Key facts about the chronology of the Stone Age
- The Stone Age lasted from about 3.4 millions years ago until about 2500BCE
- The term 'Stone Age' covers several different eras
- Each era was different and witnessed different changes
The Stone Age is the period of human history that covers the time between the first use of stone tools through to the start of use of metallic tools. The term ‘Stone Age’ is somewhat arbitrary, as it suggests that humans used nothing other than stone tools. However, we know for a fact that other materials, such as bones and wood, were also used. It’s just that stone survives for much longer than organic material.
The first identifiable use of tools by humans is a tricky thing to establish, as the timing keeps getting pushed back. For several years, it was thought that the first tools emerged around 2.5 million years ago. However, over the last couple of years, this has been pushed back to 3.4 million years ago. What muddies the water further is that these tools probably weren’t produced by humans, but by our distant ancestors, the australopithecines. Does this mean that we have to push back the date for the start of the Stone Age to include non-humans and, if so, what does this do to our idea of humanity?
The Stone Age covers a huge amount of time. Those studying the Stone Age therefore find it useful to break the period down into smaller sections. These sections are not distinct and are useful more as a way of thinking loosely about a very wide range of behaviours and technologies than (pardon the pun) being set in stone. It is possible to get Mesolithic behaviour in the Palaeolithic, as well as the other way around.
Period | Timeframe | |
---|---|---|
Palaeolithic | Lower Palaeolithic | 3.4 million - 300,000 years ago |
Middle Palaeolithic | 300,000 - 45,000 years ago | |
Upper Palaeolithic | 45,000 - 11,600 years ago | |
Mesolithic | 9600 BCE - 4500 BCE | |
Neolithic | 4500 BCE - 2500 BCE |
- Palaeolithic – this means the ‘old stone age’, and covers about 99 per cent of human time. It runs from the first identifiable use of tools by humans to about 10,000 years ago. As the period covers so much time, the Palaeolithic is split into three sections:
- The Lower Palaeolithic covers the first humans and possibly pre-humans (australopithecines) to about 300,000 years ago.
This is when there seems to have been a change in technology (the types of stone tools change) and possibly culture.
- The Middle Palaeolithic stretches from around 300,000 years ago to about 45,000 years ago.
- The Upper Palaeolithic starts with the changes in technology and perceived changes in culture known as the Upper Palaeolithic Revolution around 45,000 years ago. This is when modern humans are thought to have changed and ‘advanced’ their thoughts, feelings and behaviour, although this is being questioned.
- The Lower Palaeolithic covers the first humans and possibly pre-humans (australopithecines) to about 300,000 years ago.
- Mesolithic – means ‘middle stone age’. In Britain, it starts at the same time that the climate began to warm following the last ice age, around 11,600 years ago, and when it became possible to live in Britain again.
, which comes from the Greek for ‘entirely recent’. More can be found on the geological epochs in ‘prehistory/stone-age/a-brief-history-of-climate-change" target="_blank">A Brief History of Climate Change’
- Neolithic – means ‘new stone age’ and in Britain runs from about 4200 BCE until about 2500 BCE.
It marks the time when farming, rather than hunter-gathering, was introduced to Britain, which created a number of social changes.
Some prehistorians break the Neolithic into more sections, which are:
- Early Neolithic, which runs until about 3800 BCE, and was when farming was becoming established.
- Middle Neolithic, from about 3800 BCE until about 3000 BCE, was when everything settled and changes occurred slowly.
- Late Neolithic, which covers the time between 3000 BCE and 2500 BCE, and was when further changes started to happen more frequently.
In Britain, there is another period, which runs from about 2500 BCE to 2100 BCE, which is sometimes referred to as the Chalcolithic, or the copper age. This is when copper started being used, but had not yet been mixed with tin to form the alloy bronze, but where there was still a great use of stone tools. It is the middle ground between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. Some prehistorians place this as part of the Stone Age, while others put it as part of the Bronze Age.
Things to think about
- Should the Stone Age be called the Stone Age, or would another name be better?
- Are purpose-built stone tools limited to humans?
- What important changes happened during each of the Stone Age subdivisions?
Things to do
- Get an idea of the scale of time covered by the Stone Age. Try making a timeline (on about 5m of paper!) of British history and prehistory from the present day to the earliest evidence of people in Britain, about one million years ago, using a scale of 0.5cm for every 1,000 years. Mark on it today, the Norman Conquest and the Roman invasion of Britain and go back from there. See what other times and events you can mark on the timeline.
Further reading
It is always difficult to recommend books on prehistoric Britain because they become out of date as soon as they are published. But without a shadow of doubt the best book on the market at the moment is Stringer and Dinnis' book Britain: One Million Years of the Human Story.