Stone Age how many years BC. What is the New Stone Age called?

Stone Age - cultural historical period in the development of mankind, when the main tools were made mainly from stone, wood and bone; At the late stage of the Stone Age, the processing of clay from which dishes were made spread. The Stone Age basically coincides with the era of primitive society, starting from the time of the separation of man from the animal state (about 2 million years ago) and ending with the era of the spread of metals (about 8 thousand years ago in the Near and Middle East and about 6-7 thousand years ago in Europe). Through a transitional era - the Chalcolithic - the Stone Age was replaced bronze age, but remained among the Australian aborigines until the 20th century. Stone Age people were engaged in gathering, hunting, and fishing; In the late period, hoe farming and cattle breeding appeared.

Stone ax of the Abashevo culture

The Stone Age is divided into the Old Stone Age (Paleolithic), the Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic), and the New Stone Age (Neolithic). During the Paleolithic period, the Earth's climate, plant and fauna were very different from modern era. Paleolithic people used only chipped stone tools and did not know polished stone tools or pottery (ceramics). Paleolithic people hunted and gathered food (plants, shellfish). Fishing was just beginning to emerge; agriculture and cattle breeding were unknown. Between the Paleolithic and Neolithic there is a transitional era - the Mesolithic. In the Neolithic era, people lived in modern climatic conditions, surrounded by modern flora and fauna. In the Neolithic, polished and drilled stone tools and pottery became widespread. Neolithic people, along with hunting, gathering, and fishing, began to engage in primitive hoe farming and breed domestic animals.
The guess that the era of the use of metals was preceded by a time when only stones served as tools was expressed by Titus Lucretius Carus in the 1st century BC. In 1836, the Danish scientist K.Yu. Thomsen identified three cultural and historical eras based on archaeological material: Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age). In the 1860s, the British scientist J. Lubbock divided the Stone Age into Paleolithic and Neolithic, and the French archaeologist G. de Mortillier created general works on the stone and developed a more detailed periodization: Chelles, Mousterian, Solutrean, Aurignacian, Magdalenian, Robenhausen cultures. In the second half of the 19th century, research was carried out on Mesolithic kitchen middens in Denmark, Neolithic pile settlements in Switzerland, Paleolithic and Neolithic caves and sites in Europe and Asia. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Paleolithic painted images were discovered in caves in southern France and northern Spain. In Russia, a number of Paleolithic and Neolithic sites were studied in the 1870-1890s by A.S. Uvarov, I.S. Polyakov, K.S. Merezhkovsky, V.B. Antonovich, V.V. Conifer. At the beginning of the 20th century, archaeological excavations of Paleolithic and Neolithic settlements were carried out by V.A. Gorodtsov, A.A. Spitsyn, F.K. Volkov, P.P. Efimenko.
In the 20th century, excavation techniques were improved, the scale of publication of archaeological monuments increased, a comprehensive study of ancient settlements by archaeologists, geologists, paleozoologists, and paleobotanists became widespread, the radiocarbon dating method and the statistical method of studying stone tools began to be used, and general works on the art of the Stone Age were created. In the USSR, research into the Stone Age acquired a wide scope. If in 1917 there were 12 Paleolithic sites known in the country, then in the early 1970s their number exceeded a thousand. Numerous Paleolithic sites were discovered and studied in the Crimea, on the East European Plain, and in Siberia. Domestic archaeologists developed a method for excavating Paleolithic settlements, which made it possible to establish the existence of sedentary life and permanent dwellings in the Paleolithic; method of restoring the functions of primitive tools based on traces of their use, traceology (S.A. Semenov); Numerous monuments of Paleolithic art were discovered; monuments of Neolithic monumental art - rock carvings in the north-west of Russia, the Azov region and Siberia were studied (V.I. Ravdonikas, M.Ya. Rudinsky).

Paleolithic

The Paleolithic is divided into early (lower; up to 35 thousand years ago) and late (upper; up to 10 thousand years ago). In the Early Paleolithic, archaeological cultures are distinguished: pre-Chelles culture, Chelles culture, Acheulean culture, Mousterian culture. Sometimes the Mousterian era (100-35 thousand years ago) is distinguished as a special period - the Middle Paleolithic. Pre-Chellian stone tools were pebbles chipped at one end and flakes chipped from such pebbles. The tools of the Chelles and Acheulian eras were hand axes - pieces of stone chipped on both surfaces, thickened at one end and pointed at the other, rough chopping tools (choppers and choppers), having less regular outlines than axes, as well as rectangular ax-shaped tools (cleavers) and massive flakes. These tools were made by people who belonged to the type of archanthropus (Pithecanthropus, Sinanthropus, Heidelberg man), and, possibly, to the more primitive type of Homo habilis (prezinjanthropus). Archanthropes lived in warm climates, mainly in Africa, southern Europe and Asia. The oldest reliable Stone Age monuments in Eastern Europe date back to the Acheulian time, dating back to the era preceding the Ris (Dnieper) glaciation. They were found in the Azov region and Transnistria; Flakes, hand axes, and choppers (rough chopping tools) were found in them. In the Caucasus, the remains of hunting camps of the Acheulian era were found in the Kudaro Cave, Tson Cave, and Azykh Cave.
During the Mousterian period, stone flakes became thinner, breaking off from specially prepared disc-shaped or turtle-shaped cores - cores (the so-called Levallois technique). Flakes were turned into scrapers, points, knives, and drills. At the same time, bones began to be used as tools, and the use of fire began. Due to the onset of cold weather, people began to settle in caves. About the origin religious beliefs burials testify. The people of the Mousterian era belonged to the paleoanthropes (Neanderthals). Burials of Neanderthals were discovered in the Kiik-Koba grotto in Crimea and in the Teshik-Tash grotto in Central Asia. In Europe, Neandarthals lived in the climatic conditions of the beginning of the Würm glaciation and were contemporaries of mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, and cave bears. For the Early Paleolithic, local differences in cultures were established, determined by the nature of the tools they made. In the Molodova site on the Dniester, the remains of a long-term Mousterian dwelling have been discovered.
In the Late Paleolithic era, a person of the modern physical type emerged (neoanthropus, Homo sapiens - Cro-Magnons). The burial of a neoanthrope was discovered in the Staroselye grotto in Crimea. Late Paleolithic people settled Siberia, America, and Australia. Late Paleolithic technology is characterized by prismatic cores, from which elongated plates were broken off and turned into scrapers, points, tips, burins, and piercings. Awls, needles with an eye, shovels, and picks were made from bones and mammoth tusk horns. People began to settle down, along with the use of caves, they began to build long-term dwellings - dugouts and above-ground structures, both large communal ones with several hearths, and small ones (Gagarino, Kostenki, Pushkari, Buret, Malta, Dolni Vestonice, Pencevan). Skulls, large bones and tusks of mammoths, deer antlers, wood, and skins were used in the construction of dwellings. Dwellings formed settlements. The hunting economy developed, fine art appeared, characterized by naive realism: sculptural images of animals and naked women from mammoth ivory, stone, clay (Kostenki, Avdeevskaya site, Gagarino, Dolni Vestonice, Willendorf, Brassanpui), images of animals engraved on bone and stone fish, engraved and painted conventional geometric patterns - zigzag, diamonds, meanders, wavy lines (Mezinskaya site, Předmosti), engraved and painted monochrome and polychrome images of animals, sometimes people and conventional signs on the walls and ceilings of caves (Altamira, Lascaux). Paleolithic art was partly associated with female cults of the matrilineal era, with hunting magic and totemism. Archaeologists have identified various types of burials: crouched, sessile, painted, with grave goods. In the Late Paleolithic, several cultural areas are distinguished, as well as a significant number of smaller cultures: in Western Europe - the Perigord, Aurignacian, Solutrean, Magdalenian cultures; in Central Europe - the Selet culture, the culture of leaf-shaped tips; in Eastern Europe - Central Dniester, Gorodtsovskaya, Kostenki-Avdeevskaya, Mezinskaya cultures; in the Middle East - Antelian, Emirian, Natufian cultures; in Africa - Sango culture, Sebil culture. The most important Late Paleolithic settlement in Central Asia is the Samarkand site.
On the territory of the East European Plain, successive stages of the development of Late Paleolithic cultures can be traced: Kostenki-Sungir, Kostenki-Avdeevsk, Mezin. Multi-layered Late Paleolithic settlements have been excavated on the Dniester (Babin, Voronovitsa, Molodova). Another area of ​​Late Paleolithic settlements with the remains of dwellings of various types and examples of art is the Desna and Sudost basin (Mezin, Pushkari, Eliseevichi, Yudinovo); the third area is the villages of Kostenki and Borshevo on the Don, where over twenty Late Paleolithic sites were discovered, including a number of multi-layered ones, with the remains of dwellings, many works of art and single burials. A special place is occupied by the Sungir site on Klyazma, where several burials were found. The world's northernmost Paleolithic monuments include the Bear Cave and the Byzovaya site on the Pechora River in Komi. Kapova Cave in the Southern Urals contains painted images of mammoths on the walls. In Siberia, during the Late Paleolithic period, the Maltese and Afontovo cultures were successively replaced; Late Paleolithic sites were discovered on the Yenisei (Afontova Gora, Kokorevo), in the Angara and Belaya basins (Malta, Buret), in Transbaikalia, and Altai. Monuments of the Late Paleolithic are known in the Lena, Aldan, and Kamchatka basins.

