Paleolithic

Neanderthal hunter (American Museum of Natural History)

The Paleolithic (or Palaeolithic) is a prehistoric era distinguished by the development of stone tools. It covers the greatest portion of humanity\'s time (roughly 99% of human historyNicholas Toth and Kathy Schick (2007). Handbook of Paleoanthropology. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 1963. ISBN 978-3-540-32474-4 (Print) 978-3-540-33761-4 (Online). ) on Earth, extending from 2.5"Stone Age," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2007 © 1997-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Contributed by Kathy Schick, B.A., M.A., Ph.D. and Nicholas Toth, B.A., M.A., Ph.D. or 2.6Grolier Incorporated (1989). The Encyclopedia Americana. University of Michigan: Grolier Incorporated, 542. ISBN ISBN 0717201201. Nicholas Toth and Kathy Schick (2007). Handbook of Paleoanthropology. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 1963. ISBN 978-3-540-32474-4 (Print) 978-3-540-33761-4 (Online).  million years ago, with the introduction of stone tools by hominids such as Homo habilis, to the introduction of agriculture and the end of the Pleistocene around 10,000 BC.Nicholas Toth and Kathy Schick (2007). Handbook of Paleoanthropology. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 1963. ISBN 978-3-540-32474-4 (Print) 978-3-540-33761-4 (Online). "Stone Age," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2007 © 1997-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Contributed by Kathy Schick, B.A., M.A., Ph.D. and Nicholas Toth, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.Grolier Incorporated (1989). The Encyclopedia Americana. University of Michigan: Grolier Incorporated, 542. ISBN ISBN 0717201201.  The term Paleolithic, literally "Old Age of the Stone", was coined by archaeologist John Lubbock in 1865 and derives from the Greek παλαιολιθικός—palaiolithikos, παλαιός—palaios ("old") and λίθος—lithos ("stone"). The Paleolithic era ended with the Mesolithic, or in areas with an early neolithisation, the Epipaleolithic.

During the Paleolithic humans were grouped together in bands of 25 to 100 members and gained their subsistence from gathering plants and hunting wild animals.McClellan (2006). Science and Technology in World History: An Introduction. Baltimore, Maryland: JHU Press. ISBN 0801883601.  Page 8-12 . The Paleolithic is characterized by the use of knapped stone tools, although at the time, humans also used wood and bone tools. Other organic commodities were adapted for use as tools, including leather and vegetable fibers; however, given their nature, these have not been preserved to any great degree. Humankind gradually evolved from early members of the genius homo such as Homo habilis who used simple stone tools into fully behaviorally and anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) during the Paleolithic era."Human Evolution," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2007 © 1997-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Contributed by Richard B. Potts, B.A., Ph.D. During the end of the Paleolithic specifically the Middle and Upper Paleolithic humans began to produce the earliest works of art and engage in religious and spiritual behavior. The climate during the Paleolithic consisted of a set of glacial and interglacial periods in which the climate periodically fluctuated between warm and cool temperatures.

Contents 1 Chronology 2 Human evolution 2.1 Human evolution during the Paleolithic 2.2 Simplified human genealogy 3 Climate 4 Way of life 4.1 Technology 4.2 Society 4.2.1 Social organization 4.2.2 Paleolithic Art and Music 4.2.3 Religion and beliefs 4.3 Diet and nutrition 5 Footnotes 6 References 7 See also

Chronology

Traditionally, the Paleolithic is divided into three periods: the Lower Paleolithic, Middle Paleolithic, and the Upper Paleolithic. The three ages mark technological and cultural advances in different human communities.

Paleolithic

Lower Paleolithic (c. 2.6 million years ago–100,000 years ago)

Olduwan culture

Acheulean culture

Clactonian culture

Middle Paleolithic (c. 300,000–30,000 years ago)

Mousterian culture

Aterian culture

Upper Paleolithic (c. 40,000–10,000 years ago)

Châtelperronian culture

Aurignacian culture

Gravettian culture

Solutrean culture

Magdalenian culture

Human evolution

This cranium, of Homo heidelbergensis, a Lower Paleolithic predecessor to Homo neanderthalensis, dates to sometime between 500,000 to 400,000 BC.

