Stone Age

American  

noun

1. the period in the history of humankind, preceding the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, and marked by the use of stone implements and weapons: subdivided into the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods.

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Stone Age British  

noun

1. a period in human culture identified by the use of stone implements and usually divided into the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic stages

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

   stone-age man

Stone Age Scientific  

1. The earliest known period of human culture, marked by the use of stone tools.

2. See Mesolithic Neolithic Paleolithic See Note at Three Age system

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Stone Age Cultural  

1. A period encompassing all of human history, perhaps several million years, before the Bronze Age. In the Stone Age, people learned to make and use stone tools and weapons.

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Etymology

Origin of Stone Age

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

We are also learning more about the evolutionary history of this devastating bacterium, which has haunted human societies since the Stone Age.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026

Across the country, their fighters have joined private looters in stripping museums of valuable artifacts chronicling the country’s history from the Stone Age to the rise of Islam.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

Nick Oliveri, ex-Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age bassist who is now playing in multiple bands, including the Dwarves and Bl’ast, is perhaps the most surprising addition.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2026

The work suggests that Stone Age people were as clever as modern-day humans, according to researcher Ewa Dutkiewicz from Berlin's Museum of Prehistory and Early History.

From BBC • Feb. 26, 2026

Such a notion is familiar to us from the cults of earth deities of later times; its origin perhaps goes back to the Old Stone Age.

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