Mesolithic and Neolithic

The transition from the Late Paleolithic to the Mesolithic coincides with the end of the Ice Age and the formation of modern climate. According to radiocarbon data, the Mesolithic period for the Middle East is 12-9 thousand years ago, for Europe - 10-7 thousand years ago. In the northern regions of Europe, the Mesolithic lasted until 6-5 thousand years ago. The Mesolithic includes the Azilian culture, the Tardenoise culture, the Maglemose culture, the Ertbelle culture, and the Hoa Binh culture. Mesolithic technology is characterized by the use of microliths - miniature stone fragments of geometric shapes in the shape of a trapezoid, segment, or triangle. Microliths were used as inserts in wooden and bone frames. In addition, beaten chopping tools were used: axes, adzes, and picks. During the Mesolithic period, bows and arrows spread, and the dog became a constant companion of man.
The transition from the appropriation of finished products of nature (hunting, fishing, gathering) to agriculture and cattle breeding occurred during the Neolithic period. This revolution in the primitive economy is called the Neolithic revolution, although the appropriation in economic activity people continued to occupy a large place. The main elements of Neolithic culture were: earthenware (ceramics), molded without a potter's wheel; stone axes, hammers, adzes, chisels, hoes, in the manufacture of which sawing, grinding, and drilling were used; flint daggers, knives, arrow and spear tips, sickles, made by pressing retouching; microliths; products made of bone and horn (fishhooks, harpoons, hoe tips, chisels) and wood (dugouts, oars, skis, sleighs, handles). Flint workshops appeared, and at the end of the Neolithic - mines for the extraction of flint and, in connection with this, intertribal exchange. Spinning and weaving arose in the Neolithic. Neolithic art is characterized by a variety of indented and painted ornaments on ceramics, clay, bone, and stone figurines of people and animals, monumental painted, incised and hollowed-out rock art - writings, petroglyphs. Funeral rite became more complicated. The uneven development of culture and local uniqueness have intensified.
Agriculture and cattle breeding originated first in the Middle East. By the 7th-6th millennium BC. include the settled agricultural settlements of Jericho in Jordan, Jarmo in Northern Mesopotamia, and Catal Huyuk in Asia Minor. In the 6th-5th millennium BC. e. In Mesopotamia, developed Neolithic agricultural cultures with adobe houses, painted ceramics, and female figurines became widespread. In the 5th-4th millennia BC. Agriculture became widespread in Egypt. The agricultural settlements of Shulaveri, Odishi, and Kistrik are known in Transcaucasia. Settlements like Jeitun in Southern Turkmenistan are similar to the settlements of Neolithic farmers of the Iranian Plateau. In general, during the Neolithic era, Central Asia was dominated by tribes of hunters and gatherers (Kelteminar culture).
Under the influence of the cultures of the Middle East, the Neolithic developed in Europe, over most of which agriculture and cattle breeding spread. In Great Britain and France, in the Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages, tribes of farmers and herders lived who built megalithic structures made of stone. Farmers and pastoralists of the Alpine region are characterized by pile buildings. In Central Europe, agricultural Danube cultures with ceramics decorated with ribbon patterns took shape in the Neolithic. In Scandinavia until the second millennium BC. e. lived tribes of Neolithic hunters and fishermen.
The agricultural Neolithic of Eastern Europe includes monuments of the Bug culture in Right Bank Ukraine (5-3rd millennium BC). Cultures of Neolithic hunters and fishermen of the 5th-3rd millennia BC. identified in the Azov region, in the North Caucasus. They spread in the forest belt from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean in the 4th-2nd millennia BC. Ceramics decorated with pit-comb and comb-prick patterns are typical for the Upper Volga region, the Volga-Oka interfluve, the coast of Lake Ladoga, Lake Onega, and the White Sea, where rock carvings and petroglyphs associated with the Neolithic are found. In the forest-steppe zone of Eastern Europe, in the Kama region, and in Siberia, Neolithic tribes distributed ceramics with comb-prick and comb patterns. Their own types of Neolithic ceramics were common in Primorye and Sakhalin.

Modern science has come to the conclusion that all the diversity of current space objects was formed about 20 billion years ago. The Sun, one of the many stars in our Galaxy, arose 10 billion years ago. Our Earth is an ordinary planet solar system- has an age of 4.6 billion years. It is now generally accepted that man began to separate from the animal world about 3 million years ago.

The periodization of human history at the stage of the primitive communal system is quite complex. Several variants are known. The archaeological diagram is most often used. In accordance with it, the history of mankind is divided into three large stages depending on the material from which the tools used by man were made (Stone Age: 3 million years ago - the end of the 3rd millennium BC; Bronze Age: the end of the 3rd millennium BC). 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium BC; Iron Age - from 1st millennium BC).

Among different peoples in different regions of the Earth, the appearance of certain tools and forms of social life did not occur simultaneously. There was a process of human formation (anthropogenesis, from the Greek “anthropos” - man, “genesis” - origin) and human society(sociogenesis, from the Latin “societas” - society and the Greek “genesis” - origin).