Main article: Human evolution

Human evolution is the part of biological evolution concerning the emergence of humans as a distinct species. It is the subject of a broad scientific inquiry that seeks to understand and describe how this change and development occurred. The study of human evolution encompasses many scientific disciplines, most notably physical anthropology, paleoanthropology, paleontology, archeology, linguistics, and genetics. The term human, in the context of human evolution, refers to the genus Homo, but studies of human evolution usually include other hominids, such as the australopithecines.

Human evolution during the Paleolithic

The evolutionary history of humankind is often traced back by paleoanthropologists to 5 or 7 million years ago prior to the start of the Paleolithic when our closest hominid ancestors diverged from the shared common ancestor of humans, chimpanzees and bonobos.Dawkins, Richard (2004). The Ancestor\'s Tale, A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Life.. Boston: Garden City Publishing Co., Inc., p. 673.  These early pre-Paleolithic hominids (such as Sahelanthropus tchadensis and Australopithecus) began to develop bipedalism (though bipedalism was not fully developed until Homo erectus/Homo ergaster first appeared in the human fossil record) and eventually gave rise to the earliest member of the genus homo, Homo habilis, around 2.6 million years ago. Numerous explanations have been proposed by anthropologists and biologists to explain why bipedalism evolved in humans including the provisioning model, which states that bipedalism was an adaptation to a monogamous society; the postural feeding hypothesis, which proposes that bipedalism was invented to help obtain food; and the thermoregulatory model, which claims that human bipedalism arose to reduce body heat.James Steele and Stephen Shennan (1996). The Archaeology of Human Ancestry: Power, Sex and Tradition. United kingdom: Routledge. ; p 137

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The earliest member of the genus homo, Homo habilis, appeared around 2.6 million years ago and was responsible for the beginning of the Paleolithic era and the creation of the Oldowan tool case. Most experts assume the intelligence and social organization of H. habilis were more sophisticated than typical australopithecines or chimpanzees. Homo habilis coexisted with other Homo-like bipedal primates, such as Paranthropus boisei, some of which prospered for many millennia. However, H. habilis, possibly because of its early tool innovation and a less specialized diet, became the precursor of an entire line of new species, whereas Paranthropus boisei and its robust relatives disappeared from the fossil record. Homo habilis eventually became Homo ergaster.

Homo ergaster was the first hominid to stand fully upright and migrate out of Africa (c. 2 million years agohttp://www.actionbioscience.org/evolution/johanson.html Origins of Modern Humans: Multiregional or Out of Africa? By Donald Johansonhttp://discovermagazine.com/2002/aug/featafrica Discover: Not Out of Africa, Alan Thorne\'s challenging ideas about human evolution). Homo ergaster may also have been the first hominid to discover fire. Homo ergaster is often considered to be the primogenitor of the later species Homo erectus, though H. ergaster is sometimes categorized as a subspecies of Homo erectus. Homo erectus (along with Homo ergaster) was probably the first early human species to fit squarely into the category of a hunter-gatherer society. Homo erectus was the first hominid to use controlled fire (c. 300,000 BP), though earlier (disputed) evidence for controlled fire also exists at sites such as the Zhoukoudian Caves in China, which contain possible evidence for controlled fire as early as 1.5 million years ago.First Control of Fire by Human Beings--How Early?. Retrieved on 2007-11-12. The latest populations of Homo erectus were probably the first hominid societies to live in small scale (possibly egalitarian) band societies similar to modern hunter-gatherer band societies.Boehm, Christopher (1999). Hierarchy in the forest: the evolution of egalitarian behavior. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, p. 198. ISBN 0-674-39031-8.  It is unknown who was the ancestor of Homo rhodesiensis, the primitive hominid species that humans are likely to have descended from, though many current paleoanthropologists postulate that Homo rhodesiensis was the same species as Homo heidelbergensis, also the immediate ancestor of the Neanderthals.

