The Paleolithic Period

the first period of human prehistory, extending from the time of the first tools, more than 2.5 m.y.a., until the end of the Pleistocene, 10,000 years ago.

The period of time of early farmers with domesticated plants and animals, polished stone tools, permanent villages, and often pottery.

Christian Thomsen, separate display rooms for objects of stone, bronze, and iron.

Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age

Lower: 1.9 million - 200,000 years ago; Homo habilis Middle: 200,000 - 40,000 years ago; Homo erectus Upper: 40,000 - 10,000 years ago; Homo sapiens

1. stone tools 2. controlled use of fire 3. hunting large game 4. first definite living structures 5. intentional burial of the dead 6. the first art and decoration 7. the dispersal of human populations throughout the world by the end of the Pleistocene

2 m.y.a - 3000 b.c.

3000 b.c. - present day

Population expansion, innovative technology, the development of language, social relationships, and ritual that characterized the journey of our ancestors through the Paleolithic.

small blades called microliths

The Günz, the Mindel, the Riss, and the Würm

1.2 m.y.a. in Atapuerca, Spain