The most ancient ancestors of modern man resembled apes, who, unlike animals, were able to produce tools. In the scientific literature, this type of ape-man is called homo habilis - a skilled man. The further evolution of habilis led to the appearance 1.5-1.6 million years ago of the so-called Pithecanthropus (from the Greek “pithekos” - monkey, “anthropos” - man), or archanthropes (from the Greek “achaios” - ancient). Archanthropes were already people. 200-300 thousand years ago, archanthropes were replaced by a more developed type of person - paleoanthropes, or Neanderthals (according to the place of their first discovery in the Neanderthal area in Germany).

During the Early Stone Age - Paleolithic (approximately 700 thousand years ago), people entered the territory of Eastern Europe. Settlement came from the south. Archaeologists find traces of presence ancient people in Crimea (Kiik-Koba caves), in Abkhazia (near Sukhumi - Yashtukh), in Armenia (Satani-Dar hill near Yerevan), as well as in Central Asia (southern Kazakhstan, Tashkent region). In the region of Zhitomir and on the Dniester, traces of people being here 300-500 thousand years ago were found.

Great Glacier. About 100 thousand years ago, a significant part of the territory of Europe was occupied by a huge glacier up to two kilometers thick (since then the snowy peaks of the Alps and Scandinavian mountains were formed). The emergence of the glacier affected the development of mankind. The harsh climate forced man to use natural fire, and then to extract it. This helped a person survive in extreme cold conditions. People learned to make piercing and cutting objects from stone and bone (stone knives, spearheads, scrapers, needles, etc.). Obviously, the emergence of articulate speech and the clan organization of society dates back to this time. The first, still extremely vague, religious ideas, as evidenced by the emergence of artificial burials.

The difficulties of the struggle for existence, fear of the forces of nature and the inability to explain them were the reasons for the emergence of the pagan religion. Paganism was the deification of the forces of nature, animals, plants, good and evil spirits. This huge complex of primitive beliefs, customs, and rituals preceded the spread of world religions (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, etc.).

During the Late Paleolithic period (10-35 thousand years ago), the melting of the glacier ended, and a climate similar to the modern one was established. Using fire to cook food further development tools, as well as the first attempts to regulate relations between the sexes, significantly changed the physical type of a person. It was at this time that the transformation of a skilled man (homo habilis) into a reasonable man (homo sapiens) dates back to this time. Based on the place where it was first found, it is called Cro-Magnon (Cro-Magnon area in France). At the same time, obviously, as a result of adaptation to the environment in the conditions of the existence of sharp differences in climate between different regions globe The existing races (Caucasoid, Negroid and Mongoloid) were also formed.

The processing of stone and especially bone and antler was further developed. Scientists sometimes call the Late Paleolithic the “Bone Age.” Finds of this time include daggers, spearheads, harpoons, eyed needles, awls, etc. Traces of the first long-term settlements were discovered. Not only caves, but also huts and dugouts built by man served as housing. Remains of jewelry have been found that make it possible to reproduce the clothing of that time.

During the Late Paleolithic period, the primitive herd was replaced by more high shape organization of society - tribal community. A clan community is an association of people of the same clan who have collective property and run a household based on the age and gender division of labor in the absence of exploitation.

Before the advent of pair marriage, kinship was established through the maternal line. The woman at this time played a leading role in the household, which determined the first stage of the clan system - matriarchy, which lasted until the time of the spread of metal.

Many works of art created in the Late Paleolithic era have reached us. Picturesque colorful rock carvings of animals (mammoths, bison, bears, deer, horses, etc.) that people of that time hunted, as well as figurines depicting a female deity, were discovered in caves and sites in France, Italy, and the Southern Urals ( famous Kapova Cave).

In the Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age (8-10 thousand years ago), new advances were made in stone processing. The tips and blades of knives, spears, and harpoons were then made as a kind of inserts from thin flint plates. A stone ax was used to process wood. One of most important achievements was the invention of the bow, a long-range weapon that made it possible to more successfully hunt animals and birds. People learned to make snares and hunting traps.

Fishing was added to hunting and gathering. People have been observed trying to swim on logs. The domestication of animals began: the dog was tamed, followed by the pig. Eurasia was finally populated: man reached the shores of the Baltic and Pacific Oceans. At the same time, as many researchers believe, people came from Siberia through the Chukotka Peninsula to America.

Neolithic revolution. Neolithic - last period The Stone Age (5-7 thousand years ago) is characterized by the appearance of grinding and drilling of stone tools (axes, adzes, hoes). Handles were attached to objects. Since this time, pottery has been known. People began to build boats, learned to weave nets for fishing, and weave.

Significant changes in technology and forms of production at this time are sometimes called the "Neolithic Revolution". Its most important result was the transition from gathering, from an appropriating economy to a producing one. Man was no longer afraid to break away from his habitual places; he could move more freely in search of better conditions life, exploring new lands.

Depending on the natural and climatic conditions in Eastern Europe and Siberia, various types economic activity. In the steppe zone from the middle Dnieper to Altai they lived pastoral tribes. Farmers settled in the territories of modern Ukraine, Transcaucasia, Central Asia, and southern Siberia.

Hunting and fishing was typical for the northern forest regions of the European part and Siberia. Historical development individual regions proceeded unevenly. Cattle breeding and agricultural tribes. Agriculture gradually penetrated into the steppe regions.

Among the sites of farmers in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, one can distinguish Neolithic settlements in Turkmenistan (near Ashgabat), Armenia (near Yerevan), etc. In Central Asia in the 4th millennium BC. e. The first artificial irrigation systems were created. On the East European Plain, the oldest agricultural culture was Tripolye, named after the village of Tripolye near Kyiv. Settlements of Trypillians were discovered by archaeologists in the territory from the Dnieper to the Carpathians. They were large settlements of farmers and cattle breeders, whose dwellings were located in a circle. During excavations of these villages, grains of wheat, barley, and millet were discovered. Wooden sickles with flint inserts, stone grain grinders and other items were found. The Trypillian culture dates back to the Copper-Stone Age - the Eneolithic (3rd-1st millennium BC).

STONE AGE

cultural-historical a period during which there was still no metal processing, and the main tools and weapons were manufactured by Ch. arr. made of stone; Wood and bone were also used. Through the transitional era - Chalcolithic, K. century. gives way to the Bronze Age. K.v. coincides with most of the era of the primitive communal system. In absolute chronological figures, the duration of the K. century. dates back hundreds of thousands of years - from the time of the separation of man from the animal state (about 800 thousand years ago) and ending with the era of the spread of the first metals (about 6 thousand years ago in the Ancient East and about 4-5 thousand years ago in Europe). Several decades ago, certain tribes of the globe who were lagging behind in their development lived in conditions close to K. century.

In turn, K. v. is divided into the ancient K. century, or Paleolithic, and the new K. century, or Neolithic. The Paleolithic is the era of the existence of fossil man and belongs to that distant time when the climate of the earth and its growth. and the animal world were quite different from modern ones. People of the Paleolithic era used only chipped stones. tools, not knowing polished stones. tools and pottery - ceramics. Paleolithic people were engaged in hunting and gathering food (plants, shellfish, etc.). Fishing was just beginning to emerge, and agriculture and cattle breeding were unknown. Neolithic people already lived in modern times. climatic conditions and surrounded by modern animal world. In the Neolithic, along with chipped stones, polished and drilled stones appeared. tools, as well as pottery (ceramics). Neolithic people, along with hunting, gathering, and fishing, began to engage in primitive hoe farming and raise domestic animals. The transition from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic was at the same time a transition from the period of primary appropriation of finished products of nature to the period when man through production. activity learned to increase the production of natural products. Between the Paleolithic and Neolithic there is a transitional era - the Mesolithic.

The Paleolithic is divided into ancient (lower, early) (800-40 thousand years ago) and late (upper) (40-8 thousand years ago). The ancient Paleolithic is divided into Archaeolic. eras (or cultures): pre-Chelles, Chelles, Acheulian and Mousterian. Some archaeologists distinguish the Mousterian era (100-40 thousand years ago) into a special period - the Middle Paleolithic. The division of the Late Paleolithic into the Aurignacian, Solutrean and Magdalenian eras, in contrast to the division into the Ancient Paleolithic eras, does not have universal significance; the Aurignacian, Solutrean and Magdalenian eras are traced only in periglacial Europe.

The most ancient stones the tools were pebbles chipped with several rough chips at one end, and flakes chipped from such pebbles (chip pebble cultures, pre-Chelles era). Basic the tools of the Chelles and Acheulian eras were massive flint flakes, slightly chipped along the edges, hand axes - almond-shaped pieces of flint roughly chipped on both surfaces, thickened at one end and pointed at the other, adapted for gripping by hand, as well as coarse chopping tools (choppers) - chipped pieces or pebbles of flint, having less regular outlines than a chop. These tools were intended for cutting, scraping, striking, making wooden clubs, spears, and digging sticks. There were also cams. cores (cores), from which flakes broke off. In the pre-Chelles, Chelles and Acheulean eras, people of the most ancient stage of development (Pithecanthropus, Sinanthropus, Atlantropus, Heidelberg man) were common. They lived in warm climates. conditions and did not spread far beyond the area of ​​their initial appearance; were populated b. parts of Africa, southern Europe and southern Asia (mainly territories located south of 50° north latitude). During the Mousterian era, flint flakes became thinner and broke off from the disc-shaped core. By trimming along the edges (retouching), they were turned into triangular points and oval scrapers, along with which there were small axes processed on both sides. The use of bone for production began. targets (anvils, retouchers, points). Man has mastered the methods of making fire in the arts. by; more often than in previous eras, he began to settle in caves and developed territory with moderate and even harsh climates. conditions. The people of the Mousterian era belonged to the Neanderthal type (see Neanderthals). In Europe they lived in harsh climates. conditions of the Ice Age, were contemporaries of mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, northern. deer. The ancient Paleolithic refers to the initial stage of development of primitive society, to the era of the primitive human herd and the emergence of the clan system. It was irreligious. period; It was only during the Mousterian era that primitive religions may have begun to emerge. beliefs. Ancient Paleolithic technology and culture were generally homogeneous everywhere. Local differences were minor and cannot be clearly and indisputably determined.

For the Late Paleolithic The technique is characterized by prismatic core, from which elongated knife-like flint plates were broken off, which were then transformed, with the help of retouching and chipping, into various tools of differentiated forms: scrapers, points, tips, burins, piercings, staples, etc. Mn. of these were used in wooden and bone handles and frames. A variety of bone awls, needles with an eye, hoe tips, spear-darts, harpoons, spear throwers, polishes, picks, etc. appeared. Pedestrianism developed and large communal dwellings spread: dugouts and above-ground ones. The caves also continued to be used as dwellings. In connection with the advent of more advanced hunting weapons, hunting has reached a higher stage of development. This is evidenced by the huge accumulations of bones found in the Late Paleolithic. settlements. The Late Paleolithic is the time of development of the matriarchal clan system (see Matriarchy). Art appeared and achieved high development - sculpture from mammoth tusk, stone, sometimes from clay (Dolni Vestonice, Kostenki, Montespan, Pavlov, Tyuk-d "Oduber), bone and stone carving (see Malta, Mezin site ), drawings on the walls of caves (Altamira, La Mut, Lasko). Late Paleolithic art is characterized by amazing liveliness and realism. Numerous images of women with emphasized signs of a mother were found (see Dolni Vestonice, Petřkovice, Gagarino). Kostenki), apparently reflecting female cults of the era of matriarchy, images of mammoths, bison, horses, deer, etc., partially associated with hunting magic and totemism, conventional schematic signs - rhombuses, zigzags, even meanders. Various burials appeared: crouched ones. , painted, with rich burial goods. During the transition to the Late Paleolithic, the modern physical type (Homo sapiens) arose and signs of the three main modern racial types appeared for the first time - Caucasian (Cro-Magnons), Mongoloid and Negroid (Grimaldians). Late Paleolithic people spread much more widely than Neanderthals. They settled Siberia, the Urals, and the north of Germany. Moving from Asia through the Bering Strait, they first populated America (see Sandia, Folsom). In the Late Paleolithic, several vast, distinct areas of cultural development arose. Three areas are especially clearly visible: European periglacial, Siberian and African-Mediterranean. The European periglacial region covered the areas of Europe that were directly affected. influence of glaciation. The Late Paleolithic of Europe is radiocarbon dated to 40-8 thousand years ago. years BC e. People here lived in harsh climates. conditions, hunted mammoths and sowing. deer, built winter shelters from animal bones and skins.

The inhabitants of the Siberian region lived in similar natural conditions, but they developed wood processing more widely, developed a slightly different technique for processing stone, and massive, roughly hewn stones became widespread. tools that resemble Acheulean handaxes, Mousterian side scrapers and points and are harbingers of the Neolithic. axes. The African-Mediterranean region, in addition to Africa, covers the territory. Spain, Italy, the Balkan Peninsula, Crimea, the Caucasus, countries of the Middle East. East. Here people lived surrounded by heat-loving flora and fauna and hunted primarily. on gazelles, roe deer, mountain goats; Gathering was more developed than in the north. food, hunting did not have such a pronounced arctic. character, bone processing was less developed. Microliths spread here earlier. flint inserts (see below), bow and arrows appeared. Differences between the Late Paleolithic the cultures of these three regions were still insignificant and the regions themselves were not separated by clear boundaries. It is possible that there were more than three such areas, in particular the South-East. Asia, the Late Paleolithic period has not yet been sufficiently studied, forms the fourth large region. Within each region there were more fractional local groups, the cultures of which were somewhat different from each other.