Although the first members of the species Homo sapiens, the Archaic Homo sapiens, may have existed as long as 300,000 years ago, Homo sapiens only became completely behaviorally modern during the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic (c. 50,000 BP). This change in human behavior is known as the Upper Paleolithic revolution and scientists suggest that these changes may have been caused by the development of language, though the development of behavioral modernity may have been the result of a gradual transition as the earliest evidence of behavioral modernity including artistic expression (such as ochre being used as body paint and early rock art) exists prior to the Upper Paleolithic during the Middle Paleolithic.

The driving force behind human evolution during the Paleolithic is a matter of significant debate amongst anthropologists. The hunting hypothesis suggests that human evolution was primarily shaped by the hunting of other animals, however it is currently known that humans during most of the Paleolithic period gained the majority of their meat from scavenging dead animals, rather than hunting, and were often prey for larger large carnivores such as the saber-toothed cat, Dinofelis, and hyenas which apparently preyed on the hominid Homo habilis.Hillary Mayell. Killer Cats Hunted Human Ancestors. National Geographic News. Retrieved on 2008-02-15. It is also currently understood by anthropologists that even Middle Paleolithic Neanderthals, who hunted large game just as frequently and successfully as modern Upper Paleolithic humans, intermittently (and sometimes unsuccessfully) competed with carnivores such as hyenas for shelter in caves and food.Hillary Mayell. Neandertals, Hyenas Fought for Caves, Food, Study Says. National Geographic News. Retrieved on 2008-02-03.

Several contending theories also exist including the somewhat related killer ape theory, which proposes that warfare and violence were the driving forces behind human evolution. The killer ape theory was first described by Raymond Dart in the 1950s and was further developed by the anthropologist Robert Ardrey (who also supported the hunting hypothesis) in his book African Genesis (1961). The killer ape theory is no longer supported by the majority of the anthropological community."The Killer Ape is Dead" by Boyce Rensberger A number of feminist anthropologists, such as Adrienne L. Zihlman, propose a reverse version of the hunting hypothesis in which gathering was the driving force behind evolution and female primates played a significant part in human evolution.Barbara D. Miller (1993). Sex and Gender Hierarchies. Cambridge University: Cambridge University Press. ; p 61 The aquatic ape hypothesis is another theory that seeks to uncover the driving force behind human evolution. In contrast to the two previously mentioned theories, the hunting hypothesis and the killer ape theory, the aquatic ape theory claims that life in aquatic or semi-aquatic settings was responsible for the development of many of the characteristics of Homo that are not seen in other primates. However, like the killer ape theory, it is not widely accepted by the scientific community.MacLarnon, A.M.; Hewitt, G.P. (1999). "The evolution of human speech: The role of enhanced breathing control". American Journal of Physical Anthropology 109 (3): 341-363. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(199907)109:3%3C341::AID-AJPA5%3E3.3.CO%3B2-U. Lowenstein, J.M.; Zihlman, A.L. (1980). "The Wading Ape-A Watered-Down Version of Human Evolution". Oceans 17: 3-6. Langdon JH (1997). "Umbrella hypotheses and parsimony in human evolution: a critique of the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis". J. Hum. Evol. 33 (4): 479–94. doi:10.1006/jhev.1997.0146. PMID 9361254.  Richard Wrangham of Harvard University argues that cooking of plant foods may have triggered brain expansion by allowing complex carbohydrates in starchy foods to become more digestible and in effect allow humans to absorb more calories.William R. Leonard. Food for Thought: Into the Fire. Scientific american. Retrieved on 2008-02-22.Wrangham R, Conklin-Brittain N. (2003 Sep). "Cooking as a biological trait". Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 136 (1): 35-46. doi:10.1016/S1095-6433(03)00020-5. PMID 14527628. Lambert, Craig. "The Way We Eat Now", Harvard Magazine, May-June 2004. 

