Exploring the Paleolithic Era

The term Paleolithic is a broad one. The time period otherwise known as the Old Stone Age, which lasted from around 3.3 million years ago to around 11,000 years ago, is essentially the dawn of man in the traditional sense. It is a segment of our evolutionary history that is marked by the construction of the first stone tools, made by some of our earliest ancestors on the plains of Africa in the Middle Pleistocene. It runs right through to the point where the Pleistocene became the Holocene, and encompasses all of the most dramatic events, technological innovations, and spectacular nature of the epoch. The Paleolithic would eventually go on to become the Mesolithic, which is where paleontology starts to blur the lines with archaeology, and where human innovations progressed spectacularly. In today's video, though, we will be focusing on the Paleolithic period specifically, examining several key features of it as a whole. The world in the Paleolithic, its people. its technological innovations, its religion and social structure, and its wildlife. We will cover as much of the world as we can, from the wide open plains of Africa up to the cold mammoth steppe of Eurasia, the prairies of the Americas, and the deserts of Oceania. Join us as we take a multi-million year journey through the Paleolithic period. The continents throughout the Paleolithic had more or less begun to reach the locations they can be found in today, give or take 70 kilometers. As the Paleolithic began, North America had become newly connected to South America, forming the land bridge of Central America. This led to the Great American Interchange. An event that saw a biological mass exodus of animal species crossing over from north to south, and vice versa. The reason North America is populated by armadillos, porcupines, and possums today is because the ancestors of these animals were finally able to travel up north from their South American home via what is today the likes of Panama, Nicaragua, and Mexico. India had also recently collided with the mainland continent of Asia, forming the mighty mountain range, which is today known as the Himalayas. Similar events actually took place in the Americas around this time, uplifting the Cascades, Appalachians, and Rocky Mountains into the positions they are in today. All of this was new to the world when the Paleolithic began. Over the several million years prior to the Paleolithic beginning, the world had also been experiencing marked changes in climate. The world generally was beginning to cool, becoming more dry in the process. Massive ice sheets, as we see today, had formed across Antarctica. With the ice caps in the Arctic having formed around 3 million years ago, after the Paleolithic had officially begun, the ice extended into the Southern Ocean and northern reaches of the Pacific and Atlantic in the form of ice flows. It is thought that this cooling is what allowed the signature biomes of the Pleistocene to appear. Many of these environments were characterized by wide open spaces and plains, such as the savannas of Africa, the prairies of North America, and the mammoth steppe of Eurasia. Forests the world over began to steadily disappear, and animals that had previously climbed trees and leapt through woodland needed to adapt fast. This cooling progressed. into the introduction of several major glacial events in the Pleistocene. Four to be precise, where glacial advances up to 3,000 meters deep crept across the land, dropping sea level by up to 100 meters. Conversely, when the glacial periods ended and the ice melted, entire stretches of land were consumed by water, temporarily drowned until the next glacial period. In some instances, entire mountain ranges, such as the Andes in South America and the likes of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, were encased in ice. The frigid realms of the northern hemisphere saw multiple glaciers blend together, forming massive ice sheets covering the Alps, the Arctic, and much of Siberia, at times the North Sea. which covers the area between Britain and Scandinavia, was entirely impassable, cloaked in a frozen blanket. Beringia, which at the time connected Asia from North America, was also covered in ice at this time, which may have prevented early humans from reaching the Americas. At the end of the Paleolithic, the Pleistocene Epoch began to come to an end. Defined by an era of drastic warming, as the huge wild expanses of the Eurasian Mammoth Steppe began to give way to the lush forests teeming with deer and birdsong, the megafauna began to die out. A cruel combination of human hunting and climate change marking their end. With the new global warming marking the end of the Ice Age, Humans were free to spread out to the last remnants of the north that were previously thought to be inaccessible due to glacial coverage, snuffing out the last of the woolly mammoths and woolly rhinoceroses, amongst others. By the end of the Paleolithic, the world was recognizable as it is today. Humans just needed to start making the most of it. Many of the earliest people of the Paleolithic were hunter-gatherers, living in small proto-societies or family groups, as they fed on local plant sources and hunted wild animals. By the end of the Paleolithic, when Homo sapiens appeared on the scene, mastery of basic structures and shelters was achieved, and humans were capable of starting, controlling, and using fire to warm them. and to help them hunt. They gathered firewood in the nearby forests and collected water at streams and rivers. They sewed basic clothes that would shelter them against the harsh elements of the winters, and they ultimately became more and more social, while the population density remained very low in comparison to that of today. Possibly as a result of the nomadic lifestyles of these early humans, they were typically able to enjoy much more leisure time than we do today. On account of our towering industrial cities and overloaded lifestyles, people pass their time by talking around fires, telling stories of their ancestors, and painting renditions of local wildlife on the walls of caves. As we know, however, The Paleolithic extends far beyond just our own species. This period was home to a number of majorly significant species, both on the