Definition
The Paleolithic, or Old Stone Age, is the earliest and longest part of the Stone Age. Its name comes from Greek words meaning "old stone," and it describes the period when humans made tools by chipping flakes from stone and lived entirely by hunting animals and gathering wild plants.
The Paleolithic stretches from the first stone tools, made more than two million years ago, down to roughly 10,000 BCE, when farming began to replace foraging. For almost all of that immense span, humans were mobile, lived in small bands, and owned only what they could carry.
Why it matters
How it works
Paleolithic life followed the rhythms of the seasons and the movement of game. Bands of a few dozen people traveled within a known territory, returning to reliable water sources and food patches. Stone tools became steadily more refined, from simple choppers to finely worked blades and spear points.
The age ended not with a single invention but with a gradual shift. As the last Ice Age receded, some foraging groups began tending and then planting the wild grasses they relied on — the slow beginning of the Neolithic that followed.