Simplified human genealogy

The timeline below shows a simplified genealogy of Paleolithic humanity, although other ideas of human genealogy exist for the same period:Human evolution. Archaelogy.info. Retrieved on 2007-04-09. DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = height:auto barincrement:18 PlotArea = left:20 right:20 bottom:20 top:10 Colors =

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Timeline scale is in thousands of years.

Climate

Currently agreed upon classifications as Paleolithic geoclimatic episodes

Age (before)	America	Atlantic Europe	Maghreb	Mediterranean Europe	Central Europe
10,000 years	Flandrian interglacial	Flandriense	Mellahiense	Versiliense	Flandrian interglacial
80,000 years	Wisconsin	Devensiense	Regresión	Regresión	Wisconsin glaciation
140,000 years	Sangamoniense	Ipswichiense	Ouljiense	Tirreniense II y III	Eemian interglacial
200,000 years	Illinois	Wolstoniense	Regresión	Regresión	Wolstonian glaciation
450,000 years	Yarmouthiense	Hoxniense	Anfatiense	Tirreniense I	Hoxnian interglacial
580,000 years	Kansas	Angliense	Regresión	Regresión	Kansan glaciation
750,000 years	Aftoniense	Cromeriense	Maarifiense	Siciliense	Cromerian interglacial
1,100,000 years	Nebraska	Beestoniense	Regresión	Regresión	Beestonian stage
1,400,000 years	interglaciar	Ludhamiense	Messaudiense	Calabriense	Donau-Günz

Way of life

Main article: Stone Age

The Old Stone Age, or Paleolithic, comprised more than a million years. During this period, major climatic and other changes occurred which affected the evolution of humans. Humans themselves evolved into their current morphological form during the later period of the Stone Age.

Paleolithic humans appear to have ranged widely and were distributed sparsely, but uniformly. The Paleolithic remains which have been found are astonishingly uniform, everywhere in the range of humans. Implements of the same type have been found in what is now Britain, France, and along the banks of the Nile.Wells, H. G. (1920). The Outline of History. Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Co., Inc., 57-58, 107. 

The economy of a typical Paleolithic society was primitive, with humans living a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. They hunted for meat and gathered food, firewood, and materials for their tools, clothes, or cabins.

Technology

Picture of two Lower Paleolithic bifaces.

Picture of a stone ball from a set of Paleolithic bolas.

During this time period people made tools of stone, bone, and wood. The most ancient Paleolithic stone tool industry the Oldowan was developed by the earliest members of the genus Homo such as Homo habilis around 2.6 million years ago.Klein, R. (1999). The Human Career. University of Chicago Press.  and contained tools such as choppers, burins and awls though it completely disappeared around 250,000 years ago and was followed by the more complex Acheulean industry which was first conceived by Homo ergaster around 1.65 million years ago.Scarre, C, 2005, p110 The most recent Lower Paleolithic (Acheulean) implements vanished from the archeological record around 50,000 years ago.

Lower Paleolithic humans are known to have used a variety of stone tools, including hand axes, which were likely used as cutting/chopping tools, digging implements, animal traps, or possibly in courting behaviour. Choppers and scrappers were most likely used for the purpose of skinning and butchering scavenged animals and sharp ended sticks were often procured for the purpose of digging up edible roots. Early humans presumably have been using wooden spears as early as 5 million years ago to hunt small animals, much like our close relatives the common chimpanzee have recently been observed doing in Senegal, Africa.Rick Weiss, "Chimps Observed Making Their Own Weapons", The Washington Post, February 22, 2007 Lower Paleolithic humans additionally known to have constructed shelters such as the possible wood hut at Terra Amata. Although fire was used by the Lower Paleolithic hominid Homo erectus/Homo ergaster as early as 300,000 or 1.5 million years ago the use of fire only became common in the societies of the following Middle Stone Age/Middle Paleolithic Period..Nicholas Toth and Kathy Schick (2007). Handbook of Paleoanthropology. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 1963. ISBN 978-3-540-32474-4 (Print) 978-3-540-33761-4 (Online). 

