The
Stone Age is one of three
materials classifying ages in the early history of man.
Characterized by the widespread use of stone as the principal raw material for
tools, the Stone Age began about 2.5 million years ago and ended as recently as 5,000 years ago.
The three materials classifying ages have been
used since the early 1800s and was developed by Christian Thomsen, Curator of the National Museum in Copenhagen who organized the museum''s growing collections into three successive technological stages in our past : Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age. The system was quickly adopted by other museums and archaelogists.
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric time period and
covers an immense time span. It is also generally divided in to three periods :
- Paleolithic ( Old Stone Age )
- Mesolithic ( Middle Stone Age )
- Neolithic ( New Stone Age )
The period covers the first widespread use of technology in human
evolution and the spread of humanity from the savannas of East Africa to the rest of the world. It ends with the development of agriculture, the domestication of certain animals and the smelting of copper ore to produce metal.
Stone tools were made from a variety of different kinds of stone. For example, flint were shaped or chipped for use as cutting tools and weapons, while basalt and sandstone were used for ground stone tools, such as quern-stones. Wood, bone, shell, antler and other materials were widely used too. During the later part of the period, sediments like clay, were used to make pottery.
As the Stone Age covers an immense time span, major climatic and other changes which occurred during this period, affected the evolution of humans. Humans themselves evolved into their current morphological form during the later part of the Stone Age.
It is generally accepted that the Middle East and south-eastern Asian regions progressed past Stone Age technology around 6000 BC. Europe and the rest of Asia became post-Stone Age societies by about 4000 BC. The proto-Inca cultures of South America continued at a Stone Age level until around 2000 BC, when gold, copper and silver made their entrance, and Australia remained in the Stone Age until the 17th century.
More summaries about the An Overview of The Stone Age.