Paleolithic

American  

[pey-lee-uh-lith-ik, pal-ee-] / ˌpeɪ li əˈlɪθ ɪk, ˌpæl i- /

adjective

1. (sometimes lowercase) of, relating to, or characteristic of the cultures of the late Pliocene and the Pleistocene epochs, or early phase of the Stone Age, which appeared first in Africa and are marked by the steady development of stone tools and later antler and bone artifacts, engravings on bone and stone, sculpted figures, and paintings and engravings on the walls of caves and rock-shelters: usually divided into three periods Lower Paleolithic, c2,000,000–c200,000 b.c., Middle Paleolithic, c150,000–c40,000 b.c., Upper Paleolithic, c40,000–c10,000 b.c..

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Paleolithic Scientific  

/ pā′lē-ə-lĭth′ĭk /

1. The cultural period of the Stone Age that began about 2.5 to 2 million years ago, marked by the earliest use of tools made of chipped stone. The Paleolithic Period ended at different times in different parts of the world, generally around 10,000 years ago in Europe and the Middle East.

2. Also called Old Stone Age

3. ◆ The Lower Paleolithic is by far the longest division of this period, lasting until about 200,000 years ago and characterized by hammerstones and simple core tools such as hand axes and cleavers. The earliest tools belong to the Oldowan tool culture and may have been made by australopithecines as well as by Homo habilis. Later Lower Paleolithic cultures include the Abbevilian, Clactonian, Acheulian, and Levalloisian, associated with early Homo erectus.

4. ◆ The Middle Paleolithic is generally dated to about 40,000 years ago and is associated with archaic Homo sapiens, primarily the Neanderthals and their Mousterian tool culture. The tools produced during this period represent improvements on those of the Lower Paleolithic, especially in flaking techniques, but remain little changed throughout the duration of the period.

5. ◆ The Upper Paleolithic dates to about 10,000 years ago in Europe and the Middle East and is associated with modern Homo sapiens. Various distinctive local tool cultures such as the Aurignacian, Solutrean, and Magdalenian flourished during this relatively brief period, producing a great variety of skillfully flaked tools as well as tools made of bone, antler, wood, and other materials.

6. Compare Mesolithic Neolithic

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Other Word Forms

• prepaleolithic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of Paleolithic

First recorded in 1860–65; paleo- + -lithic

Compare meaning

How does paleolithic compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• Paleolithic vs. Neolithic

Explanation

When you're talking about the era when humans hunted and gathered, lived in bands, and made tools out of wood and bone, you can call it paleolithic. The adjective paleolithic is usually capitalized, since it's the scientific term for a specific period of human history beginning more than two million years ago, up until around the year 10,000 BCE. People sometimes call something paleolithic when it's really, really old. However, when anthropologists talk about the Paleolithic era, they mean the stage when humans truly became human, building homes, tools, jewelry, art, and began to observe rituals and early religious beliefs.

Example Sentences

Rather than being a peripheral region, this area likely played a central role in population movements, biological connections, and the spread of technologies during the Middle Paleolithic.

From Science Daily • Apr. 22, 2026

The team say that it shows that communicating information was very important for Paleolithic people.

From BBC • Feb. 26, 2026

“It now looks like the Paleolithic era. And I think, ‘I’m so old!”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2026

Pablo Picasso, emerging from a Spanish cave containing Paleolithic paintings, is said to have exclaimed: “In 15,000 years we have invented nothing!”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026

People in Paleolithic societies had led the unsettled life of the hunter and food gatherer, reaping where nature sowed and thus at the mercy of forces that they could neither understand nor control.

From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson