Major Lithic Cultures from the Old World:
The Lower Paleolithic
Archaeological
Period
Date
Hominins
Location
Oldowan
The Oldowan
culture is the
world’s oldest
known lithic culture.
2.5 - 1.5 million
years ago
Homo habilis, Homo
rudolfensis, possibly
Australopithecus
boisei, possibly
Australopithecus
garhi
Africa
Acheulean
The Acheulean is
characterized by
large handaxes and
is the first known
lithic culture to
appear outside of
Africa.
1.65 mya – 100,000
ya
Homo ergaster,
Homo erectus
Africa, Asia,
Europe
Acheulean with
Levallois flake
tools
Levallois tools are
produced by flaking
around the edge of a
core and then
knocking off a flake.
The Levallois
continues into the
Middle Paleolithic.
600,000 – 100,000 ya
Homo
heidelburgensis
Africa, parts
of Europe
Major Lithic Cultures from the Old World:
The Middle Paleolithic
Archaeological
Period
Date
Hominins
Location
Mousterian
The Mousterian
includes the
Levallois and five
other variants:
Typical, Ferrassie,
Quina, Denticulate
and the Mousterian
of Acheulean.
300,000 – 30,000 ya
Homo
neandertalensis,
Homo sapiens
Africa, the Levant
(Near and Middle
East), Europe
Aterian
The Aterian
evolved from the
MousterianLevallois as an
adaptation to
Saharan conditions.
60,000 – 30,000 ya
Homo sapiens
Saharan Africa
Howiesons Poort
Howieson’s Poort
is always found
stratified between
other Middle
Paleolithic layers,
but contains
artifacts that would
be classified as
Upper Paleolithic if
found in Europe.
106,000 – 69,000 ya
Homo sapiens
Southern Africa
Major Lithic Cultures from the Old World:
The Upper Paleolithic
Archaeological
Period
Date
Hominins
Location
Châtelperronian
The Châtelperronian
is the oldest Upper
Paleolithic culture,
derived from the
Neandertal
Mousterian. It is
unclear if it was
invented
independently of the
Aurignacian.
40,000 – 29,000 ya
Homo
neandertalensis
France, Spain
Aurignacian
The Aurignacian is
the first widespread
Upper Paleolithic
culture and the first
created by Homo
sapiens.
40,000 – 23,000 ya
Homo sapiens
Europe, SW
Asia, parts of
Saharan Africa
Gravettian
The Gravettian is
divided into two
regional groups: the
western Gravettian,
known mostly from
cave sites in France,
and the eastern
Gravettian, known
mainly from open air
sites in eastern
Europe and Russia.
28,000 – 22,000 ya
Homo sapiens
Europe
Major Lithic Cultures from the Old World:
The Upper Paleolithic (continued)
Archaeological
Period
Date
Hominins
Location
Solutrean
The Solutrean
represents a culture
using techniques
never seen before
and not
rediscovered for
millennia after this
culture’s abrupt
disappareance.
19,000 – 15,000 ya
Homo sapiens
Europe
Magdalenian
The Magdalenian
represents one of
the last Upper
Paleolithic cultures
and is best known
for big game
hunting in late Ice
Age Europe.
18,000 – 10,000 ya
Homo sapiens
Europe, including
possible sites in the
UK
Major Lithic Cultures from the Old World:
The Mesolithic and Neolithic
Period
Date
Hominins
Location
Mesolithic
22-20,000 –11,000 ya
(Levant)
Homo sapiens
Levant, Europe
Homo sapiens
Levant, Middle
East, Southern
Mesopotamia,
Egypt, Europe,
South and East
Asia
The Mesolithic is
characterized by
small composite chert
tools, fishing tackles,
stone adzes, canoes
and bows. However,
artifacts from this
period are fairly rare.
This is also the
period with the first
indication of
deforestation.
Neolithic
The Neolithic is the
last period of the
Paleolithic and
signals the beginning
of agriculture.
Farming was limited
to a narrow range of
domesticated crops.
It also included the
domestication and
herding of sheep and
goats.
10,000 – 7,000 ya
(Europe)
10,500 – 5,500 ya
(Also in
Mesoamerica)