Paleolithic Age

World History

B. Baker

PaleolithicThe earliest part of human history

~GreekPaleo = old

Lithos = stone

Name comes from fact that people used stone to make crudely fashioned tools such as mallets, axes, knives and spear point.

Q: What kind of Humans were these?

HOMO SAPIENS

Thinking, highly sensitive, modern humans.

Evidence of homo sapiens go back 300, 000 BC

                                          

Q: How did these people Live?

NOMADOne who continuously wanders form place to place in search of food.

MODERN NOMAD

Subsistence Hunters & Gatherers

Having enough food to last a day or two; never a surplus

1. Move according to the seasons

Hunting = migratory game animals

Gathering = ripening plant foods

Division of laborHunting = meat = men = 15%Gathering = plant foods = 85%

Lived in small groupsLimited resources = limited population (spread out)Limited resources = increadsed competition and conflictEasier to get along in smaller groups

Paleolithic Breakthroughs:

Crude stone tools (chipped and flaked)FireSpoken LanguageSpiritual life (burial sites hold treasured objects, food, flowers; Lascaux Cave paintings suggest ritual and magic were associated with the hunt.