THE ART INNOVATION DURING THE OLD AGE

Paleolithic peoples did more than just to survive the changes of the earth. However, there was a discovery paintings of Paleolithic people at Lascaux (pronounced as "la-SKOE") that was found in southwestern France and Altamira (pronounces as "AL-tuh-MIR-uh) in Norther Spain.

Lascaux Cave Paintings

I give credits to kjgear for this educational video(I do not own the video). This is about the Cave Paintings in Lacaux.

The cave paintings in Lacaux was discovered in the year 1940 by the four boys in Lacaux in Southern France they found a similar group of paintings in a cave. During these times they were trying to rescue their dog, who had fallen through a small hole into the cave. The cave almost consists of three hundred paintings of lions, oxen,owls,panthers and other animals. Most of these Paleolithic people did not hunt, which indicates that they were painted for religious purposes.

The importance of art to human life is evident in one basic fact: art existed even in Prehistory, among the hunters and gatherers of the Paleolithic age.

In 1879, the twelve year old daughter of a Spanish landowner made a remarkable discovery on her farm in northern Spain. In a cave of Altamira, Paleolithic artists had painted an entire herd of animals such as horses, boars, bison, and deer on the ceiling of the cave.

Altamira Cave Paintings

I give credits to raulquintanilla1900 for this educational video(I do not own the video). This is about the Cave Paintings in Altamira.

Recent discoveries in other areas of the world had already added . The said cave paintings were done between 25,000 and 12,000 B.C.

All of the caves were underground and in complete darkness, but Paleolithic artists used stone lamps filled with animal fat to light their surroundings. By crushing mineral ores and combining them with animal fat, they could paint in red, yellow and black. They used their fingertips, crushed twigs, and even brushes made with animal hairs to apply these paints to the walls.

Many of these cave paintings show animals in remarkably realistic forms. There are few humans in these paintings also. When they are illustrated they are not realistic but rather are crude, stick like figures. The precise rendering of the animals figures has led many historians to believe that they were painted as part of magical or religious ritual intended to ensure success in hunting. Some believe also that the said paintings were made for their own sake. They beautified the cave itself and must have been pleasing to the eyes of early humans.
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DISCOVERY AND CREATION OF FIRE

As the early Hominids moved from the tropics into colder regions, they needed to adjust to new often harsh regions conditions(see previous video about it-Survival During the Stone Age). Perhaps the most important to their to their ability is to adapt the use of fire. The systematic use of fire made it possible to provide a source of both light and heat within the cave to the structure which they live. The development of tools and the use of fire are the two important technological innovations/discovery during the Paleolithic period, reminds us how crucial the ability to adapt was to human survival. The most recent Ice Age began about 100,000 B.C. and reached it's coldest period between 20,000 and 10,000 B.C. Sheets of Thick Ice covered large parts of Europe, Asia, and North America.

Early Hominids experienced natural fires caused by lightning and learned the benefits of them. It was the Homo Erectus during these times who first to learn the use of Fire. Archeologists have discovered the piled remains of ashes in caves that prove that Paleolithic people used fire systematically as long ago as 500,000 years. As per discovered in the Homo Erectus Site at Choukoutien, in Northern China.

Choukoutien cave entrance in Northern China

During these times Archeologists have discovered hearths, ashes, charcoal, and charred bones. All of these were about 400,000 years old. The said cave is located/faced northeast, it would have been a dark place without the use of fire.

Fire as a source of light inside the cave

Fire gave warmth and undoubtedly fostered a sense of community for the groups of people gathered around it. Fire was also created for protection of early humans to scare wild animals away. They also use fire to cook food, wherein they have discovered that food cooked by fire is easy to chew, and it is better in tasting than eating raw foods.

The creation of fire using two woods in the form of friction.

Scholars believe that the discovery of fire which is for starting of fires occurred independently throughout the world. Archeologists lack of evidence on how early peoples started fires.

Another form of creation of fire through using stones.(Friction)

They have been able to examine the methods used by ancient people. On the basis archeologists assume that the earliest methods for starting fires were probably based on friction, such as rubbing two pieces of wood together. Dry Grass and leaves could be added as the wood began to smoke(see third illustration above). Eventually, paleolithic peoples devised sturdy, drill like wooden devices to start fires. Other early humans discovered that a certain stone which is called Iron Pyrites, when struck against a hard rock, gave off a spark that could also create fire.

Iron Pyrites

Paleolithic peoples used their technological innovations such as making tools and the use of fire to change their physical environment. By working together, they found a way to survive. In this case obviously Paleolithic peoples played a crucial role in human history.
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SURVIVAL DURING THE STONE AGE

The Hunting and Gathering of Food

Form of hunting during the Stone Age

PALEOLOTHIC AGE which means from the Greek term "Old Stone" is used to designate the early period of human history approximately between 2,500,000 to 10,000 B.C. in which humans use simple stone tools. For hundred of thousand of years, humans relied on hunting and gathering  for their daily food. Paleolithic peoples had a close relationship with the world around them.Over a period of time, they came to know what animals to hunt and what plants to eat. They gather wild nuts, berries, fruits, and a variety of wild grains and green plants. Around the world, they hunted and ate different animals, including buffalo, horses, bison, wild goats, and reindeer. In coastal areas, various kinds of fish provided a rich source of food.

    The hunting of animals and gathering of wild food no doubt led to certain patterns of living. Archeologists and anthropologists have speculated that Paleolithic people lived in small bands of twenty or thirty people. They were NOMADIC which means they are type of people who moves from one place to another, because they had no choice but to follow immigrations and vegetation cycles. Hunting upon carefully observation of different animal behavior patterns and demanded group effort for any real chance of success. Over the years, tools became more refined and more useful. The invention of the spear, and later the bow and arrow, made hunting much easier. Harpoons and fishhooks made of bone increased the catch of fish.
   
   It is probable that both men and women were responsible for finding food, the chief work of Paleolithic people. Because women bore and raised the children, they were likely to have stayed close to their camps. However, they played an important role in acquiring food. They gathered berries, nuts, and grains. Men did most of the hunting, which might take place far away from their camp. It is likely that during these times men and women made decisions that affected the activities of the Paleolithic band.

   Groups of Paleolithic people, especially those who lived in cold climates, found shelter through caves. But over a period of time, they created new types of shelter. Perhaps the most common was a simple structure of wood poles or sticks covered with animal hides. Wherein wood was scarce, they might use the bones of mammoths to build frames that were then covered by animal hides. In this way it is their form of creating their shelter.

House made from Mammoth Bones

House made of wood with animal hides for outside protection

  To understand more better about their living during the stone age period I have provided a video below(I do not own the video) I give credits to MissEstherKim:

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OLD STONE AGE TECHNOLOGY

As we all know the word TECHNOLOGY refers to the ability of Human Beings to make things that sustain them and give them some control over their environment. These played a major role in human development from early times. The technology which is available during the beginning of human understanding and development is consisted primarily of the ability to make tools. By creating such tools, humans coped up easily in their environment and also a means of survival.
The first tools which is discovered during the development were made by grinding two stones together to make a sharp edge on one of them. Flint, which is a very hard stone was used by early people to make tools. Hand Axes of different kinds made by chipping away flakes to make a pointed tool with one or more cutting edges were the most common. Eventually axes were set into wooden handles, making them easier to use. By attaching wooden poles to spear points and hardening the tips in fire, humans created  spears that gave them the ability to hunt and kill large animals.

Over a very long period of time, tool technology evolved. Wherein the movement toward even smaller stone points and blades. Microliths were tiny stone blades that could be mounted in wooden or bone handles. Damage blades could then be required by replacing a new one, prolonging the life of the tool itself. Bones and antlers were also used for making a great variety of tools. Bones could be also used ti make harpoons in catching fish. Near the end of the Paleolithic Period, there is an evidence of even more refining tools, especially bone needles. Needles formed an animal bones could be used for making nets and baskets and even sewing hides together for clothing.

The first tools used served a variety of purposes. Humans used stone weapons to kill animals and butcher their meat. Other sharped edged tools were used for cutting plants, digging up roots from the soil, and cutting branches for building simple shelters. Scraping tools were also used to clean animal hides for clothing and shelter.

Tools used during the stone Age

Making of weapons during the stone age

Stone Age Weapons

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FIRST HUMANS: OLD STONE AGE

The earliest humanlike creatures known as the "hominids" lived in Africa as long as three to four million years ago. They are called the AUSTRALOPITHECINES, or what we called the "southern apes" through their discover, they flourished in eastern and southern africa. They were the first hominids to make simple stone tools. The Oldest known tool which is a knife blade that is probably 2.6 million years old was also found in Africa.

A skull of an australopithecine

                                                       

Stone tools used by early man

                                                         


A second stage in early human development occurred  with the next appearance of the HOMO ERECTUS or what we also called the "upright human being", a new species that emerged around 1.5 million years ago. The Homo Erectus Specie is made use of larger and more varied tools. These hominids were the first to leave Africa and move into both to Europe and Asia. They were able to do so in part because they learned to use fire to keep warm in colder areas.

The Homo Erectus compared to modern man

                                                   

Their activities

                                                                     

Homo Erectus Skull as shown in different angles

At around 250,000 years ago, a third and crucial stage in human development began with the emergence of a new species is the HOMO SAPIENS also known as the "wise human being". They lived by 100,000 B.C. Homo Sapiens had developed into two groups. The first type was called the NEANDERTHALS (nee-an-der-thalls), who were first found specifically in the Neander Valley in Germany. Their remains have been dated between 100,000 and 30,000 B.C. and have been found in Europe and the Middle East. Neanderthals relied on a variety of stone tools and seem to be the first early people to bury their dead indicates a belief in afterlife. Neanderthals in Europe made clothes from the skins of animals that they had killed for food.

Homo Sapiens - hunting for food

Skull of a Homo Sapien(side view and front view)

An artistic Homo Sapien

The Neanderthals-their way of Burrying their dead

Remain of a Neanderthal

The First anatomically modern humans-the modern people which is us, is known as HOMO SAPIENS SAPIENS as they called the "wise,wise human being", appeared in africa between 150,000 and 200,000 years ago. There are recent evidence that indicates that they began to spread outside Africa around 100,000 years ago. By 30,000 B.C., they had replaced the Neanderthals, who had largely died out, possibly as a result of conflict with the new specie the Homo Sapiens Sapiens.

The movement of the first modern human beings was rarely deliberate. Groups of people, are probably in search of food, moved beyond their hunting grounds at a possible rate of only two to three miles per generation. However, to populate the world over tens and thousands of years. By 10,000 B.C. members of the Homo Sapiens Sapiens subspecies of the species Homo Sapiens could be found throughout the world.
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