The transition from the Late Paleolithic to the Mesolithic coincided with the end. thawing of Europe glaciation and with the establishment on earth in general of modern times. climate, modern animal and raises it. peace. Antiquity of Europe. The Mesolithic is determined by the radiocarbon method - 8-5 thousand years BC. e.; Mesolithic antiquity Bl. East - 10-7 thousand years BC. e. Characteristic Mesolithic. cultures - Azilian culture, Tardenoise culture, Maglemose cultures, etc. For Mesolithic. technology is characterized by the proliferation of microliths - miniature flint geometric tools. outlines (in the form of a trapezoid, segment, triangle), used as inserts in wooden and bone frames, and also, especially in the north. areas and at the end of the Mesolithic, roughly hewn chopping tools - axes, adzes, picks. All these Mesolithic. Kam. tools continued to exist in the Neolithic. Bows and arrows became widespread in the Mesolithic. The dog, which was first domesticated in the Late Paleolithic, was widely used by people at that time. Mesolithic, people settled further to the north, developed Scotland, the Baltic states, even part of the northern coast. Arctic region, settled throughout America (see Denbigh), and first penetrated Australia.

The most important characteristic feature of the Neolithic is the transition from the appropriation of finished products of nature (hunting, fishing, gathering) to the production of vital products, although appropriation continued to occupy an important place in households. human activities. During the Neolithic era, people began to cultivate plants and cattle breeding arose. The defining elements of the Neolithic. cultures were pottery (Ceramics), molded by hand, without the use of a potter's wheel, stone. axes, hammers, adzes, chisels, hoes (in their production sawing, grinding and drilling of stone were used), flint daggers, knives, arrow and spear tips, sickles (in the manufacture of which squeezing retouching was used), various microliths and roughly hewn chopping tools that arose in the Mesolithic, various products made of bone and horn (fishhooks, harpoons, hoe tips, chisels) and wood (dugouts, oars, skis, sleighs, handles of various kinds). Primitive spinning and weaving spread. The Neolithic is the time of the heyday of the matriarchal clan system and the transition from the maternal clan to the paternal clan (see Patriarchy). The uneven development of culture and its local uniqueness in different territories, which emerged in the Late Paleolithic, intensified even more in the Neolithic. There is a large number of different Neolithic. crops Tribes different countries At different times they passed through the Neolithic stage. Most of the Neolithic monuments of Europe and Asia dates back to the 5th-3rd millennium BC. e.

Most at a fast pace Neolithic culture developed in the countries of the Middle East. East, where agriculture and livestock breeding arose first. People who widely practiced collecting wild grains and may have attempted their arts. cultivation belongs to the Natufian culture of Palestine, dating back to the late Mesolithic (9-8th millennium BC). Along with microliths, sickles with flint inserts, bone hoes and stones are found here. mortars, In the 9th-8th millennium BC. e. primitive agriculture and cattle breeding also originated in the North. Iraq (see Karim Shahir). Somewhat more developed Neolithic. agriculturalist cultures with adobe houses, painted pottery and female figurines were common in the 6th-5th millennium BC. e. in Iran and Iraq. The late Neolithic and Chalcolithic of China (3rd and early 2nd millennium BC) are represented by agriculturalists. the Yangshao and Longshan cultures, which are characterized by the cultivation of millet and rice, and the production of painted and polished ceramics on a potter's wheel. At that time, tribes of hunters, fishermen and gatherers (Bakshon culture) still lived in the jungles of Indochina, living in caves. In the 5th-4th millennium BC. e. agriculturalist tribes of the developed Neolithic also inhabited Egypt (see Badari culture, Merimde-Beni-Salame, Fayum settlement).

Development of the Neolithic cultures in Europe proceeded on a local basis, but under the strong influence of the cultures of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. East, from where the most important cultivated plants and certain species of domestic animals probably penetrated into Europe. On the territory England and France in the Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages. century there lived farmers and cattle breeders. tribes who built megalithic. buildings made from huge blocks of stone. For the Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages. century, Switzerland and adjacent territories are characterized by a wide distribution of pile buildings, the inhabitants of which were primarily engaged in. livestock breeding and agriculture, as well as hunting and fishing. To the Center In Europe, agriculture took shape in the Neolithic. Danube cultures with characteristic ceramics decorated with ribbon designs. In northern Scandinavia at the same time and later, up to the 2nd millennium BC. e., lived the Neolithic tribes. hunters and fishermen.

Stone Age on the territory of the USSR. The most ancient monuments of the K. century. in the USSR belong to the Chelles and Acheulian times and are distributed in Armenia (Satani-Dar), Georgia (Yashtukh, Tsona, Lashe-Balta, Kudaro), in the North. Caucasus, southern Ukraine (see Luka Vrublevetskaya) and Wed. Asia. A large number of flakes, hand axes, rough chopping tools made of flint, obsidian, basalt, etc. were found here. The remains of a hunting camp of the Acheulean era were discovered in the Kudaro cave. Sites of the Mousterian era are distributed further to the north, up to Wed. currents of the Volga and Desna. Mousterian caves are especially numerous in Crimea. In the Kiik-Koba grotto in Crimea and in the Teshik-Tash grotto in Uzbekistan. The SSR discovered the burials of Neanderthals, and in the Staroselye cave in the Crimea - the burial of a modern Mousterian man. physical type. Late Paleolithic population of the territory The USSR settled over much wider areas than the Mousterians. The Late Paleolithic is known, in particular, in the Bass. Oka, Chusovoy, Pechora, Yenisei, Lena, Angara. Late Paleolithic The sites of the Russian Plain belong to Europe. periglacial region, sites of the Crimea, Caucasus and Middle East. Asia - to the African-Mediterranean region, sites of Siberia - to the Siberian region. Three stages of development of the Late Paleolithic have been established. cultures of the Caucasus: from the Hergulis-Klde and Taro-Klde caves (stage I), where they are still represented in the mean. quantity of Mousterian points and side scrapers, to the Gvardjilas-Klde cave (III stage), where many microliths are found and the transition to the Mesolithic can be traced. The development of the Late Paleolithic has been established. cultures in Siberia from early monuments such as Buret and Malta, the flint tools of which closely resemble the late Paleolithic of Europe. the periglacial region, to later monuments such as Afontova Gora on the Yenisei, which are characterized by a predominance of massive stones. tools reminiscent of ancient Paleolithic ones and adapted for wood processing. Periodization of the Late Paleolithic Rus. plains cannot yet be considered firmly established. There are early monuments of the type of Radomyshl and Babino I in Ukraine, which still preserve parts. Mousterian tools, many settlements dating back to the middle period of the Late Paleolithic, as well as sites closing the Late Paleolithic such as Vladimirovka in Ukraine and Borshevo II on the Don. Large quantity multi-layered Late Paleolithic. settlements excavated on the Dniester (Babino, Voronovitsa, Molodova V). Numerous were found here. flint and bone tools, remains of winter dwellings. Another region where a large number of Late Paleolithic objects from different periods are known. settlements that brought a variety of stones. and bone products, works of art, remains of dwellings, is the Desna basin (Mezin, Pushkari, Chulatovo, Timonovskaya site, Suponevo). The third similar area is the vicinity of the villages of Kostenki and Borshevo on the right bank of the Don, where several dozen Late Paleolithic objects have been discovered. sites with the remains of various dwellings, many works of art and four burials. The world's northernmost Late Paleolithic. The monument is the Bear Cave on the river. Pechora (Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic). One should also mention Kapova Cave in the South. Ural, realistic images were found on the walls. painted images of mammoths, somewhat reminiscent of the paintings of Altamira and Lascaux. In the Northern steppes. In the Black Sea and Azov regions, unique settlements of bison hunters were common (Amvrosievka).