The lower Paleolithic hominid Homo erectus possibly invented rafts (c. 800,000 or 840,000 BP) to travel over large bodies of water which may have allowed a group of Homo erectus to reach the island of Flores and evolve into the small hominid Homo floresiensis. However, it must also be noted that this hypothesis is disputed within the anthropological community.Erectus Ahoy Prehistoric seafaring floats into view[1][2] Supplementary evidence from Neanderthal and Modern human sites located around the Mediterranean sea such as Coa de sa Multa (c.300.000 BCE) has also indicated that both Middle and Upper Paleolithic humans used rafts to travel over large bodies of water (I.e. the Mediterranean sea) for the purpose of colonizing other bodies of land.[3]

Around 200,000BCE Middle Paleolithic Stone tool manufacturing spawned a tool making technique known as the prepared-core technique, that was more elaborate than previous Acheulean techniques. This method increased efficiency by permitting the creation of more controlled and consistent flakes. This method allowed Middle Paleolithic humans to correspondingly create stone tipped spears which were the earliest composite tools by hafting sharp, pointy stone flakes onto wooden shafts. Neanderthals who possessed a Middle Paleolithic level of technology appear to have hunted large game just as modern humans have doneAnn Parson. Neanderthals Hunted as Well as Humans, Study Says. National Geographic News. Retrieved on 2008-02-01. and Neanderthals may have likewise hunted with projectile weapons.Boëda E., Geneste J.M., Griggo C., Mercier N., Muhesen S., Reyss J.L., Taha A. & Valladas H. (1999) A Levallois point embedded in the vertebra of a wild ass (Equus africanus): Hafting, projectiles and Mousterian hunting. Antiquity, 73, 394–402

During the end of the Paleolithic (The late Middle Paleolithic and the Upper Paleolithic) further technological advances were made such as the invention of bolas,J. Chavaillon, D. Lavallée, « Bola », in Dictionnaire de la Préhistoire, PUF, 1988. the spear thrower, the bow and arrow (c. 30,000 BP) and the creation of the world\'s oldest example of ceramic art the Venus of Dolní Věstonice (c. 29,000–25,000 BP).McClellan (2006). Science and Technology in World History: An Introduction. Baltimore, Maryland: JHU Press. ISBN 0801883601.  Page 8-12 Early dogs were also domesticated during the end of the Paleolithic sometime between 100,000 BPChristine mellot. stalking the ancient dog. Science news. Retrieved on 2008-01-03. and 14,000 BPLloyd, J & Mitchinson, J: "The Book of General Ignorance". Faber & Faber, 2006. (presumably) to aid in hunting.Lloyd, J & Mitchinson, J: "The Book of General Ignorance". Faber & Faber, 2006. Both Middle and Upper Paleolithic cultures appear to have had significant knowledge about plants and herbs and may have, albeit very rarley practiced rudimentry forms of horticulture.Academic American Encyclopedia By Grolier Incorporated (1994). Academic American Encyclopedia By Grolier Incorporated. University of Michigan: Grolier Academic Reference. ; p 61 Archeological evidence from the Dordogne region of France demonstrates that members of the European early Upper Paleolithic culture known as the Aurignacian were the first people to use calendars (c. 30,000 BP). This early calendar was a lunar calendar that was used to document the phases of the moon. Genuine solar calendars did not appear until the following Neolithic period.Felipe Fernandez Armesto (2003). Ideas that changed the world. New York: Dorling Kindersley limited, 400. ISBN 978-0-7566-3298-4. ; [4] An artifact of the Paleolithic period is often known as a Paleolith‎.

Society

An artist\'s rendering of a temporary wood house, based on evidence found at Terra Amata (in Nice, France) and dated to the lower Paleolithic (c. 400,000 BC).

