Paleolithic Man - Neanderthal
Neanderthals (Neander-thal, the ‘th’ pronounced as ‘t’) are our closest extinct human relative. Some defining features of their skulls include the large middle part of the face, angled cheek bones, and a huge nose for humidifying and warming cold, dry air. Their bodies were shorter and stockier than ours, another adaptation to living in cold environments. But their brains were just as large as ours and often larger - proportional to their brawnier bodies.
Neanderthals made and used a diverse set of sophisticated tools, controlled fire, lived in shelters, made and wore clothing, were skilled hunters of large animals and also ate plant foods, and occasionally made symbolic or ornamental objects. There is evidence that Neanderthals deliberately buried their dead and occasionally even marked their graves with offerings, such as flowers. No other primates, and no earlier human species, had ever practiced this sophisticated and symbolic behavior.
Neanderthals made and used a diverse set of sophisticated tools, controlled fire, lived in shelters, made and wore clothing, were skilled hunters of large animals and also ate plant foods, and occasionally made symbolic or ornamental objects. There is evidence that Neanderthals deliberately buried their dead and occasionally even marked their graves with offerings, such as flowers. No other primates, and no earlier human species, had ever practiced this sophisticated and symbolic behavior.
STONE AGE HAND-AXES
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STONE AGE HAND-AXES
There were no hand axes at the beginning of the Pleistocene, and none at the end, but for one million years in between this was the tool of choice for stone age man. Although ever-present in stone age culture, the exact purpose and use of this tool remains a mystery.
The Pleistocene lasted from two million years ago to the present., which is called the Holocene. At the beginning of the Pleistocene primitive man was already using fire and making stone, bone, and wooden tools. By the mid-Pleistocene they were wearing animal skins scraped clean with stone scrapers, cut in
straight lines with razor sharp burins, and stitched together with leather laces through holes drilled with stone bits.
The reason hand axes seem to have no specific identifiable use is probably because they served a general purpose. They could be used for cutting meat, scraping skins, chopping wood, digging holes, hammering bone or wood, and even as a last resort defense against wild animals -- perhaps sort of a Stone Age Swiss army knife. The proliferation and abundance of hand axes suggests that perhaps
everyone had one, both men and women. As techniques for making hand axes slowly improved over the millennia, these same techniques would have led to new types of specialized tools, ultimately making the hand axe obsolete.
The hand axe appears almost everywhere that early man appears (see image at left), with the exception of the very far east. Ultimately the hand axe was replaced by an array of specialized tools, and may have ceased to have any value beyond that of pure tradition and culture. Perhaps every youth who came of age was given, or made, their own hand axe. Since the hand axe seems to have remained long after it became obsolete, it may have become primarily ritualistic. Some late hand axes were excellently manufactured, but seemed to receive little actual use. A number have been found that were deliberately driven point first into the ground and left, for unknown reasons. Hand axes were known to the ancient Greeks, who believed them to be the thunderbolts thrown down by Zeus, the Tree-splitter. They were held to be sacred and were put on display in the temples, such as the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, which had two of them. These and all the sacred artifacts of the ancient world were destroyed by the Christians.
Hand axes come in many shapes and sizes, and many styles unique to cultures of specific periods and in specific geographical areas. Almost all hand axes have a point, are sized for the hand and shaped to be held. Almost no hand axes have notches for mounting. Attempts to dramatize Stone Age man as a crude and warlike savage often show hand axes mounted as oversized spear points. Such comic personification says more about our violent modern culture than it does about this pristine world of teenage hunters (average age 19) who spent their time on beaches and riverbanks. They rarely lived beyond the age of 35, not because of hardship, but more probably because of disease, since even minor cuts could cause fatal infections. These youthful cave people made fine stone tools, works of art, and spears and arrows for hunting, but they made no weapons suitable for killing other humans until about 26-20K BC, perhaps when leaders (older males?) became predominant. People
of the stone age enjoyed abundant game during warmer climates, hunting many species to extinction. They had the time to create the most excellent stonework and wall paintings, circa 100,000 - 20,000 BCE. The quality of stone age art has not been exceeded even today -- only our technology has improved.
There were no hand axes at the beginning of the Pleistocene, and none at the end, but for one million years in between this was the tool of choice for stone age man. Although ever-present in stone age culture, the exact purpose and use of this tool remains a mystery.
The Pleistocene lasted from two million years ago to the present., which is called the Holocene. At the beginning of the Pleistocene primitive man was already using fire and making stone, bone, and wooden tools. By the mid-Pleistocene they were wearing animal skins scraped clean with stone scrapers, cut in
straight lines with razor sharp burins, and stitched together with leather laces through holes drilled with stone bits.
The reason hand axes seem to have no specific identifiable use is probably because they served a general purpose. They could be used for cutting meat, scraping skins, chopping wood, digging holes, hammering bone or wood, and even as a last resort defense against wild animals -- perhaps sort of a Stone Age Swiss army knife. The proliferation and abundance of hand axes suggests that perhaps
everyone had one, both men and women. As techniques for making hand axes slowly improved over the millennia, these same techniques would have led to new types of specialized tools, ultimately making the hand axe obsolete.
The hand axe appears almost everywhere that early man appears (see image at left), with the exception of the very far east. Ultimately the hand axe was replaced by an array of specialized tools, and may have ceased to have any value beyond that of pure tradition and culture. Perhaps every youth who came of age was given, or made, their own hand axe. Since the hand axe seems to have remained long after it became obsolete, it may have become primarily ritualistic. Some late hand axes were excellently manufactured, but seemed to receive little actual use. A number have been found that were deliberately driven point first into the ground and left, for unknown reasons. Hand axes were known to the ancient Greeks, who believed them to be the thunderbolts thrown down by Zeus, the Tree-splitter. They were held to be sacred and were put on display in the temples, such as the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, which had two of them. These and all the sacred artifacts of the ancient world were destroyed by the Christians.
Hand axes come in many shapes and sizes, and many styles unique to cultures of specific periods and in specific geographical areas. Almost all hand axes have a point, are sized for the hand and shaped to be held. Almost no hand axes have notches for mounting. Attempts to dramatize Stone Age man as a crude and warlike savage often show hand axes mounted as oversized spear points. Such comic personification says more about our violent modern culture than it does about this pristine world of teenage hunters (average age 19) who spent their time on beaches and riverbanks. They rarely lived beyond the age of 35, not because of hardship, but more probably because of disease, since even minor cuts could cause fatal infections. These youthful cave people made fine stone tools, works of art, and spears and arrows for hunting, but they made no weapons suitable for killing other humans until about 26-20K BC, perhaps when leaders (older males?) became predominant. People
of the stone age enjoyed abundant game during warmer climates, hunting many species to extinction. They had the time to create the most excellent stonework and wall paintings, circa 100,000 - 20,000 BCE. The quality of stone age art has not been exceeded even today -- only our technology has improved.