessment of the facts, have helped to weed out many claims for prehistoric cannibalism, while at the same time new claims have...
Upper Palaeolithic ([CP]) Quick reference
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (3 ed.)
...Palaeolithic [CP] The last of three broad subdivisions of the Old Stone Age or Palaeolithic widely applied in the Old World. Characterized by the presence of modern humans, Homo sapiens sapiens , and associated tool types regionally distinct to particular parts of the world. Broadly the period from 40 000 through to 8500 years ago. Palaeolithic art is associated mainly with Upper Palaeolithic cultures, especially in northwest Europe. In the British Isles the Upper Palaeolithic is traditionally divided into earlier (EUP) and later (LUP) phases, the...
Palaeolithic art Quick reference
World Encyclopedia
... art Art from the Palaeolithic period. Typical works are realistic cave paintings of bison, deer and hunting scenes. The best-known surviving examples are at Altamira and Lascaux . Other forms include portable art, such as carved animals and figurines made from stone, bone, and...
Palaeolithic Age Reference library
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable (19 ed.)
... Age (Greek palaios , ‘old’, and lithos , ‘stone’) The first of the stone ages , when human beings were essentially hunters using somewhat primitive stone or flint implements and weapons. See also neolithic age...
