Early or Old Stone Age - History Notes Form One
Human Technology
The evolution of the human being went hand in hand with technological development.
This development passed through two common ages, which were determined by the type of materials used to make tools.
Thus, there were:-
- · The Stone Age
- · The Iron Age
A: Stone Age
Stone Age like bones, wood and plant fibres. However, such tools could not last long hence are difficult to trace.
The Stone Age refers to the period in human history when stone was the primary material for making tools and weapons.
Human beings used those tools to meet their needs.
This period is divided into three phases:
- The Early Stone Age or the Old Stone Age
- The Middle Stone Age
- The Late Stone Age or the New Stone Age
I. Early or Old Stone Age
The Early Stone Age lasted approximately from 3.0 million to 400,000 years ago. During this period, human ancestors made and used stone tools for hunting and gathering.
They hunted wild animals and gathered fruits, roots, and eggs from the surrounding environment. The Early Stone Age was characterised by the use of two types of tools, namely Oldowan and Acheulian tools.
Oldowan stone tools: Oldowan tools were named after Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, where they were first discovered. In addition, they have been found on the shores of Lake Turkana in Kenya and the Omo and Hadar valleys in Ethiopia. The tools were simple and crude, and they were obtained from hard natural rocks, sometimes with little modifications.
For the places where they did not modify tools, they used them to perform specific tasks as they picked them. The Oldowan tools included flakes, choppers, and cores used for simple activities such as killing, skinning animals and breaking bones to obtain marrow. They could also be used for breaking nuts and digging roots. The maker of Oldowan stone tools was Homo habilis.
The Following picture shows samples of Oldowan stone tools.
Acheulian stone tools: These tools were discovered first at St. Acheul in France. They were more advanced than the Oldowan tools because they were made by breaking small sharp pieces of stones from hard, bigger rocks. This process is called flaking.
The Acheulian stone tools included hand axes, cleavers, and picks. They were used for heavy-duty activities such as falling down trees, killing animals and processing meat.
The maker of Acheulian stone tools was Homo erectus. Acheulian stone tools are found in Isimila, Olduvai Gorge, Lake Natron and Laetoli in Tanzania and around Lake Turkana in Kenya. Apart from making stone tools, Homo erectus lived together in small camps, hunted animals, and shared food.
The Figure below shows samples of Acheulian stone tools.
Physical changes in human beings during the Old Stone Age
In the Early Stone Age, the physical changes in human beings involved three stages of evolution: Australopithecus, Homo habilis and Homo erectus.
Australopithecus
Australopithecus was characterised by a hairy body, which helped to protect them from cold; large jaws and teeth; and a small brain size but larger than that of chimpanzees, which was about 400 cranial capacity (cc). Their bodies were like those of chimpanzees. Their legs and pelvis were like those of human beings. In addition, the body size of women was smaller than that of men. This creature walked on two legs (bipedalism). Evidence for bipedalism is found at Laetoli in Arusha, where Australopithecus afarensis left their footprints on volcanic ashes about 3.5 million years ago.
Homo habilis
Homo habilis had a modern human shape with a large brain ranging from about 500cc to 800cc. This brain size was bigger than that of Australopithecus.
He also had a prolonged face and smaller jaws, smaller teeth, longer arms, and shorter legs than modern humans. Males were heavier and taller than females.
Homo erectus
During this age of evolution, Homo erectus became a complete upright creature and could communicate through speech. Homo erectus had a larger brain than that of Homo habilis. It ranged from about 700 cc to 1,250 cc.
They had a flat face, thicker skull bones, and smaller teeth than Homo habilis. In addition, their arms and legs were similar to those of modern humans.
Ways of obtaining food during the Old Stone Age
During this age, humans obtained food by hunting wild animals using simple and crude tools and gathering roots, tubers, eggs and fruits from the surrounding.
They hunted antelopes, buffaloes, and other animals. Animal bones hunted by human beings during this age have been found at Olduvai Gorge in East Africa.
Exercise
How did human beings manage life during the Early Stone Age?