The Stone Age — Our Earliest Story
The STONE AGE is the longest period of human history — over 2 million years long. It's called the Stone Age because people made TOOLS from stone, bone, and wood. They lived as HUNTER-GATHERERS — hunting animals and gathering wild plants. They followed seasons and food, moving in small groups.
Three parts. PALEOLITHIC (Old Stone Age, 2.5 million-10,000 BCE): simple stone tools, cave paintings, control of fire. MESOLITHIC (10,000-8,000 BCE): finer tools, end of the last Ice Age, dogs domesticated. NEOLITHIC (8,000-3,000 BCE): farming begins, permanent villages, pottery, weaving. The shift to farming changed everything — it's called the Neolithic Revolution.
What changed during the NEOLITHIC era that led to civilization?
Stone Age people were SMART. They mastered fire (cooking and warmth). They made art (cave paintings in Lascaux are 17,000 years old). They buried their dead with care. They invented language. Modern humans have existed for about 200,000 years, but only the LAST 5,000 are written history. The vast majority of human existence is the Stone Age.
Imagine the Past
Imagine living 30,000 years ago. No metal, no farms, no writing. What would your day look like? What would you eat? Where would you sleep? What dangers? It's how your great-great-...-great grandparents lived.
The Stone Age built the foundation of everything human — language, art, tools, social bonds. We are descended from people who survived ice ages with stone tools. That toughness is in our DNA.
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