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Showing results for Palaeolithic. Search instead for palaeolithics.

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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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

Plant residues found on grinding or pounding tools from the European later Palaeolithic period suggest early modern humans crushed and roasted wild grass seeds.

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

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