More primitive humans or societies such as the Neanderthals, Homo habilis and Homo erectus vanished, and the crudest types of Paleolithic implements vanished. It is not certain whether they were absorbed into the new groups or displaced by them. The Neanderthals and Homo erectusJohn Whitfield. Lovers not fighters. Scientific american. Retrieved on 2008-02-23. for instance may have interbred with modern humans (Homo sapiens) in Europe and Asia.James Owen. Neanderthals, Modern Humans Interbred, Bone Study Suggests. National Geographic News. Retrieved on 2008-01-14.

Neanderthals seemed acquainted with the use of fire, and as the last glacial era approached in Europe they began to seek shelter under rock ledges and in caves, leaving their remains for later discovery. Lower Paleolithic humans such as Homo Erectus and Homo Habilis discovered fire, invented shelters and used simple sharp stone tools known as axes as cutting and chopping tools, digging implements and possibly in courting behavior.

The human population density in the Paleolithic was very small and numbered around only one person per square mile. The low population density during the Paleolithic was most likely due to low body fat, Infanticide, women regularly engaging in intense endurance exercise,The Consequences of Domestication and Sedentism by Emily Schultz, et al late weaning of infants and a nomadic lifestyle.McClellan (2006). [http://books.google.com/books?id=aJgp94zNwNQC&printsec=frontcover#PPA11 Science and Technology in World History: An Introduction]. Baltimore, Maryland: JHU Press. ISBN 0801883601.  pg 12

Among the prey of late Paleolithic humans were the large mammals. They brought the large bones of these animals into caves to crack for the marrow. Animal skins were being used. These people were right-handed, demonstrated by the fact that the left side of their brains were larger than the right.Wells, H. G. (1920). The Outline of History. Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Co., Inc., 57-58, 107. 

Like contemporary hunter-gatherers Paleolithic humans enjoyed an abundance of leisure time unparalleled in both Neolithic farming societies and modern industrial societies.Felipe Fernandez Armesto (2003). Ideas that changed the world. Newyork: Dorling Kindersley limited, 400. ISBN 978-0-7566-3298-4. ; Page 10

Social organization

Humans may have partook in long distance trade between bands for rare commodities and raw materials (such as stone needed for making tools) as early as 120,000 years ago in Middle Paleolithic.

Paleolithic humans lived without states and organized governments and instead were grouped in bands that ranged from 25 to 100 members.).McClellan (2006). Science and Technology in World History: An Introduction. Baltimore, Maryland: JHU Press. ISBN 0801883601.  Page 8-12 These bands were formed by several families. However bands sometimes joined together into larger "macrobands" or tribes for activities such as acquiring mates and celebrations.McClellan (2006). Science and Technology in World History: An Introduction. Baltimore, Maryland: JHU Press. ISBN 0801883601.  Page 8-12 By the end of the Paleolithic era—which ended about 10,000 BP—people began to settle down into permanent locations and agriculture began to be relied upon for sustenance in many locations. A large body of scientific evidence exists to suggest that humans took part in long distance trade between bands for rare commodities (such as ochre, which was often used for religious purposes such as ritualSean Henahan. Blombos Cave art. Science news. Retrieved on 2008-03-12.Felipe Fernandez Armesto (2003). Ideas that changed the world. Newyork: Dorling Kindersley limited, 400. ISBN 978-0-7566-3298-4. ; [5]) and raw materials as early as 120,000 years ago in Middle Paleolithic.Hillary Mayell. When Did "Modern" Behavior Emerge in Humans?. National Geographic News. Retrieved on 2008-02-05. Inter band trade may have appeared during the Middle Paleolithic because trade between bands would have helped ensure their survival by allowing them to exchange recourses and commodities such as raw materials during times of relative scarcity (I.e. famine, drought).Hillary Mayell. When Did "Modern" Behavior Emerge in Humans?. National Geographic News. Retrieved on 2008-02-05. Paleolithic society was communal and collectivistic and individuals were subordinate to the band as a whole.Leften Stavros Stavrianos (1991). A Global History from Prehistory to the Present. New Jersey, USA: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0133570053.  Pages 9-13Leften Stavros Stavrianos (1997). Lifelines from Our Past: A New World History. New Jersey, USA: M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 0133570053.  Pages 9-13 Both Neanderthals and modern humans took care of the elderly members of their societies during the Middle and Upper Paleolithic.Hillary Mayell. When Did "Modern" Behavior Emerge in Humans?. National Geographic News. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.