Neolithic on the territory The USSR is represented in large numbers. diverse cultures. Some of them belong to the ancient farmers. tribes, and some to primitive hunters and fishermen. To the farmer Neolithic and Chalcolithic include monuments of the Trypillian culture of Right Bank Ukraine (4th-3rd millennium BC), sites of Transcaucasia (Kistrik, Odishi, etc.), as well as settlements such as Anau and Dzheitun in the South. Turkmenistan (late 5th - 3rd millennium BC), reminiscent of Neolithic settlements. farmers of Iran. Neolithic cultures hunters and fishermen of the 5th-3rd millennium BC. e. also existed in the south - in the Azov region, in the North. Caucasus, in the Aral Sea region (see Kelteminar culture); but they were especially widespread in the 4th-2nd millennium BC. e. in the north, in the forest belt from the Baltic to the Pacific approx. Numerous Neolithic hunting and fishing cultures, which are characterized by pit-comb ceramic culture, are represented along the shores of Lakes Ladoga and Onega and the White Sea (see Belomorskaya culture, Kargopol culture, Karelian culture, Oleneostrovsky burial ground), on the Upper Volga (see Volosovskaya culture), in the Urals and Trans-Urals, in the basin. Lena, in the Baikal region, in the Amur region, on Kamchatka, on Sakhalin and on the Kuril Islands. In contrast to the much more homogeneous Late Laleolithic. cultures, they clearly differ from each other in the forms of ceramics, ceramics. ornament, certain features of tools and utensils.

History of the study of the Stone Age. The idea that the era of the use of metals was preceded by a time when stones served as weapons was first expressed by Rome. poet and scientist Lucretius Carus in the 1st century. BC e. But only in 1836 the Danish archaeologist K. J. Thomsen pointed to the archaeol. material replacement of three cultural-historical. eras (Camstone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age). Existence of fossil, Paleolithic. human, a contemporary of now extinct animal species, was proven in the 40-50s. 19th century during the violent struggle against the reactionary, clerical science of the French. archaeologist Boucher de Perth. In the 60s English scientist J. Lubbock dismembered K. v. to the Paleolithic and Neolithic, and the French. archaeologist G. de Mortillier created generalizing works on the history of history. and developed a more detailed periodization of the latter (Chellean, Acheulean, Mousterian, Solutrean, etc. epochs). To 2nd half. 19th century also include studies of the Early Neolithic. kitchen heaps (see Ertbølle) in Denmark, Neolithic. pile settlements in Switzerland, numerous. Paleolithic and Neolithic caves and sites in Europe and Asia. In the very end 19th century and at the beginning 20th century were discovered and studied Late Paleolithic. multicolor paintings in the caves of Yuzh. France and North Spain (see Altamira, La Mut). A number of Paleolithic and Neolithic settlements were studied in Russia in the 70-90s. 19th century A. S. Uvarov, I. S. Polyakov, K. S. Merezhkovsky, V. B. Antonovich, A. A. Ivostrantsev and others. Especially noteworthy is the development of V. V. Khvoika (90s) excavation methods Paleolithic Kirillovskaya parking lot in Kyiv with wide areas.

In the 2nd half. 19th century study of K. v. was closely associated with Darwinian ideas, with progressive, although historically limited, evolutionism. This found its most striking expression in the activities of G. de Mortillier. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. in bourgeois science about K. v. (primitive archaeology, paleoethnology), although archaeological techniques have been significantly improved. works, but in place of evolutionist constructions anti-historical, reactionary theories spread. constructs related to the theory of cultural circles and the theory of migrations; Often these concepts are also directly related to racism. Similar anti-evolution. theories were reflected in the works of G. Kossinna, O. Mengin and others. At the same time, against ahistorical. racist concepts of K. v. were performed by the department. progressive bourgeois. scientists (A. Hrdlicka, G. Child, J. Clark, etc.) who sought to trace the development of primitive humanity and its economy as a natural process. A major achievement of foreign researchers in the 1st half. and ser. 20th century is the elimination of extensive white spots on the archaeoli. maps, discovery and exploration of numerous. monuments to K. century. in European countries (K. Absolon, F. Proshek, K. Valoch, I. Neustupni, L. Vertes, M. Gabori, C. Nikolaescu-Plupshor, D. Verchu, I. Nestor, R. Vulpe, N. Dzhanbazov, V. Mikov, G. Georgiev, S. Brodar, A. Benatz, L. Savitsky, J. Kozlovsky, V. Khmelevsky, etc.), on the territory of Africa (L. Liki, K. Arambur, etc.), on the Black Sea coast . East (D. Garrod, R. Braidwood, etc.), in Korea (To Yu Ho, etc.), China (Jia Lan-po, Pei Wen-chung, etc.), in India (Krishnaswami, Sankalia, etc. ), in the South-East. Asia (Mansuy, Geckeren, etc.) and in America (A. Kroeber, F. Rainey, H. M. Wargmington, etc.). The technique of excavating and publishing archaeology has improved significantly; monuments (A, Rust, B. Klima, etc.), a comprehensive study of ancient settlements by archaeologists, geologists, zoologists has spread, the radiocarbon dating method is beginning to be used (X. L. Movius, etc.), statistical. method of studying stones. tools (F. Bord and others), generalizing works devoted to the art of K. v. were created. (A. Breuil, P. Graziosi, etc.).

In Russia, the first two decades of the 20th century. marked by generalizing works on calculus, as well as scientific research carried out at a high level for its time. level, with the involvement of geologists and zoologists, Paleolithic excavations. and Neolithic settlements of V. A. Gorodtsov, A. A. Spitsyn, F. K. Volkov, P. P. Efimenko and others. Antiist. concepts related to the theory of cultural circles and the theory of migrations have not received any widespread dissemination in Russian. primitive archaeology. But research on K. century. in the pre-revolutionary Russia were very small.