evolutionary road to and related to Homo sapiens. Around the time the Paleolithic period began, it was Homo erectus that was the most dominant hominid species across the globe. Homo erectus did not make it to the Americas. but instead managed to conquer much of Africa and Eurasia, with some populations making it as far as eastern China. Homo erectus began these migrations as early as 2 million years ago, an event that happened in more than one wave, as these people cautiously explored their new world. Anatomically modern Homo sapiens for comparison. only emerged in Africa 200,000 years ago. We only managed to leave Africa to explore the other continents of the world around 50,000 years ago. Along the way, a number of different early human species would accompany us and our ancestors. Homo heidelbergensis evolved around 500,000 years ago and quickly found itself expanding its range into Europe, and Asia, where it may have split off into a series of groups that became the Neanderthals, the Denisovans, and possibly us. By the end of the Paleolithic, Homo sapiens were the last members of the genus standing. The Neanderthals, Homo erectus, the Denisovans, and the myriad of other species brought about by the Middle Pleistocene's bursts of evolution had died out. leaving what we call modern humans to conquer the rest of the world. From here, through trial and tribulation, Homo sapiens managed to leave Africa, amidst natural disasters, dangerous megafauna, and harsh natural elements and barriers. Eventually, we would set out to colonize the entire planet, a move that can be seen either as a triumph or a natural disaster depending on your view. Now the Paleolithic is marked and even named for the rise of stone tools, a significant event in the history of humankind that would shape our very existence in the Paleolithic period. The first tools used by humans, however, were made of bone and wood. Stone came slightly later, as better methods of shaping and carving it came to light. The earliest official Paleolithic stone tools belong to what archaeologists have dubbed the Oldowan stone tool industry, named after the area in which they were discovered in southern Africa. To the untrained eye, many of these stone tools may be hard to tell apart. Some of them even just resemble regular stones, perhaps shaped by the elements naturally. Take a closer look, however, and the differences become easy to spot. Some stone tools, carved to be broad and sharp cutting devices, became choppers, tools that would have been used to smash into the bones and carcasses of downed animals, to access the tasty meat and bone marrow within. Some slender, sharper tools were known as burins, essentially an early form of knife. These stone flakes with sharpened points were used to carve and cut wood, and may have been used to cut up meat into manageable portions for members of the group to enjoy. Most remarkable are the presence of stitching awls at this time, devices used for puncturing holes and fabric in order to connect materials together. These tools would have been used to make the first basic clothes. loose-fitting ponchos and cloaks made of animal hides. As humans evolved, so did their Paleolithic tools. The Oldowan stone tool industry eventually gave way to the Acheulean stone tool industry. This saw the introduction of pear-shaped hand axes into the mix, larger tools which fit into the palms of early hands. These tools were used as weapons and cutting devices, a multi-purpose invention that allowed early humans to thrive on the plains of Africa. Eventually, the Mousterian stone tool industry would arise from the ashes of the Acheulean, a time characterized by Lavalois spearheads and points, made from more articulately shaped stones. These tools much more closely resembled the arrowheads and spearheads you might see in an archaeology museum today, and have been found in huge numbers. Eventually, humans would progress to developing aterian stone tools, one of the more advanced industries of the Paleolithic period. Some of these neatly carved spearheads are carved on both sides. slightly curved and pointed at the tip. Some are leaf-shaped in structure and would have made formidable weapons when used on an animal's hide. It has even been suggested that early humans would use some of their first weapons as bladed frisbees, throwing them horizontally into a herd of animals with a view of hitting at least one of them. The way they were carved meant they were likely able to drift quickly on the wind, maintaining enough speed and force to seriously wound the likes of an antelope or deer. If thrown with enough effort, Paleolithic humans began to show the first signs of mastery over fire too, becoming common in the Middle Paleolithic, between 1.9 million years ago and 250,000 years ago. Humans are thought to have begun cooking their food. This reduced mortality rates brought on by disease, as well as preventing more people from dying from exposure to the freezing elements. Huddled in caves, these early humans were also much safer from attack from the many predators that littered the Paleolithic world. It is thought that Homo erectus may even have successfully created rafts made from combined pieces of wood. They are thought to have used these rafts to traverse the waters surrounding the islands of Indonesia, finding their way to places such as Flores Island, where a population of over 1,000 people lives. The creation of Homo erectus eventually became the diminutive Homo floresiensis. This, however, is still up for debate amongst archaeologists and anthropologists who study the matter. Similarly, it is thought that later Paleolithic species such as Neanderthals were able to traverse bodies of water as big as the Mediterranean Sea on basic rafts. When our Homo sapiens ancestors developed this technology, it would become the foundation for the colossal ships that sail across the oceans today. As the Paleolithic progressed, humans developed their own tools in a multitude of effective weapons and utilities. Their tools became more accurate and controlled, and they would create a variety of smoothly formed spearheads. which were eventually hafted onto sticks to become fully fledged spears. Smaller versions of these stone tools would eventually be used in the construction of bows and arrows and atlatls, used to launch projectiles at their prey. Some stone tools were shaped into harpoons, longer tools perfect for spearing fish and other animals that lurked in the water. This helped early humans to expand their diets, gaining access to a wide range of nutrition sources and vitamins. As the Paleolithic drew to a close, a surprising number of tools had been invented. Among the repertoire of Homo sapiens living in the warming forests of the Holocene were nets, bolas, bows, and biface knives. Before the end of the Paleolithic, humans had begun to domesticate wolves into dogs, and dogs became a staple of prehistoric life. They hunted with groups of early humans and provided valuable companionship in a world that could often be scary and dangerous. The early humans of the Pleistocene were at this stage poised to take over the world in the Holocene. Little is known about the social structure of early humans in the Paleolithic, as such things are hard to determine without a reliable form of writing or recording events. It is thought that primates on the Homo line of apes were more capable of forming complex social structures than their chimpanzee relatives, but they were still basic in comparison to modern standards. Homo erectus is thought to have been the first human species to establish camps and create structures to live in, even if only temporarily as they migrated from area to area. Scientists are also in debate as to whether or not species such as Homo erectus were either monogamous, mating for life with one partner, or polygynous, with one male mating with a number of females. This is thought to have developed in the later Paleolithic, when humans began to adopt monogamy as a common practice. Either way, it is known that these early people, from the start of the Paleolithic to the start of the eventual Neolithic, lived without organized societies or rulers. There's no doubt that there would have been a hierarchy of some sort. perhaps with the stronger or older individuals holding power and influence over the group, but they lived as nomadic hunter-gatherers, with no laws or written rules. It is thought that the largest of these nomadic groups may have held up to 100 members, but on average 20 to 30 members was commonplace. There is also significant debate that some of these communities may have been egalitarian, valuing all members of the group equally. They are thought to have rarely warred or raided amongst other settlements at this stage, and groups often exchanged or combined members. Moreover, the Paleolithic is thought to have been the most gender-equal time period in human history, with jobs around the community being divided equally. Between men and women, art and culture, the foundations of the music you enjoy and the films you like to watch today, first reared its head in the Paleolithic, the earliest evidence of undisputed beauty. Rock art comes from bracelets and beads that have been found in caves across South Africa at sites such as the Blombus Cave. This is thought to have been a rare occurrence for the time, as this was early on in the Paleolithic. As the period progressed, art became much more commonplace. People from this time had also begun to paint themselves with a variety of colored ogres. typically brown and red, perhaps for ritual symbolism. What exactly the colors symbolized, we may never know. As the Paleolithic progressed, so did its art. Venus figurines, typically small statues carved into the shape of the female form, are known from the Upper Paleolithic, along with cave paintings that depict both animals and people. from different parts of the world. The Venus figurines, in particular, have been the subject of much debate. Are they self-portraits made by women of the time, or do they represent some sort of early goddess? The debate continues. Early humans in the Paleolithic had actually begun to develop their own music, in addition to their visual art. The very earliest music is not traceable in the archaeological record, as it was likely produced by using the human voice alone. It is thought that rhythmic, instrumental music may have been formed when humans started to appreciate the sounds made by their daily activities, perhaps through hitting rocks together to form tools, or by opening nuts and bones to eat. By the Middle Paleolithic, The first musical instruments became clear in the archaeological record. Pipes made of bone or ivory were used at this time, which may also have been used to signal to other members of the group. These were combined with drums, made using the skins of animals, which were likely played at ritual events or at social gatherings. As for the religion of the Paleolithic, This is perhaps the most complex and debated topic of all. It is thought that religion, or at least spiritual symbolism, first appeared in the Middle Paleolithic. Archaeologists have suggested that by this time, humans had begun to believe in the existence of an afterlife, taking care of the way they treated and revered their dead loved ones. Ritual defleshing Where a corpse is stripped of all its flesh and musculature before being buried, may have been practiced at this time, perhaps to help the departed transition to the afterlife. It has been considered that some Neanderthal societies may have worshipped animals, or perhaps gods who took their forms. Some groups are thought to have formed religious cults around bears. due to the presence of bear art and bear remains at their long-lost campsites. One proposed ritual, based on archaeological evidence, suggests that these Neanderthals practiced ritual bear sacrifice. A captive bear was likely shot with a flurry of arrows before being ritually worshipped. Some have even considered that this behavior may have led to a possible warlike culture in Homo sapiens. Existence of supernatural beings, or possibly even mythological creatures, come from cave painting sites in the upper Paleolithic, where humans are depicted with animalistic features. These may be early depictions of folklore characters, or deities. Some societies around this time may have featured the presence of shamans or priests, who would perform rituals surrounding these gods and myths, eventually helping to give way to the religions of the modern day. If there is one thing more spectacular than anything else that the Paleolithic is known for, it's the animals. These animals, megafaunal beings cruelly erased from this world by overhunting and climate change, are wonders of the prehistoric world, depicted in films, television series, books, museum exhibits, and children's toys. Some of them as famous and beloved as the dinosaurs that preceded their reign over the earth. The vast majority of the Paleolithic's iconic animals were mammals, creatures that were experiencing the zenith of the Cenozoic epoch, a time where mammals had been given millions of years to evolve into a multitude of amazing shapes and forms, many of which can still be seen in the wilds of the world to this day. Let's start with the Mammoth Steppe of Eurasia, a vast open plain where animals could roam across huge spaces in search of grazing. At the same time human beings and Neanderthals were hunting on the plains of Eurasia, the iconic woolly mammoths were traversing the plains in mighty herds. These huge relatives of modern-day elephants were a food source, albeit a difficult to obtain one. for early humans, who hunted them with spears and arrows, traps and fire. The last mammoths, confined to their dying stronghold on Wrangel Island, north of Russia, were still in existence as the Great Pyramids in Giza, Egypt, were being built. Ultimately, though, the mammoths would be lost to the archives of prehistory. Alongside them lived two giant relatives of the modern rhinoceroses of the plains of Africa and Asia, Coelodonta, the woolly rhinoceros, and Elasmotherium, an animal once dubbed the Siberian unicorn. The latter has now been proven to have had a blunt ridge, where its once-depicted colossal horn used to be. These animals would have been another difficult hunt for our ancestors, but with the right technology, it was possible. A range of deadly carnivores also populated the mammoth steppe. Cave bears, much larger than their modern relatives, would have proved a terrifying encounter for any early human stumbling across a cave they thought was abandoned. Perhaps even more intimidating. were cave lions, relatives of modern big cats. They are thought to have actively hunted human beings, a behavior also seen in the cave hyena, a subspecies of the spotted hyena of modern Africa. Fire would have proved an invaluable defense against these apex predators, and it likely saved the lives of many people in the Pleistocene. Elsewhere, Other strange creatures were dwelling in the Americas, which were reached by early humans around 13,000 years ago. Humans crossed over the Beringia land bridge that at the time connected Russia to Canada. By the time they arrived, they would have witnessed a world drastically different to the one they had come from. One of the main similarities would have been the mastodons. Giant proboscideans similar in form to the mammoths of the old world. While not as closely related, these giants would have resembled elephants as well, yet ones with straighter tusks and more sloping foreheads. Traversing the waterways of the great rivers and lakes of North America would have been Castoroides ohioensis, otherwise known as the giant beaver. These enormous rodents would have resembled their modern counterparts, but at over two meters long, would have been quite the sight. Even stranger animals would have populated what is now the United States. A ramothyrum, a gigantic species of ground sloth, would have lived in burrows and caves, likely hunted by, but possibly lethal to ancient humans. Giant relatives of the camel would have strided across the plains, as saber-toothed cats such as Smilodon stalked in the grasses. Overhead circled huge New World vultures, the teratorns. With a wingspan of almost 4 meters, teratornus meriumi would have been an amazing sight in life. South America would have harbored even more wonders. The armored glyptodons, relatives of armadillos the size of cars, would have ambled through the grasslands. As even larger ground sloths, the likes of Megatherium, browse the vegetation. Perhaps the strangest continent of all in terms of natural history was and still is Oceania. Humans first reached Australia around 50,000 years ago, and when they arrived on the warm shores of the northern part of the island, they would have been met with an incredible sight. Kangaroos. These, however, were not the kangaroos you and I are familiar with today. These kangaroos were the likes of Procopteron goliah, a huge species of short-faced kangaroo that walked like a human, rather than hopping like other kangaroos. In the forests of Australia, would have ambled the colossal Deprotodon, a distant relative of modern wombats. and much, much larger. In the trees above, would have stalked one of the scariest predators in all of natural history, Thylacoleo, the marsupial lion. With bladed, sheer-like teeth, this apex predator pounced on its quarry from the branches above, dragging it away to eat. Strangely enough, the most familiar continent of all was likely Africa. The origin of humanity. Animals here would have resembled the animals we see in Africa today, from the big cats to the colossal elephants, hippos, and rhinos. Some extinct big cats, such as Dinophelus, would have posed a threat to early humans, but with the advent of stone tools and fire, they would have been able to adequately defend themselves. Other animals such as the proboscidean dinotherium were present at this time too. A giant animal related to modern-day elephants, only with downward curved tusks and a shorter trunk. The world was a vast expanse waiting for our ancestors to explore. And explore they did. By around 13,000 years ago, the world was theirs. set to conquer the Holocene and forthcoming Mesolithic period. So that was a rundown of the Paleolithic period, a time that cradled the origins of humankind on the plains of sub-Saharan Africa. There is no doubt that we as a group of animals came a massively long way in a relatively short time, but there was still much more ground to cover. much more progress to be made. In the next video, we will be taking a look at the Mesolithic period, the time that followed the Paleolithic. As the world warmed and entered the Holocene, new challenges and opportunities became available to our ancestors, those unlike anything they had seen before.