Like the societies of our closest existent relative the BonoboCourtney Laird. Bonobo social spacing. Davidson College. Retrieved on 2008-03-10. Middle and Upper Paleolithic societies were fundamentally egalitarianChristopher Boehm (1999) "Hierarchy in the Forest: The Evolution of Egalitarian Behavior" page 198 Harvard university press Christopher Boehm (1999) "Hierarchy in the Forest: The Evolution of Egalitarian Behavior" page 208 Harvard university pressMcClellan (2006). [http://books.google.com/books id=aJgp94zNwNQC&printsec=frontcover#PPA11 Science and Technology in World History: An Introduction]. Baltimore, Maryland: JHU Press. ISBN 0801883601.  pg 128[6][7]Leften Stavros Stavrianos (1991). A Global History from Prehistory to the Present. New Jersey, USA: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0133570053.  Pages 9-13 and did not engage in organized violence between groups (i.e. war),R Dale Gutrie (2005). The Nature of Paleolithic art. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226311260.  Pages 420-422Kelly, Raymond (October 2005). "The evolution of lethal intergroup violence". PNAS 102.  though (like Bonobo societies) Middle and Upper Paleolithic cultures may have practiced some (small-scale) status ranking within bands.McClellan (2006). [http://books.google.com/books?id=aJgp94zNwNQC&printsec=frontcover#PPA11 Science and Technology in World History: An Introduction]. Baltimore, Maryland: JHU Press. ISBN 0801883601.  pg 12 Theories to explain the apparent egalitarianism of Paleolithic societies have arisen, notably the Marxist concept of primitive communism Marx, Karl; Friedrich Engels (1848). The Communist Manifesto, 87.  Page 71. Christopher Boehm (1999) has hypothesized that egalitarianism may have evolved in Paleolithic societies because of a need to distribute recourses such as food and meat equally to avoid famine and ensure a stable food supply.Christopher Boehm (1999) "Hierarchy in the Forest: The Evolution of Egalitarian Behavior" page 192 Harvard university press Raymond C. Kelly speculates that the relative peacefulness of Middle and Upper Paleolithic societies resulted from a low population density, cooperative relationships between groups such as reciprocal exchange of commodities and collaboration on hunting expeditions and lastly because the invention of projectile weapons such as throwing spears provided less incentive for war because they increased the amount of damage that is done to the attacker and decreased the relative amount of territory aggressors could gain.Kelly, Raymond (October 2005). "The evolution of lethal intergroup violence". PNAS 102. 

