Paleolithic and Mesolithic Periods History 1 –Chapter 1

Paleolithic Period No one's really sure just how long this period lasted, but archaeologists have theorized people used simple tools as early as 700,000 years ago. No one's really sure just how long this period lasted, but archaeologists have theorized people used simple tools as early as 700,000 years ago. During this period, people survived as hunter- gatherers, hunting wild game and supplementing their diets with gathered wild berries, nuts, and fruits. Animals eaten for food were also used for tools, for clothing, and for shelter. No part of the animal went unused. During this period, people survived as hunter- gatherers, hunting wild game and supplementing their diets with gathered wild berries, nuts, and fruits. Animals eaten for food were also used for tools, for clothing, and for shelter. No part of the animal went unused.

Populations were small and scattered. Some archaeologists believe there were no more than one million people worldwide at any one time during the Old Stone Age. Populations were small and scattered. Some archaeologists believe there were no more than one million people worldwide at any one time during the Old Stone Age. If this seems like a lot of people, compare it to our current world population of 7 billion. If this seems like a lot of people, compare it to our current world population of 7 billion.

People stayed in small groups and hunted, gathered, and lived together. At the time, the climate of the earth was very different from today. It was much colder. There weren't as many plants, and animals had to travel to find food. So did people - they had to follow the animals since they relied chiefly on animals for food. This is why people of the Paleolithic period were nomadic and never settled in one place for long.

Mesolithic period The Mesolithic period (the Middle Stone Age) began when the last ice sheet over Great Britain melted. It was then that large areas of vegetation and woodland began to grow, but the people of this period still depended on animals for food and were still nomadic.

They often camped temporarily near water sources, and their tents were made of animal skin or of thatched leaves. Like the people of the Paleolithic period, people of the Mesolithic period were hunter-gatherers. They hunted wild game and collected wild nuts, fruits, and berries.

They developed more sophisticated tools, using bones for fishhooks and deer antlers for digging. They sometimes used bones to make spears so they could more efficiently hunt wild animals. Though they hunted deer, wild pigs, wild cattle, and horses, fishing was also an important part of the Mesolithic diet, and the people of this period developed canoes and paddles to more easily catch fish.