It runs right through to the point where the Pleistocene became the Holocene, and encompasses all of the most dramatic events, technological innovations, and spectacular nature of the epoch. The Paleolithic would eventually go on to become the Mesolithic, which is where paleontology starts to blur the lines with archaeology, and where human innovations progressed spectacularly. In today's video, though, we will be focusing on the Paleolithic period specifically, examining several key features of it as a whole.

The world in the Paleolithic, its people. its technological innovations, its religion and social structure, and its wildlife. We will cover as much of the world as we can, from the wide open plains of Africa up to the cold mammoth steppe of Eurasia, the prairies of the Americas, and the deserts of Oceania. Join us as we take a multi-million year journey through the Paleolithic period.

The continents throughout the Paleolithic had more or less begun to reach the locations they can be found in today, give or take 70 kilometers. As the Paleolithic began, North America had become newly connected to South America, forming the land bridge of Central America. This led to the Great American Interchange. An event that saw a biological mass exodus of animal species crossing over from north to south, and vice versa.

The reason North America is populated by armadillos, porcupines, and possums today is because the ancestors of these animals were finally able to travel up north from their South American home via what is today the likes of Panama, Nicaragua, and Mexico. India had also recently collided with the mainland continent of Asia, forming the mighty mountain range, which is today known as the Himalayas. Similar events actually took place in the Americas around this time, uplifting the Cascades, Appalachians, and Rocky Mountains into the positions they are in today.

All of this was new to the world when the Paleolithic began. Over the several million years prior to the Paleolithic beginning, the world had also been experiencing marked changes in climate. The world generally was beginning to cool, becoming more dry in the process. Massive ice sheets, as we see today, had formed across Antarctica. With the ice caps in the Arctic having formed around 3 million years ago, after the Paleolithic had officially begun, the ice extended into the Southern Ocean and northern reaches of the Pacific and Atlantic in the form of ice flows.

It is thought that this cooling is what allowed the signature biomes of the Pleistocene to appear. Many of these environments were characterized by wide open spaces and plains, such as the savannas of Africa, the prairies of North America, and the mammoth steppe of Eurasia. Forests the world over began to steadily disappear, and animals that had previously climbed trees and leapt through woodland needed to adapt fast. This cooling progressed. into the introduction of several major glacial events in the Pleistocene.

Four to be precise, where glacial advances up to 3,000 meters deep crept across the land, dropping sea level by up to 100 meters. Conversely, when the glacial periods ended and the ice melted, entire stretches of land were consumed by water, temporarily drowned until the next glacial period. In some instances, entire mountain ranges, such as the Andes in South America and the likes of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, were encased in ice.

The frigid realms of the northern hemisphere saw multiple glaciers blend together, forming massive ice sheets covering the Alps, the Arctic, and much of Siberia, at times the North Sea. which covers the area between Britain and Scandinavia, was entirely impassable, cloaked in a frozen blanket. Beringia, which at the time connected Asia from North America, was also covered in ice at this time, which may have prevented early humans from reaching the Americas. At the end of the Paleolithic, the Pleistocene Epoch began to come to an end. Defined by an era of drastic warming, as the huge wild expanses of the Eurasian Mammoth Steppe began to give way to the lush forests teeming with deer and birdsong, the megafauna began to die out.

A cruel combination of human hunting and climate change marking their end. With the new global warming marking the end of the Ice Age, Humans were free to spread out to the last remnants of the north that were previously thought to be inaccessible due to glacial coverage, snuffing out the last of the woolly mammoths and woolly rhinoceroses, amongst others. By the end of the Paleolithic, the world was recognizable as it is today.

Humans just needed to start making the most of it. Many of the earliest people of the Paleolithic were hunter-gatherers, living in small proto-societies or family groups, as they fed on local plant sources and hunted wild animals. By the end of the Paleolithic, when Homo sapiens appeared on the scene, mastery of basic structures and shelters was achieved, and humans were capable of starting, controlling, and using fire to warm them. and to help them hunt.

They gathered firewood in the nearby forests and collected water at streams and rivers. They sewed basic clothes that would shelter them against the harsh elements of the winters, and they ultimately became more and more social, while the population density remained very low in comparison to that of today. Possibly as a result of the nomadic lifestyles of these early humans, they were typically able to enjoy much more leisure time than we do today.

On account of our towering industrial cities and overloaded lifestyles, people pass their time by talking around fires, telling stories of their ancestors, and painting renditions of local wildlife on the walls of caves. As we know, however, The Paleolithic extends far beyond just our own species. This period was home to a number of majorly significant species, both on the evolutionary road to and related to Homo sapiens. Around the time the Paleolithic period began, it was Homo erectus that was the most dominant hominid species across the globe. Homo erectus did not make it to the Americas.

but instead managed to conquer much of Africa and Eurasia, with some populations making it as far as eastern China. Homo erectus began these migrations as early as 2 million years ago, an event that happened in more than one wave, as these people cautiously explored their new world. Anatomically modern Homo sapiens for comparison. only emerged in Africa 200,000 years ago.

We only managed to leave Africa to explore the other continents of the world around 50,000 years ago. Along the way, a number of different early human species would accompany us and our ancestors. Homo heidelbergensis evolved around 500,000 years ago and quickly found itself expanding its range into Europe, and Asia, where it may have split off into a series of groups that became the Neanderthals, the Denisovans, and possibly us. By the end of the Paleolithic, Homo sapiens were the last members of the genus standing.

The Neanderthals, Homo erectus, the Denisovans, and the myriad of other species brought about by the Middle Pleistocene's bursts of evolution had died out. leaving what we call modern humans to conquer the rest of the world. From here, through trial and tribulation, Homo sapiens managed to leave Africa, amidst natural disasters, dangerous megafauna, and harsh natural elements and barriers. Eventually, we would set out to colonize the entire planet, a move that can be seen either as a triumph or a natural disaster depending on your view. Now the Paleolithic is marked and even named for the rise of stone tools, a significant event in the history of humankind that would shape our very existence in the Paleolithic period.

The first tools used by humans, however, were made of bone and wood. Stone came slightly later, as better methods of shaping and carving it came to light. The earliest official Paleolithic stone tools belong to what archaeologists have dubbed the Oldowan stone tool industry, named after the area in which they were discovered in southern Africa. To the untrained eye, many of these stone tools may be hard to tell apart. Some of them even just resemble regular stones, perhaps shaped by the elements naturally.

Take a closer look, however, and the differences become easy to spot. Some stone tools, carved to be broad and sharp cutting devices, became choppers, tools that would have been used to smash into the bones and carcasses of downed animals, to access the tasty meat and bone marrow within. Some slender, sharper tools were known as burins, essentially an early form of knife. These stone flakes with sharpened points were used to carve and cut wood, and may have been used to cut up meat into manageable portions for members of the group to enjoy. Most remarkable are the presence of stitching awls at this time, devices used for puncturing holes and fabric in order to connect materials together.

These tools would have been used to make the first basic clothes. loose-fitting ponchos and cloaks made of animal hides. As humans evolved, so did their Paleolithic tools. The Oldowan stone tool industry eventually gave way to the Acheulean stone tool industry. This saw the introduction of pear-shaped hand axes into the mix, larger tools which fit into the palms of early hands.

These tools were used as weapons and cutting devices, a multi-purpose invention that allowed early humans to thrive on the plains of Africa. Eventually, the Mousterian stone tool industry would arise from the ashes of the Acheulean, a time characterized by Lavalois spearheads and points, made from more articulately shaped stones. These tools much more closely resembled the arrowheads and spearheads you might see in an archaeology museum today, and have been found in huge numbers. Eventually, humans would progress to developing aterian stone tools, one of the more advanced industries of the Paleolithic period.

Some of these neatly carved spearheads are carved on both sides. slightly curved and pointed at the tip. Some are leaf-shaped in structure and would have made formidable weapons when used on an animal's hide. It has even been suggested that early humans would use some of their first weapons as bladed frisbees, throwing them horizontally into a herd of animals with a view of hitting at least one of them. The way they were carved meant they were likely able to drift quickly on the wind, maintaining enough speed and force to seriously wound the likes of an antelope or deer.

If thrown with enough effort, Paleolithic humans began to show the first signs of mastery over fire too, becoming common in the Middle Paleolithic, between 1.9 million years ago and 250,000 years ago. Humans are thought to have begun cooking their food. This reduced mortality rates brought on by disease, as well as preventing more people from dying from exposure to the freezing elements.

Huddled in caves, these early humans were also much safer from attack from the many predators that littered the Paleolithic world. It is thought that Homo erectus may even have successfully created rafts made from combined pieces of wood. They are thought to have used these rafts to traverse the waters surrounding the islands of Indonesia, finding their way to places such as Flores Island, where a population of over 1,000 people lives.

The creation of Homo erectus eventually became the diminutive Homo floresiensis. This, however, is still up for debate amongst archaeologists and anthropologists who study the matter. Similarly, it is thought that later Paleolithic species such as Neanderthals were able to traverse bodies of water as big as the Mediterranean Sea on basic rafts. When our Homo sapiens ancestors developed this technology, it would become the foundation for the colossal ships that sail across the oceans today.

As the Paleolithic progressed, humans developed their own tools in a multitude of effective weapons and utilities. Their tools became more accurate and controlled, and they would create a variety of smoothly formed spearheads. which were eventually hafted onto sticks to become fully fledged spears.

Smaller versions of these stone tools would eventually be used in the construction of bows and arrows and atlatls, used to launch projectiles at their prey. Some stone tools were shaped into harpoons, longer tools perfect for spearing fish and other animals that lurked in the water. This helped early humans to expand their diets, gaining access to a wide range of nutrition sources and vitamins.