After Oct. socialist Revolution of research of K. v. in the USSR acquired a wide scope and produced the results of paramount scientific research. meanings. If by 1917 only 12 Paleolithic stones were known in the country. locations, now their number exceeds 900. Paleolithic was discovered for the first time. monuments in Belarus (K. M. Polikarpovich), in Armenia and South Ossetia (S. N. Zamyatnin, M. Z. Panichkina, S. A. Sardaryan, V. I. Lyubin, etc.), in Wed. Asia (A.P. Okladnikov, D.N. Lev, Kh.A. Alpysbaev, etc.), in the Urals (M.V. Talitsky, S.N. Bibikov, O.N. Bader, etc.). Numerous new paleolithic monuments were discovered and studied in Ukraine and Moldova (T. T. Teslya, A. P. Chernysh, I. G. Shovkoplyas, etc.), in Georgia (G. K. Nioradze, N. Z. Berdzenishvili, A. N. . Kalanadze and others). The northernmost Paleolithic has been discovered. monuments in the world: on Chusovaya, Pechora and in Yakutia on the Lena. Numerous numbers have been discovered and deciphered. Paleolithic monuments lawsuit A new technique for Paleolithic excavations has been created. settlements (P.P. Efimenko, V.A. Gorodtsov, G.A. Bonch-Osmolovsky, M.V. Voevodsky, A.N. Rogachev, etc.), which made it possible to establish the existence at the end of the ancient Paleolithic, as well as throughout the entire Late Paleolithic, sedentary life and permanent communal dwellings (for example, Buret, Malta, Mezin). The most important Paleolithic settlements in the territory In the USSR, a continuous area of ​​500 to 1000 m2 or more was excavated, which made it possible to uncover entire primitive settlements consisting of groups of dwellings. A new technique has been developed for restoring the functions of primitive tools based on traces of their use (S. A. Semenov). The nature of the story has been established. changes that took place in the Paleolithic - the development of the primitive herd as the initial stage of the primitive communal system and the transition from the primitive herd to the matriarchal one clan system(P. P. Efimenko, S. N. Zamyatnin, P. I. Boriskovsky, A. P. Okladnikov, A. A. Formozov, A. P. Chernysh, etc.). Number of Neolithic monuments known to this day. time per territory The USSR is also many times greater than the number known in 1917, which means. number of Neolithic settlements and burial grounds have been explored. Generalizing works devoted to chronology, periodization and history have been created. Neolithic lighting monuments of a number of territories (A. Ya. Bryusov, M. E. Foss, A. P. Okladnikov, V. I. Ravdonikas, N. N. Turina, P. N. Tretyakov, O. N. Bader, M. V. Voevodsky, M Y. Rudinsky, A. V. Dobrovolsky, V. N. Danilenko, D. Ya. Telegin, N. A. Prokoshev, M. M. Gerasimov, V. M. Masson, etc.). Neolithic monuments have been studied. monumental art - rock carvings of the north-west. USSR, Siberia and the Azov region (Stone grave). Major advances have been made in the study of ancient agriculture. culture of Ukraine and Moldova (T. S. Passek, E. Yu. Krichevsky, S. N. Bibikov); a periodization of monuments of Trypillian culture has been developed; Trypillian sites, for a long time which remained mysterious, were explained as the remains of communal dwellings. Sov. researchers K. v. done great job by exposure antiist. racist concepts of reaction. bourgeois archaeologists. Monuments to K. century successfully studied by archaeologists and others socialist countries, which are the same as owls. scientists creatively use the historical method in their research. materialism.

Lit.: Engels F., The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, M., 1963; by him, The role of labor in the process of transformation of a monkey into a man, M., 1963; Abramova Z. A., Paleolithic. art on the territory of the USSR, M.-L., 1962; Beregovaya N.A., Paleolithic localities of the USSR, MIA, No. 81, M.-L., 1960; Bibikov S.N., Early Tripolye settlement of Luka-Vrublevetskaya on the Dniester, MIA, No. 38, M.-L., 1953; Bonch-Osmolovsky G. A., Paleolithic of Crimea, c. 1-3, M.-L., 1940-54; Boriskovsky P.I., Paleolithic of Ukraine, MIA, No. 40, M.-L., 1953; his, The Ancient Past of Mankind, M.-L., 1957; Bryusov A. Ya., Essays on the history of the tribes of Europe. parts of the USSR in the Neolithic. era, M., 1952; World history, t. 1, M., 1955; Gurina N. N., Ancient history of the north-west of the European part of the USSR, MIA, No. 87, M.-L., 1961; Efimenko P. P., Primitive society, 3rd ed., K., 1953; Zamyatnin S.N., On the emergence of local differences in Paleolithic culture. period, in the collection: The origin of man and the ancient settlement of mankind, M., 1951; by him, Essays on the Paleolithic, M.-L., 1961; Kalandadze A.N., On the history of the formation of prenatal society in the territory. Georgia, Tr. Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of Georgia. SSR, vol. 2, Tb., 1956 (in Georgian, summary in Russian); Draw ancient history of Ukrainian PCP, K., 1957; Nioradze G.K., Paleolithic of Georgia, Tr. 2nd Int. conference of the Association for the Study of the Quaternary Period of Europe, c. 5, L.-M.-Novosib., 1934; Neolithic and Chalcolithic of southern Europe. parts of the USSR, MIA, No. 102, M., 1962; Okladnikov A.P., Yakutia before joining the Russian state, (2nd ed.), M.-L., 1955; his, Distant Past of Primorye, Vladivostok, 1959; Essays on the history of the USSR. The primitive communal system and the most ancient states in the territory. USSR, M., 1956; Passek T.S., Periodization of Trypillian settlements, MIA, No. 10, M.-L., 1949; hers, Early agricultural (Tripillian) tribes of the Dniester region, MIA, No. 84, M., 1961; Rogachev A.N., Multilayer sites of the Kostenkovsko-Borshevsky region on the Don and the problem of cultural development in the era Upper Paleolithic on the Russian Plain, MIA, No. 59, M., 1957; Semenov S. A., Primitive technology, MIA, No. 54, M.-L., 1957; Teshik-Tash. Paleolithic Human. (Collection of articles, chief editor M. A. Gremyatsky), M., 1949; Formozov A. A., Ethnocultural areas in the territory. Europe parts of the USSR in the Stone Age, M., 1959; Foss M.E., Ancient history of the north of Europe. parts of the USSR, MIA, No. 29, M., 1952; Chernysh A.P., Late Paleolithic of Middle Transnistria, in the book: Paleolithic of Middle Transnistria, M., 1959; Clark J. G., Prehistoric Europe, trans. from English, M., 1953; Child G., At the Origins of European Civilization, trans. from English, M., 1952; his, The Ancient East in the light of new excavations, trans. from English, M., 1956; Aliman A., Prehistoric. Africa, trans. from French, M., 1960; Bordes Fr., Typologie du paléolithique ancien et moyen, Bordeaux, 1961; Boule M., Les hommes fossiles, 4 ed., P., 1952; Braidwood R. and Howe B., Prehistoric investigations in Iraqi Kurdistan, Chi., 1960; Breuil H., Lantier R., Les hommes de la pierre ancienne, P., 1959; Dechelette J., Manuel d'archéologie, t. 1, P., 1908; Clark G., World prehistory, Camb., 1962; Graziosi P., L'arte delia antica età della pietra, Firenze, 1956; Neustupny J., Pravek Ceskoslovenska, Prague, 1960; Istoria Romîniei, (t.) 1, (Buc.), 1960; Milojcic V., Chronologie der jüngeren Steinzeit Mittel-und Südosteuropas, V., 1949; Movius H. L., The lower palaeolithic cultures of Southern and Eastern Asia. Transactions of the Amer. phil. society..., n. s., v. 38, pt 4, Phil., 1949; Oakley K. P., Man the tool-maker, 5 ed., L., 1961; Pittioni R., Urgeschichte des österreichischen Raumes, W., 1954; Rust A., Vor 20 000 Jahren. Rentierjäger der Eiszeit, 12 Aufl.), Neumünster, 1962: Sauter M. R., Préhistoire de 1l Méditerranée, P., 1948; Varagnac André, L "homme avant l"écriture, P., 1959; Wormington H. M., Ancient man in North America, Denver, 1949; Zebera K., Ceskoslovensko ve starsi dobé kamenné, Prague, 1958.

The Stone Age is the largest and first period in human history, spanning about two million years.

