In this article, we are going to travel back in time for a little bit. To be exact, around 5000 years. The Stone Age was a period that lasted roughly 3.4 million years, and it has its name because humans created and used stone tools. It can also be seen as a stage of human development.
The three separate periods of the Stone Age are the Paleolithic era, the Mesolithis era, and the Neolithic era. It is divided into these eras due to the development of the humans to that time. The earliest era is the most primitive one. Then humans created finer tools and finally transformed into settlers. The first towns, agriculture and livestock farming were created. This also overlaps with the following era of the Bronze Age, since the development is a slow and continuous process. Nevertheless, it can be said that the end of Stone Age is roughly between 4000 BC and 2000 BC. -just to state some dates.
Something important to add is that , moreover, the humans living during the Stone Age are categorised by types: the Tool-makers(homo habilis), they inhabited parts of sub-Saharan Africa from roughly 2.4 to 1.5 million years ago: the Fire-makers(homo erectus): its earliest occurrence was about 2 million years ago. About 130,000 years ago., the Neanderthals(homo neanderthalensis) replaced the homo erectus and became extinct around 40,000 years ago. This is when the Modern humans first appeared! Due to the fact that the Stone Age is considered to be over such a long time span, a lot of evolution took place.
In the beginning, humans lived in small, nomadic groups, and at that time, there was an Ice Age on earth. Global temperatures were colder and glacial expansion was happening. To stay warm and alive, prehistoric humans had to hunt large mammals like mammoths, giant bison and deer. To be able to use the fur and meat, they needed tools to cut, pound, and crush, which they built primarily out of stone. Then, the earth entered a warmer period, and many of the Ice Age animals died. That was the point when some humans settled down and built permanent houses, and the Stone Age slowly ended.
Thanks to archaeological findings, we know a lot about the tools they had during the Stone Age. The tools were made out of a lot of different stones: basalt and sandstone were used to make ground stone. Flit and chert were shaped for use as cutting tools and weapons. Also, wood, bone, shell, and other materials were used to create different kinds of tools. An example of that is hammer-stones. These are some of the earliest and simplest stone tools to chip other stones into sharp weapons or to break apart nutshells, seeds, and bones. Later, humans even started to create pottery with clay. Here, hammer-stones were used to grind clay into pigment.
There were not only useful things created, but also art. It is called prehistoric art and traces back to the Stone Age as well. Mostly, it can be found on rocks of any kind, like in caves, for instance. Until now, it is not completely clear if it had a religious purpose or not. A lot of animals were painted, which represented strengths, like large cats or rhinoceros. Other than that, there are also half human, half animal figures. The interpretation of these paintings, however, is pretty difficult and most of their meanings have remained secret until today.
About the rituals and beliefs, which also might be connected to the art of the Stone Age, there are a few things we know. At least we know that people did not only live to eat and work but also had some other activities and beliefs. Death and burial rites were practiced, and there were even cultural differences in the different areas. Also, huge stone slabs stacked over other large stone slabs were discovered all across Europe and Asia. These megalithic tombs were built in the Neolithic as well and used as burial chambers.
I hope I could give you a little overview of how life was during the Stone Age and what the term Stone Age means. I hope to see you again on this website and thank you for reading!
Sources:
https://www.history.com/topics/pre-history/stone-age (History.com editors, 19.10.2022)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Age (Wikipedia, 19.10.2022)