As the Paleolithic drew to a close, a surprising number of tools had been invented. Among the repertoire of Homo sapiens living in the warming forests of the Holocene were nets, bolas, bows, and biface knives. Before the end of the Paleolithic, humans had begun to domesticate wolves into dogs, and dogs became a staple of prehistoric life.

They hunted with groups of early humans and provided valuable companionship in a world that could often be scary and dangerous. The early humans of the Pleistocene were at this stage poised to take over the world in the Holocene. Little is known about the social structure of early humans in the Paleolithic, as such things are hard to determine without a reliable form of writing or recording events.

It is thought that primates on the Homo line of apes were more capable of forming complex social structures than their chimpanzee relatives, but they were still basic in comparison to modern standards. Homo erectus is thought to have been the first human species to establish camps and create structures to live in, even if only temporarily as they migrated from area to area. Scientists are also in debate as to whether or not species such as Homo erectus were either monogamous, mating for life with one partner, or polygynous, with one male mating with a number of females. This is thought to have developed in the later Paleolithic, when humans began to adopt monogamy as a common practice.

Either way, it is known that these early people, from the start of the Paleolithic to the start of the eventual Neolithic, lived without organized societies or rulers. There's no doubt that there would have been a hierarchy of some sort. perhaps with the stronger or older individuals holding power and influence over the group, but they lived as nomadic hunter-gatherers, with no laws or written rules.

It is thought that the largest of these nomadic groups may have held up to 100 members, but on average 20 to 30 members was commonplace. There is also significant debate that some of these communities may have been egalitarian, valuing all members of the group equally. They are thought to have rarely warred or raided amongst other settlements at this stage, and groups often exchanged or combined members.

Moreover, the Paleolithic is thought to have been the most gender-equal time period in human history, with jobs around the community being divided equally. Between men and women, art and culture, the foundations of the music you enjoy and the films you like to watch today, first reared its head in the Paleolithic, the earliest evidence of undisputed beauty. Rock art comes from bracelets and beads that have been found in caves across South Africa at sites such as the Blombus Cave.

This is thought to have been a rare occurrence for the time, as this was early on in the Paleolithic. As the period progressed, art became much more commonplace. People from this time had also begun to paint themselves with a variety of colored ogres.

typically brown and red, perhaps for ritual symbolism. What exactly the colors symbolized, we may never know. As the Paleolithic progressed, so did its art.

Venus figurines, typically small statues carved into the shape of the female form, are known from the Upper Paleolithic, along with cave paintings that depict both animals and people. from different parts of the world. The Venus figurines, in particular, have been the subject of much debate. Are they self-portraits made by women of the time, or do they represent some sort of early goddess? The debate continues.

Early humans in the Paleolithic had actually begun to develop their own music, in addition to their visual art. The very earliest music is not traceable in the archaeological record, as it was likely produced by using the human voice alone. It is thought that rhythmic, instrumental music may have been formed when humans started to appreciate the sounds made by their daily activities, perhaps through hitting rocks together to form tools, or by opening nuts and bones to eat. By the Middle Paleolithic, The first musical instruments became clear in the archaeological record. Pipes made of bone or ivory were used at this time, which may also have been used to signal to other members of the group.

These were combined with drums, made using the skins of animals, which were likely played at ritual events or at social gatherings. As for the religion of the Paleolithic, This is perhaps the most complex and debated topic of all. It is thought that religion, or at least spiritual symbolism, first appeared in the Middle Paleolithic. Archaeologists have suggested that by this time, humans had begun to believe in the existence of an afterlife, taking care of the way they treated and revered their dead loved ones. Ritual defleshing Where a corpse is stripped of all its flesh and musculature before being buried, may have been practiced at this time, perhaps to help the departed transition to the afterlife.

It has been considered that some Neanderthal societies may have worshipped animals, or perhaps gods who took their forms. Some groups are thought to have formed religious cults around bears. due to the presence of bear art and bear remains at their long-lost campsites. One proposed ritual, based on archaeological evidence, suggests that these Neanderthals practiced ritual bear sacrifice. A captive bear was likely shot with a flurry of arrows before being ritually worshipped.

Some have even considered that this behavior may have led to a possible warlike culture in Homo sapiens. Existence of supernatural beings, or possibly even mythological creatures, come from cave painting sites in the upper Paleolithic, where humans are depicted with animalistic features. These may be early depictions of folklore characters, or deities. Some societies around this time may have featured the presence of shamans or priests, who would perform rituals surrounding these gods and myths, eventually helping to give way to the religions of the modern day.

If there is one thing more spectacular than anything else that the Paleolithic is known for, it's the animals. These animals, megafaunal beings cruelly erased from this world by overhunting and climate change, are wonders of the prehistoric world, depicted in films, television series, books, museum exhibits, and children's toys. Some of them as famous and beloved as the dinosaurs that preceded their reign over the earth.

