Palaeolithic

British  

/ ˌpælɪəʊˈlɪθɪk /

noun

1. the period of the emergence of primitive man and the manufacture of unpolished chipped stone tools, about 2.5 million to 3 million years ago until about 12 000 _bc . See also Lower Palaeolithic Middle Palaeolithic Upper Palaeolithic

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adjective

1. (sometimes not capital) of or relating to this period

Example Sentences

One of the central questions guiding the research is how Neanderthals and Homo sapiens interacted during the mid-Middle Palaeolithic in this region.

From Science Daily • Apr. 12, 2026

During Palaeolithic times it contained a shallow lake.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 2, 2023

Residues from an Upper Palaeolithic site in the Pontic steppe in eastern Europe show ancient people pounded tubers before they ate them.

From Salon • Dec. 5, 2022

The Palaeolithic artwork, it says, must have been made by Neanderthals, a "sister" species to Homo sapiens, as they were Europe's sole human inhabitants at the time.

From BBC • Aug. 3, 2021

Although these deceptively simple ancient flutes are almost all that survives of Palaeolithic music, acoustic scientists have recently made an extraordinary discovery about the lifesaving importance of music to cave-dwellers of this period.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall