Paleolithic Period and How It Affected Civilization
Paleolithic period is also called stone age period. It is the cultural phase of the stone age
that began about 2million years ago patent by the use of refined stones tools. It is the basis of
human culture typified by the use of stone implements. Paleolithic age covers the emergence of
human hunting and gathering. These Paleolithic advancements favored the people’s adaptations
to fit in agriculture, food shortage and, village life. This period produced the first endowments in
human creativity as human being progressed into more sophisticated, more elaborate house-like
dwellings.
Paleolithic age may be categorized into;
Lower Paleolithic Period
Middle Paleolithic Period
Upper Paleolithic Period.
Characteristics of Lower Paleolithic Period
a) Food – They ate raw food since they had not invented fire.
b) Clothing – they did not wear any clothing since they were hairy all over their bodies.
c) Tools & Weapons – They used rudimentary tools which were large and not refined.
d) Language – They used Clint and Grunts as their mode of communication.
e) Rock-Art – They did not have any art and no writing skills.
f) Religion – They did not have any religion.
g) Shelter – Lived in tree tops as a way of securing themselves from their enemies.
Middle Paleolithic Era
a) Food – They discovered fire and used it to cook their food. They advanced from the
lower Paleolithic period and could no longer eat raw food.
PALEOLITHIC ERA 3
b) Clothing – They used hides and skins from the animals they hunted to cover their bodies
as clothes.
c) Tools and weapons – They used more refined and smaller tools than in the lower
Paleolithic age.
d) Language – They used Clint and Grunts as a medium of communication.
e) Rock-Art – Started developing rock-art technology.
f) Religion – They did not have any religion.
g) Shelter – They lived in caves and lit fire outside those caves to scare away dangerous
animals. Hides and skins of the hunted animals were used as curtains to cover the caves
openings.
Upper Paleolithic Era:
a) Food – They started domesticating animals as a way of food security. Also, since fire
had been discovered in the middle stone age, they also used fire to cook their food
and to warm their bodies.
b) Clothing – Used hides and skins to cover their bodies as clothes.
c) Tools and weapons – they used more refined, advanced and smaller tools than in the
lower and the middle stone age.
d) Language – They used rudimentary mode of communication which was not refined.
e) Rock-Art – They adopted drawing skills and painting on stones.
f) Religion – They believed in a supernatural divine power controlling nature and
therefore they started religions and places of worship.
g) Shelter – They lived in caves where openings were covered with hides and skins for
covering their hiding places. They also lived in groups of 20-30people.
PALEOLITHIC ERA 4
The above characteristics illustrates how man developed from primitive era and started
evolving gradually from old stone age, middle stone age and later into a civilized and more
advanced upper Paleolithic period. Paleolithic/old stone age generated the first accomplishment
in human creativity and civilization. According Mullins (2018), changes in relics and features
over these Paleolithic period shows how people’s minds had evolved and advanced and is the
basis of the modern civilization.
According to Masharani U. et al (2018), pieces dating from the Lower and Middle Stone
age remain disputed as objects of artistic appearance, while the Upper Paleolithic provides the
first irrefutable examples of art making however, the earliest advanced art began in the Upper
Paleolithic. According to Marquardt (2020), there is evidence that liking for inventive work
begun in the Middle Paleolithic due to the regularity derived from the discovered artifacts and
evidence of focus in artifacts such as tool shape, which has led some archaeologists to decipher
these artifacts as early instances of artistic manifestation.
According to Lillios (2019), lower Paleolithic human beings hunted large game animals
with hand-held wooden spears. They employed collaborative hunting tactics and delayed intake
of some meat for later use. In the middle Paleolithic period, use of fire advanced and they began
to cook their food. Later, in the upper Paleolithic era, it was depicted by the emergence of new
basic industries from the homo sapiens. This era marked the start of the current civilization from
the initial primitive life.
PALEOLITHIC ERA 5
Lillios K. (2019) “The Archeology of the Iberian Penisula.” From the Paleolithic to the Bronze,
England: Cambridge University Press.
Masharani, U. & Sherchan P.,(2017) “Metabolic and Psychological Effects from Consuming a
Hunter and Gatherer(Paleolithic).” Type Diet in Type 2 Diabetes, vol.69(1), pp.994-948.
Mullins, D. (2018) “Proposal using Global Comparative Historical Evidence.”
doi.org/10.1177/0003/22418772567
Stanese, R.(2019) “From Prehistoric to Post Human Selfie. “Paleolithic Era”