Stone Age

Introduction & Top Questions
Europe
- Paleolithic
  - Lower Paleolithic
  - Middle Paleolithic
  - Upper Paleolithic
    - Périgordian
    - Aurignacian
    - Solutrean
    - Magdalenian
- Mesolithic
  - The cultures
    - The Maglemosian
    - The Nachikufan
  - The general picture
- Neolithic
  - The zones
  - Cultural elements
    - Rural economy
    - Houses
    - Stone tools
    - Ax factories and flint mines
    - Art
    - Trade
Asia
- Paleolithic
  - Middle East
  - Central Asia
  - South Asia
  - East and Southeast Asia
  - Siberia
- Mesolithic–Neolithic: the rise of village-farming communities
  - Middle East
    - Incipient cultivation and domestication
    - The Natufian and Karim Shahirian
    - The effective village-farming community
    - Fully established village sequences in the Middle East
    - General cultural level of the early villages
    - The threshold of town and city life in the Middle East
    - General cultural level of the Ubaidian Phase
  - South and East Asia
  - Central Asia and Siberia
    - European cultures
    - Asian cultures
Africa
- Paleolithic
  - North Africa
  - Egypt
  - East Africa
  - Southern Africa
  - Central Africa
- Mesolithic–Neolithic
The Americas
- Early cultures
  - Paleo-Indian tradition
  - Desert tradition
- Rise of agriculture
- Other developments
  - Archaic tradition
  - Western North America
  - South and Middle America
- Village farming and towns
  - Hopewell culture
  - Mississippian culture
  - Pueblos
  - South America
  - The general picture
Oceania

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

Uniface blade and three end scrapers

Aurignacian-Gravettian sculpture

Magdalenian cave painting of a bison

La Roche aux Fées

Carved entrance stone

Female figurine in the form of a jar

At a Glance

Female figurine in the form of a jar

Stone Age summary

Related Questions

Uniface blade and three end scrapers — Uniface blade and three end scrapers Stone tool flaked on one surface only, known as a uniface blade, and three end scrapers.

Stone Age

anthropology

Written by

Robert J. BraidwoodAll

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 12, 2026 •History

Stone Age, prehistoric cultural stage, or level of human development, characterized by the creation and use of stone tools. The Stone Age, whose origin coincides with the discovery of the oldest known stone tools, which have been dated to some 3.3 million years ago, is usually divided into three separate periods—Paleolithic Period, Mesolithic Period, and Neolithic Period—based on the degree of sophistication in the fashioning and use of tools. Paleolithic archaeology is concerned with the...

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