The Stone Age Period and Its Evolution
                     The Stone Age period and its evolution
Introduction
The Stone Age lasted from 30,000 BCE to about 
3,000 BCE and is named after the main 
technological tool developed at that time: stone. 
It ended with the advent of the Bronze Age and 
Iron Age .
S o u r c e :  c o u r s e s . l u m e n l e a r n i n g . c o m 2
Distinct periods
The Stone Age has been divided into three distinct periods:
• Paleolithic Period or Old Stone Age (30,000 BCE–10,000 
BCE)
• Mesolithic Period or Middle Stone Age (10,000 BCE–8,000 
BCE)
• Neolithic Period or New Stone Age (8,000 BCE–3,000 BCE)
S o u r c e :  c o u r s e s . l u m e n l e a r n i n g . c o m 3
The Art of the Stone 
Age: Paleolithic
The Paleolithic era is characterized by the emergence of basic 
stone tools and stone art in the archaeological record. For the 
first time, humans began to create durable products of self 
expression that served no function for survival. 
The diagnostic art of this period appears in two main forms: 
small sculptures and large paintings and engravings on cave 
walls.
S o u r c e :  c o u r s e s . l u m e n l e a r n i n g . c o m 4
The Art of the Stone 
Age: Paleolithic cont.
Paleolithic small sculptures are made of clay, bone, ivory, or 
stone and consist of simple figurines depicting animals and 
humans. In particular, Venus figurines are the most indicative of 
this era. They are highly stylized depictions of women with 
exaggerated female parts representing fertility and sexuality. 
S o u r c e :  c o u r s e s . l u m e n l e a r n i n g . c o m 5
Paleolithic Art
The second main form of Paleolithic art consists of monumental cave 
paintings and engravings. This type of rock art is typically found in 
European cave shelters, dating to 40,000–14,000 years ago, when the 
earth was largely covered in glacial ice. 
The images are predominately depictions of animals, human hand 
prints, and geometric patterns. The most common animals in cave art 
are the more intimidating ones, like cave lions, woolly rhinoceroses, and 
mammoths .
S o u r c e :  c o u r s e s . l u m e n l e a r n i n g . c o m 6
The Art of the Stone 
Age: Mesolithic
From the Paleolithic through the Mesolithic, cave paintings and 
portable art such as figurines, statuettes, and beads 
predominated, with decorative figured workings also seen on 
some utilitarian objects. Venus figurines—an umbrella term for a 
number of prehistoric female statuettes portrayed with similar 
physical attributes—were very popular at the time.
S o u r c e :  c o u r s e s . l u m e n l e a r n i n g . c o m 7
Archaeological 
discoveries
Archaeological discoveries across a broad swath of Europe 
(especially southern France, like those at Lascaux; northern 
Spain; and Swabia, in Germany) include over two hundred caves 
with spectacular paintings, drawings, and sculptures that are 
among the earliest undisputed examples of representational 
image-making. Paintings and engravings along the caves’ walls 
and ceilings fall under the category of parietal art .
S o u r c e :  c o u r s e s . l u m e n l e a r n i n g . c o m 8
The Art of the Stone 
Age: Neolithic
The Neolithic saw the transformation of nomad human 
settlements into agrarian societies in need of permanent 
shelter. From this period there is evidence of early pottery, as 
well as sculpture, architecture, and the construction of 
megaliths . Early rock art also first appeared in the Neolithic 
period.
S o u r c e :  c o u r s e s . l u m e n l e a r n i n g . c o m 9
The End of the Stone 
Age
The advent of metalworking in the Bronze Age brought 
additional media available for use in making art, an increase in 
stylistic diversity, and the creation of objects that did not have 
any obvious function other than art. It also saw the 
development in some areas of artisans, a class of people 
specializing in the production of art, as well as in early writing 
systems.
S o u r c e :  c o u r s e s . l u m e n l e a r n i n g . c o m 10
THANK YOU
11