Lower Paleolithic
(1,000,000-100,000 BP)
Topics covered in this section:
Introduction
Nine hundred thousand years is a very long time! Change came slowly
to the Lower Paleolithic world, however. Pretty much the same technology
existed throughout the entire period.
Markers
Archaeologists have identified the typical characteristics of artifacts
that are found at Lower Paleolithic sites, although there are many
exceptions to these stereotypes.
Most of the tools were made by working with stone, either by chipping or
flaking. Common among these stone tools were stone blades and hand axes.
They were simple, crudely sharpened stones, lacking a handle, and held in
one or both hands while hacking away at a tree to gather firewood or
chopping off hunks of meat during butchering.
The raw materials used to manufacture these tools were mostly from
local sources. Most of the raw materials were transported over very
short distances, usually only 10 to 15 meters. Thus, the time required
to forage for raw materials was on the order of hours or minutes.
Living spaces lacked most of the features that will later make up a
campsite. There were no permanent fireplaces or hearths. There was a
conspicuous absence of post holes, indicating that the people didn't
build huts or pitch tents.
In later periods, settlements will have a well segregated area for
rubbish or for the disposal of human waste. But these elements of
sanitation were absent from most Lower Paleolithic sites.
Cavemen Stereotypes
However, in spite of the primitive nature of these Lower Paleolithic
hunters and gatherers, it's important to dispel the "cave man" stereotype
right off the bat at the beginning of this document.
In the 19th century, the stereotypical view of Stone Age cave men is
summed up by Henry Knipe in his 1905 poem, Nebula to Man --
"Short, thick-boned hairy beings of savage mien, with ape-like skulls:
but yet endowed with pride and power of mind to lower brutes denied."
His poem, and numerous drawings and paintings of stoop-shouldered,
club-clutching brutes who are barely able to walk upright were meant to
illustrate the ascending progress of human beings over time. The idea
was that mankind had slowly risen, via improvements in technology and
by the development of mental powers, from brutish "animals" to modern
humans at the pinnacle of creation.
Those images of cave men are almost totally without merit or
archaeological support. However, they are so strongly ingrained in our
consciousness that alternative views, even when based on evidence rather
than fancy, are all to easily brushed aside. Any book or movie that
presents early Stone Age humans in a different light is looked upon
as lacking adequate research.
However, we want to make our viewpoint perfectly clear. The cave man
of the 19th century stereotype never existed!
Migrations
Most of the major migrations of Lower Paleolithic (Stone Age) peoples
into Europe occurred, or at least began, some time during the Pleistocene
Epoch, around 600,000 years ago.
Neanderthal
Neanderthals (Homo sapiens neanderthalensis) appeared in
Europe about 200,000 years ago. It was the discovery of the Neanderthal
that gave us our original "cave man" stereotype as mentioned earlier.
However, as more and more Neanderthal sites were found, our view had
to be modified. It seems the earliest find was of a man who suffered
from disfigurement, and was not typical of the species as a whole.
Popular Theories
We were taught in school to think about Paleolithic people as skilled
hunters, out there on the plains tracking down and killing huge mastodons.
Or, forcing whole herds of bison to plunge to their deaths over cliffs.
While that viewpoint might be accurate, we have to be careful. Killing
large animals or manipulating entire herds requires many hunters and,
more importantly, the use of language to coordinate the hunt.
Archaeology can't tell us if they had a language, of course. However,
when we study their stone tools, we get the impression that each person
worked at their craft independently. There doesn't appear to have been
any formal training, enabling the best craftsmen to teach others. The
lack of similarities in tool designs implies that artisans didn't
communicate their methods to others. This hints that they didn't possess
the language necessary for skilled craftsmen to pass on their designs to
their students.
If -- and that's a big "if" -- they lacked a language, then major
hunts would be beyond their abilities. And perhaps, instead of hunters,
they might have foraged for carcasses which had either died as winter
mortalities or been brought down by carnivores.
If Lower Paleolithic peoples were scavengers instead of hunters, it
might help explain the concentration of sites along rivers and around
lakes, since that's where most mortalities would tend to occur. Many
carnivores tend to make their kills while their prey is busy drinking
water. Then an opportunistic human could scavenge whatever was left
behind.
Scavenging for "megafauna" like aurochs or mastodons, with their huge
reserves of fat and marrow, makes more sense than trying to stone them
to death or to get close enough to stab them with stone spears.
Most likely, however, Stone Age peoples used a combination of the two
techniques. They probably hunted whenever they could and scavenged when
the opportunity presented itself.
Romanian Archaeology
A Lower Paleolithic site exists at Bugiuleşti, in Valcea County,
Romania. The site represents one of the oldest himinid habitations in
Europe.
Go Elsewhere
At this point, you have a couple of options:
Enjoy your stay and have a great day!
|