Typically it has been assumed by anthropologists that women were responsible for gathering wild plants and men were responsible for hunting and scavenging dead animals amongst Paleolithic humans.McClellan (2006). Science and Technology in World History: An Introduction. Baltimore, Maryland: JHU Press. ISBN 0801883601.  Page 8-12 However according to recent archeological research carried out by anthropologist and archaeologist Steven Kuhn from the University of Arizona this division of labor did not exist prior to the Upper Paleolithic and was invented relatively recently in human pre-history.Dahlberg, Frances. (1975). Woman the Gatherer. London: Yale university press. ISBN 0-30-02989-6. Stefan Lovgren. Sex-Based Roles Gave Modern Humans an Edge, Study Says. National Geographic News. Retrieved on 2008-02-03. The sexual division of labor may have been developed to allow humans to acquire food and other resources more efficiently.Stefan Lovgren. Sex-Based Roles Gave Modern Humans an Edge, Study Says. National Geographic News. Retrieved on 2008-02-03. There was approximate parity between men and women during the Paleolithic and this era was the most gender-equal period in human history.Leften Stavros Stavrianos (1991). A Global History from Prehistory to the Present. New Jersey, USA: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0133570053.  Pages 9-13R Dale Gutrie (2005). The Nature of Paleolithic art. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226311260.  Page 420-422Fielder, Christine (2004). Sexual Paradox:Culture. Sexual Paradox: Complementarity, Reproductive Conflict and Human Emergence. Christine Fielder and Chris King.Museum of Antiquites web site (accessed February 13, 2008). Indeed archeological evidence from art and funerary rituals indicates that a number of individual women enjoyed seemingly high status in their bandsMuseum of Antiquites web site (accessed February 13, 2008). and additional scientific research of Paleolithic society has also revealed that the earliest known Paleolithic shaman (c. 30,000 BC) was female.Tedlock, Barbara. 2005. The Woman in the Shaman\'s Body: Reclaiming the Feminine in Religion and Medicine. New York: Bantam. Jared Diamond suggests that the status of women may have declined with the adoption of agriculture because farming women typically have more pregnancies and are expected to do more demanding work then women in hunter-gatherer societies.Jared Diamond. The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race. Discover. Retrieved on 2008-01-14. Matrilineal decent patterns were likely to have been more common during the Paleolithic and the Mesolithic than in the following Neolithic period.Felipe Fernandez Armesto (2003). Ideas that changed the world. Newyork: Dorling Kindersley limited, 400. ISBN 978-0-7566-3298-4. ; [8]

Paleolithic Art and Music

The Venus of Willendorf one of the most famous Venus figurines.

Cave painting from Valtorta, Spain depicting Upper Paleolithic humans hunting with bows (c. 13,000 years ago).

The earliest undisputed evidence of art during the Paleolithic period comes from Middle Paleolithic/Middle Stone Age sites such as Blombos Cave in the form of bracelets,Jonathan Amos. Cave yields \'earliest jewellery\'. BBC news. Retrieved on 2008-03-12. beads,Hillary Mayell. Oldest Jewelry? "Beads" Discovered in African Cave. National Geographic News. Retrieved on 2008-03-03. rock art,Sean Henahan. Blombos Cave art. Science news. Retrieved on 2008-03-12. ochre used as body paint and perhaps in ritual,Sean Henahan. Blombos Cave art. Science news. Retrieved on 2008-03-12. though earlier examples of artistic expression such as the Venus of Tan-Tan and the patterns found on elephant bones from Bilzingsleben in Thuringia may have been produced by Acheulean tool users such as Homo Erectus prior to the start of the Middle Paleolithic period."Human Evolution," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2007 © 1997-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Contributed by Richard B. Potts, B.A., Ph.D.

Upper Paleolithic humans produced works of art such as cave paintings, Venus figurines, animal carvings and rock paintings. The cave paintings have been interpreted in a number of ways by modern archeologists, the earliest explanation of the Paleolithic cave paintings first proposed by the Physical anthropologist Abbe Breuil interpreted the paintings as a form of magic designed to ensure a successful hunt,Jean Clottes. Shamanism in Prehistory. Bradshaw foundation. Retrieved on 2008-03-11. although this hypothesis falls short of explaining the existence of animals such as saber-toothed cats and lions which were not hunted for food and the existence of half human-half animal beings in cave paintings. The anthropologists Graham Hancock and David Lewis-Williams have suggested that Paleolithic cave paintings were indications of shamanistic practices as the paintings of half animal-half human paintings and the remoteness of the caves are reminiscent of modern hunter-gatherer shamanistic practices.Jean Clottes. Shamanism in Prehistory. Bradshaw foundation. Retrieved on 2008-03-11. The Venus figurines have evoked similar controversy amongst archeologists and have been described at various times and by various archeologists and anthropologists as representations of Goddesses, pornographic imagery, apotropaic amulets, used for sympathetic magic and even as self-portraits of women themselves.McDermott, LeRoy. "Self-Representation in Upper Paleolithic Female Figurines". Current Anthropology, Vol. 37, No. 2, April., 1996. pp. 227-275.

R. Dale GuthrieR. Dale Guthrie, The Nature of Paleolithic Art. University Of Chicago Press