"The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with the advent of metalworking."
The earliest period of human history when stone tools were the primary technology.
Paleolithic period: Covering the earliest period of human history up to around 10,000 BCE. This era is characterized by the earliest use of stone tools by humans and the appearance of modern humans.
Neolithic period: Covering the period after the Paleolithic period, from around 10,000 BCE to the advent of the Bronze Age. This period is characterized by the emergence of agriculture, the rise of settlements, and the development of pottery.
Hunter-gatherers: A way of life where humans hunted wild animals and gathered wild plants for their food, which was common in the Paleolithic period.
Division of labor: The specialization of tasks within a community, which emerged during the Neolithic period along with the rise of agriculture and the development of settlements.
Domestication of animals: The process of taming wild animals and breeding them for specific traits, which began during the Neolithic period and played a key role in the development of agriculture and human societies.
Stone tool technology: The methods and techniques used by early humans to create and use tools made from stone, which evolved over the course of the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods.
Cave paintings: Artistic depictions found in caves, created by early humans during the Paleolithic period.
Megaliths: Large stone structures or monuments that were created during the Neolithic period, and commonly found in Western Europe.
Artifacts: Objects or items made or used by humans in the past, which can provide valuable information about the Stone Age.
"It is the melting and smelting of copper that marks the end of the Stone Age. In Western Asia, this occurred by about 3,000 BC, when bronze became widespread."
"Though some simple metalworking of malleable metals, particularly the use of gold and copper for purposes of ornamentation, was known in the Stone Age..."
"The term Bronze Age is used to describe the period that followed the Stone Age, as well as to describe cultures that had developed techniques and technologies for working copper alloys... This occurred by about 3,000 BC when bronze became widespread."
"Stone Age artifacts that have been discovered include tools used by modern humans, by their predecessor species in the genus Homo, and possibly by the earlier partly contemporaneous genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus."
"Bone tools have been discovered that were used during this period as well..."
"The Stone Age is further subdivided by the types of stone tools in use."
"The next two periods are the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, respectively."
"The Stone Age is commonly divided into three distinct periods: the earliest and most primitive being the Paleolithic era; a transitional period with finer tools known as the Mesolithic era; and the final stage known as the Neolithic era."
"Neolithic peoples were the first to transition away from hunter-gatherer societies into the settled lifestyle of inhabiting towns and villages as agriculture became widespread."
"Bronze: originally copper and arsenic, later copper and tin."
"In Western Asia, the Stone Age ended by about 3,000 BC with the widespread use of bronze."
"Stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface."
"Some simple metalworking of malleable metals, particularly the use of gold and copper for purposes of ornamentation, was known in the Stone Age..."
"Copper alloys (bronze: originally copper and arsenic, later copper and tin) into tools, supplanting stone in many uses."
"In the chronology of prehistory, the Neolithic era usually overlaps with the Chalcolithic ('Copper') era preceding the Bronze Age."
"The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years..."
"The next two periods in the three-age system are the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, respectively."
"Stone Age artifacts that have been discovered include tools used by modern humans, by their predecessor species in the genus Homo, and possibly by the earlier partly contemporaneous genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus."
"Neolithic peoples were the first to transition away from hunter-gatherer societies into the settled lifestyle of inhabiting towns and villages as agriculture became widespread."