What is Paleolithic Technology Culture and Art?
Palaeolithic humans have developed complex tools and objects made of stone and natural fibers. The most important innovations of the Paleolithic era were scientific inquiry, art, language, and spirituality. The main aim of Paleolithic archaeology is to explain the evolution of these interrelated suites of adaptations. Also, it helps for studying past human behaviour through the maintained material records.
The Paleolithic period started about 2.6 million years ago. The archaeological department found the first material evidence of the Paleolithic culture of early human technologies. The Paleolithic age continued the appearance of Neolithic cultures, which started about 10,500 years ago. This article explains Paleolithic Technology Culture And Art, Paleolithic tools, in detail.
Innovations in Paleolithic Technology
The first cultural artifacts provided by the Palaeolithic humans were stone tools. Human beings of the Paleolithic period mainly used stone tools for searching their food and hunting animals. The usage of stone tools indirectly helped the development of culture. According to Anthropologists, the Paleolithic people mainly served their lives by hunting, foraging, and employing a communal system for dividing labour and resources.
Anthropologists analyzed the Paleolithic age by drawing analogies in cave arts to modern hunter-gatherer groups. People from the Paleolithic lifestyle lived 40,000 years ago and mainly used narrow stone blades and tools made up of ivory, bone, and antlers. They also used simple wood instruments to lead their lives. According to the study, about 20,000 years ago the first needle was developed as the Palaeolithic age tool.
About 17,000 and 8,000 years ago, people from the Paleolithic age started designing and utilizing complicated instruments like barbed harpoons and spear throwers. Those people also used simple tools made of materials. While researching on the life of Neolithic “IceMan”, archaeologists found some tools including a six-foot longbow, fourteen arrows, robust set of stone and natural-fiber tools, a stick with an antler tip for sharpening flint blades, deerskin case, a copper axe, a small flint dagger in a woven sheath, and a medicine bag.
Paleolithic Lifestyle, Language, Culture, and Art
Other than the Paleolithic tools, the most important innovation of the Paleolithic era was languages. According to the analysis of scientists, it is impossible for the people from the Paleolithic era to have established settlements, trade, instituted social hierarchies and cultures, created tools, and traversed large swaths of land without the aid of language.
Even after examining the craniums of archaic Homo sapiens, researchers found large brains with indentations. That shows that the development of the brain has a relation with the language skills of humans. The historic records also said that the language of humans allowed for complex social structures and enhanced capacity for morality, spirituality, deliberation, and meaning-making.
People from the Paleolithic era were also concentrated on artworks like cave paintings and portable arts. That demonstrated the creativity and group structure of ancient people. Those artworks also explained that they are interested in transmitting cultural information to later generations, sharing knowledge, and expressing feelings. The method of conveying information through arts has been available from 35000 years ago, the ample evidence for cave paintings and statues are exhibited only after the Paleolithic era.
Parts of The Paleolithic Era
The Paleolithic periods are broadly classified into three parts based on their progression of tools. They are:
Upper Paleolithic (Later Stone age)
Lower Paleolithic (Early Stone age)
Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age)
Early Stone Age or Lower Palaeolithic
The Lower Paleolithic period was mainly classified into the Oldowan stage and the Acheulean Stage.
The people from Oldowan Stage lived about 2.6 million to 1 million years ago and mainly used pebble tools.
The people from the Acheulean Stage lived 1.7–1.5 million years ago to about 250,000–200,000 years ago and they have used sophisticated hand axes and cleaving tools.
After the discovery of tools from Lake Turkana, many archaeologists added the Lomekwian Stage as the third stage.
This was about 700000 years ago and people used hammering and other rock-chipping tools as people lived in the Oldowan stage.
People started to use stone tool technology only after this early stone age.
Here, people took their first momentous step for evolution. People started using simple tools for slicing the hunted larger-bodied animals.
Archaeologists initially found the specimens of the Lower Palaeolithic era in Africa and in southern and western Eurasia.
People of the Lower Palaeolithic also used sharp wooden instruments and tasted the fire-cooked foods and learned the importance of fire.
Middle Stone Age or Middle Paleolithic
People who lived about 250,000 to 30,000 years ago were referred to as the Middle stone age or Middle Paleolithic era.
They have mainly used flake tools and the widespread use of fire.
During this era, people started learning technological skills and initiated on a trial and error basis.
Here, people also designed small razor-like geometric flakes, ornaments, and sophisticated compound tools
Later Stone Age or Upper Paleolithic
People who lived from 50,000–40,000 years ago to 10,000 years ago will come under the Later stone age or Upper Paleolithic era.
Those people started utilizing the most sophisticated tools.
During this era, more innovations occurred suddenly in a short period of time.
Here, people even developed stalled engines, but they failed.
About 50000 years ago a person successfully developed an engine.
The technology improvement supported population growth, which increased the hunting and gathering practices.
Later, people started to disperse to various locations to find their own food and shelter.
Thereby, the human population extended from the desert to the arctic circle.
Conclusion
This article explained the Paleolithic technology culture as well as art, parts of the Paleolithic era, lifestyle, language of the Paleolithic era in detail. Paleolithic simply means old stone age and this article talks about the division of various parts, it's art & culture and the people etc.
FAQs on Paleolithic Age
1. What are the key elements of Paleolithic technology?
The key elements of the Paleolithic technology are stones and natural fibers. Paleolithic groups developed many complex tools and objects made of stones and natural fibers. During the Paleolithic era, people made many other important innovations like language, art, scientific inquiry, and spiritual life.
2. What are the tools used in the Paleolithic Age?
The people of the Paleolithic age also used some tools, which were made of large and small scrapers, hammerstones, choppers, awls, etc. Early hunters and food gatherers used typical tools like Hand axes and cleavers. During the Lower Paleolithic era, people mainly used cleavers, choppers, and hand axes.
3. What are the two technological tools that helped Paleolithic people hunt?
The two tools that helped the people who lived in the Paleolithic unit are daggers and spear points. For cleaning the hunted animals, people used scrapers. For cutting up the meat, people used hand axes and choppers. They also used splinters of bones as needles and fishhooks. They used some other tools to dig roots, peel bark and remove the skins of animals.