The vast majority of the Paleolithic's iconic animals were mammals, creatures that were experiencing the zenith of the Cenozoic epoch, a time where mammals had been given millions of years to evolve into a multitude of amazing shapes and forms, many of which can still be seen in the wilds of the world to this day. Let's start with the Mammoth Steppe of Eurasia, a vast open plain where animals could roam across huge spaces in search of grazing. At the same time human beings and Neanderthals were hunting on the plains of Eurasia, the iconic woolly mammoths were traversing the plains in mighty herds.

These huge relatives of modern-day elephants were a food source, albeit a difficult to obtain one. for early humans, who hunted them with spears and arrows, traps and fire. The last mammoths, confined to their dying stronghold on Wrangel Island, north of Russia, were still in existence as the Great Pyramids in Giza, Egypt, were being built.

Ultimately, though, the mammoths would be lost to the archives of prehistory. Alongside them lived two giant relatives of the modern rhinoceroses of the plains of Africa and Asia, Coelodonta, the woolly rhinoceros, and Elasmotherium, an animal once dubbed the Siberian unicorn. The latter has now been proven to have had a blunt ridge, where its once-depicted colossal horn used to be.

These animals would have been another difficult hunt for our ancestors, but with the right technology, it was possible. A range of deadly carnivores also populated the mammoth steppe. Cave bears, much larger than their modern relatives, would have proved a terrifying encounter for any early human stumbling across a cave they thought was abandoned.

Perhaps even more intimidating. were cave lions, relatives of modern big cats. They are thought to have actively hunted human beings, a behavior also seen in the cave hyena, a subspecies of the spotted hyena of modern Africa.

Fire would have proved an invaluable defense against these apex predators, and it likely saved the lives of many people in the Pleistocene. Elsewhere, Other strange creatures were dwelling in the Americas, which were reached by early humans around 13,000 years ago. Humans crossed over the Beringia land bridge that at the time connected Russia to Canada.

By the time they arrived, they would have witnessed a world drastically different to the one they had come from. One of the main similarities would have been the mastodons. Giant proboscideans similar in form to the mammoths of the old world.

While not as closely related, these giants would have resembled elephants as well, yet ones with straighter tusks and more sloping foreheads. Traversing the waterways of the great rivers and lakes of North America would have been Castoroides ohioensis, otherwise known as the giant beaver. These enormous rodents would have resembled their modern counterparts, but at over two meters long, would have been quite the sight.

Even stranger animals would have populated what is now the United States. A ramothyrum, a gigantic species of ground sloth, would have lived in burrows and caves, likely hunted by, but possibly lethal to ancient humans. Giant relatives of the camel would have strided across the plains, as saber-toothed cats such as Smilodon stalked in the grasses. Overhead circled huge New World vultures, the teratorns.

With a wingspan of almost 4 meters, teratornus meriumi would have been an amazing sight in life. South America would have harbored even more wonders. The armored glyptodons, relatives of armadillos the size of cars, would have ambled through the grasslands. As even larger ground sloths, the likes of Megatherium, browse the vegetation.

Perhaps the strangest continent of all in terms of natural history was and still is Oceania. Humans first reached Australia around 50,000 years ago, and when they arrived on the warm shores of the northern part of the island, they would have been met with an incredible sight. Kangaroos.

These, however, were not the kangaroos you and I are familiar with today. These kangaroos were the likes of Procopteron goliah, a huge species of short-faced kangaroo that walked like a human, rather than hopping like other kangaroos. In the forests of Australia, would have ambled the colossal Deprotodon, a distant relative of modern wombats.

and much, much larger. In the trees above, would have stalked one of the scariest predators in all of natural history, Thylacoleo, the marsupial lion. With bladed, sheer-like teeth, this apex predator pounced on its quarry from the branches above, dragging it away to eat.

Strangely enough, the most familiar continent of all was likely Africa. The origin of humanity. Animals here would have resembled the animals we see in Africa today, from the big cats to the colossal elephants, hippos, and rhinos. Some extinct big cats, such as Dinophelus, would have posed a threat to early humans, but with the advent of stone tools and fire, they would have been able to adequately defend themselves. Other animals such as the proboscidean dinotherium were present at this time too.

A giant animal related to modern-day elephants, only with downward curved tusks and a shorter trunk. The world was a vast expanse waiting for our ancestors to explore. And explore they did.

By around 13,000 years ago, the world was theirs. set to conquer the Holocene and forthcoming Mesolithic period. So that was a rundown of the Paleolithic period, a time that cradled the origins of humankind on the plains of sub-Saharan Africa. There is no doubt that we as a group of animals came a massively long way in a relatively short time, but there was still much more ground to cover.

much more progress to be made. In the next video, we will be taking a look at the Mesolithic period, the time that followed the Paleolithic. As the world warmed and entered the Holocene, new challenges and opportunities became available to our ancestors, those unlike anything they had seen before.

Transcript for:Exploring the Paleolithic Era

Transcript for:
Exploring the Paleolithic Era