The name came from the material used at that time. Weapons and household utensils were most often made of stone.

Periodization The duration of the Stone Age necessitated its division into smaller periods:

• Paleolithic - more than 2 million years ago.
• Mesolithic – 10 thousand years BC. e. Neolithic – 8 thousand years BC. e.

Each period is characterized by certain changes in people's lives. For example, in the Paleolithic, people hunted small animals that could be killed with the simplest, most primitive weapons - clubs, sticks, pikes. During the same period, however, without exact dates, the first fire was produced, which allowed people to take climate change more easily and not be afraid of the cold and wild animals.

In the Mesolithic, bows and arrows appeared, which made it possible to hunt faster animals - deer, wild boars. And in the Neolithic, people begin to master agriculture, which eventually leads to the emergence of a sedentary way of life. The end of the Stone Age occurs at the moment when man mastered metal.

People

In the Stone Age there were already Homo erectus appeared 2 million years ago and mastered fire. They also built simple huts and knew how to hunt. About 400 thousand years ago, Homo sapiens appeared, from which Neanderthals developed a little later, mastering tools made of silicon.

In addition, these people had already buried their ancestors, which indicates fairly close ties, the development of affection and the emergence of moral principles and traditions. And only 10 thousand years ago Homo sapiens sapiens appeared, settling throughout the entire territory of the Earth.

During the Stone Age there were no cities or large communities; people settled in small groups, most often related. The entire planet during this period was inhabited by people. This was due to ice ages or droughts that affected people's daily lives.

Clothes were made from animal skins, and later they began to use vegetable fibers. In addition, in the Stone Age the first jewelry was already known, which was made from the fangs of killed animals, shells, and colored stones. Primitive man He was also not indifferent to art. This is evidenced by the many found figurines carved from stone, as well as numerical drawings on caves.

Food

Food was obtained by gathering or hunting. They hunted different game depending on the capabilities of the local habitat and the number of people. After all, one person is unlikely to go against a large catch, but several can well afford to take risks in order to provide their family with meat for the near future.

The most common prey species were deer, bison, wild boars, mammoths, horses, and birds. Fishing also flourished in places where there were rivers, seas, oceans and lakes. Initially, hunting was primitive, but later, closer to the Mesolithic and Neolithic, it improved. Ordinary peaks were made with stone, jagged tips, nets were used to catch fish, and the first traps and snares were invented.

In addition to hunting, food was also collected. All kinds of plants, grains, fruits, vegetables, eggs that could be found made it possible not to die of hunger even in the driest period, when it was difficult to find anything meat. The diet also included wild bee meth and fragrant herbs. During the Neolithic period, man learned to grow grain crops. This allowed him to begin a sedentary life.

The first such settled tribes were recorded in the Middle East. At the same time, domesticated animals appeared, as well as cattle breeding. In order not to migrate after the animals, they began to raise them.

Housing

Features of food search determine nomadic image life of Stone Age people. When food ran out in some areas and neither game nor edible plants could be found, it was necessary to look for other housing where one could survive. Therefore, not a single family stayed in one place for long.

The shelter was simple but secure, providing protection from wind, rain or snow, sun and predators. They often used ready-made caves, sometimes they made something like a house from mammoth bones. They were placed like walls, and the cracks were filled with moss or dirt. Mammoth skin or leaves were placed on top.

The study of the Stone Age is one of the most complex sciences, because the only thing that can be used is archaeological finds and some modern tribes, separated from civilization. This era did not leave any written sources. Primitive weapons and sites, instead of permanent dwellings, were made of stone and organic plants and wood, which had managed to decompose over such a long period of time. Scientists are helped only by stones, skeletons and fossils of those times, on the basis of which assumptions and discoveries are made.

Stone Age

Stone Age - This is the first period in human history. This historical period is called so because ancient people made tools from stone and flint. The stone was used and processed to improve life. Knives, tips, arrows, chisels, scrapers... - achieving the desired sharpness and shape, the stone was turned into a tool and weapon.

People lived in small groups of relatives. Stone Age man did not have permanent home, temporary parking only. In the warm season, near pastures, primitive people built huts. When cold weather set in, they moved to caves near water sources. In the absence of caves, sites were organized from animal bones, skins and stones.

People collected plants and hunted for their food. Hunter-gatherer societies were built around the family. Probably, during the hunting season, clan groups could unite into entire tribes, but with the end of the hunt, the tribal groups disintegrated.

Hunting

Herds of animals often went to other places, and people followed them, receiving meat and milk from the animals. As weapons for hunting, people used a stone ax and a wooden spear, and later spears with tips. Animals were attacked immediately or pit traps were used. When it was necessary to catch a large herd, the animals were driven onto a rock. Bows and arrows were used to catch forest animals. The capture of one mammoth could feed an entire clan for 2–3 months.

Hunting was also carried out for seabirds and seals. Fish were caught using bone harpoons, hooks and nets.

Gathering

From spring until late autumn, people ate roots, berries, seeds and nuts. In summer one could find wild grains, beans, peas, cucumbers, and pumpkins. And in winter, dried fruits and berries were used for food. Sweet grass and honey from wild bees were something like dessert. Man also used insects, caterpillars, beetles, and bird eggs.

Making fire

Life became easier with the use of fire. Perhaps people saw it after another lightning strike on a tree. Later, man realized that fire appears from the rapid friction of wooden sticks or from the impact of a flint on a stone. Primitive buildings did not yet have stoves; a fire was lit right in the middle of the home, but over time, people learned to remove smoke using a chimney, and stoves gradually appeared, which were used both for cooking and for heating in the cold season.

The emergence of crafts

People gradually learned to improve traps for catching animals, bows, and already knew how to weave baskets and build dams for catching fish. The first boats appeared, which were still roughly hollowed out of tree trunks. The first houses appeared, they were round. It was in the new Stone Age that man learned to make his first artificial material - fireproof clay. With the invention of refractory clay, it became possible to make dishes. Water, sand, chopped straw or crushed stone were added to the clay. Through experimentation, man was able to create a material that would not crack when fired.

Cloth

The first clothes were needed to protect against the cold and they were animal skins. The skins were pulled out, scraped out and pinned together. Holes in the skin could be made using a pointed awl made of flint.

Later, plant fibers served as the basis for weaving threads and subsequently for making fabric. Decoratively, the fabric was painted using plants, leaves, and bark.

The first decorations were shells, animal teeth, bones, and nut shells. Random searches for semi-precious stones made it possible to make beads held together with strips of thread or leather.

Primitive art

Primitive man revealed his creativity, using the same stone and cave walls for rock paintings. It is these drawings that have survived intact to this day. Animal and human figures carved from stone and bone are still found all over the world.

End of the Stone Age

The clan grew, people began to keep livestock and cultivate the land. To control and plant the crops, it was necessary to remain in place. The first cultivated plants were wheat and barley. Gradually they learned to grind grain into flour in order to make porridge or cakes from it. The grain was placed on a large flat stone and ground into powder using a grindstone.

The Stone Age ended at the moment when the first cities appeared and people began to develop copper. The development of agriculture and cattle breeding led to the fact that clan groups began to unite into tribes, and the tribes eventually grew into large settlements.