A brief history of time

The first known tools come from the site of Lomekwi 3, on the shores of Lake Turkana in Kenya. Dated 3,39 million years ago, they predate the first representatives of the genus by 500 years. Homo ! They are attributed to Kenyanthropus platyops ou Australopithecus afarensis, two contemporary hominid species that populated this region of East Africa, related to the genus Homo.

• • Oldowan: formerly called Peeble culture (pebble culture), this first method of cutting stone tools was encountered between 2,6 and 1,7 million years ago, with the production of simple tools on flakes cut from hard rocks, often of volcanic origin (mode I).

  • Eponymous site: Olduvaï Gorges, northwest Tanzania. Several occupation grounds have been brought to light there with a production of cut pebbles (chopper, chopping-tool) and unretouched flakes. Fossils of Paranthropus bosei andhomo habilis are associated with tools and faunal remains.

   

• Acheulean: Between 1,76 MA and 200 years before present.

  Eponymous site: Saint-Acheul, in the Somme, named after a district of Amiens where Gabriel de Mortillet discovered, in 1828, tools that he considered very old. The Acheulean appears on the African continent then spreads, or is reinvented, in Europe and Asia according to the migrations ofhomo ergaster outside Africa. The oldest bifaces were produced in Africa around 1,76 million years ago. They appear in Europe around 700 years ago. The oldest traces of habitat date back around 000 million years, in the Olduvai region where a stone circle and concentration of tools were discovered.

  An emblematic tool of this culture, the biface is massive and shaped by removals on both sides, giving it two planes of symmetry.

  The oldest traces of fire date back more than 1,4 million years in Africa. In France, they date back 560 years, as evidenced by the Tautavel site. It is unknown whether these early fires were produced or sustained from natural fires.

The Middle Paleolithic is marked by new methods of producing tools, from flakes of more or less predetermined shapes. Neanderthals emerged in Europe around 400 years ago. In the Middle East, around 000 years before the present, anatomically modern men (Homo sapiens archaic) make and use the same types of tools. Sapiens and Neanderthals coexist there and share the same material culture. The first intentional burials in tombs appear around 120 years before the present (Tabun, Israel).

• The Mousterian :

Eponymous site Le Moustier in Dordogne. 

Characteristic culture of Neanderthals in Europe, this industry was also produced by Homo sapiens in North Africa and the Middle East around 100 years before present. Mousterian tools are made up of different variants, called facies, which have in common the search for flakes with sharp edges, according to different debitage methods. The large predetermined flakes obtained are retouched to produce scrapers, denticulates, notches or points.

The Upper Paleolithic began around 45 years before present. This period is characterized by the expansion of modern humans (Homo sapiens) worldwide. Its development accompanies the last major glacial phase in the northern hemisphere (Würm).

During this period, a cold and dry glacial climate reigns, punctuated by more temperate humid oscillations. Small extended family groups, of up to thirty people, live by hunting, fishing and gathering. Their annual nomadic circuits exploit the animal and plant resources of their territory in different environments throughout the year. They settle in temporary or semi-sedentary camps during the different seasons, in open-air tents, or take advantage of natural shelters (rocks, cave entrances).

In Western Europe, several cultural phases are marked by technical changes and innovations.

• The Châtelperronian : Between 45 and 000 years before present.

Eponymous site: Châtelperron in Allier, fairy cave, discovered in 1850.

The Châtelperronian is known in France and Spain. It marks the transition between the Middle Paleolithic and the Upper Paleolithic. The Châtelperronian lithic industry is characterized by the appearance of the first blades, the first bone tools and the first elements of adornment. This culture is attributed to the last Neanderthals, but this point remains debated.

• The Aurignacian : between 41 and 000 years before present

Eponymous site: Aurignac in Haute Garonne.

The Aurignacian coincides with the arrival ofHomo sapiens in Europe, its extension also reaches the Middle East. The Aurignacian is distinguished by the production of elongated tool supports (blades) and sometimes miniaturized tools (lamellae) to improve the effectiveness of hunting weapons. The use of hard animal materials (bones, antlers, ivory, teeth) for the manufacture of domestic tools and hunting weapons (spear points with split bases) is new. Through adornment, the decoration of objects, painted or sculpted figures, the Aurignacians produced the first obvious signs and symbols. They suggest new social relationships and new conceptions of the world. The domestication of the dog appears in the Aurignacian.

• The Gravettian : between 33 and 000 years before present

Eponymous site: La Gravette site in Dordogne.

The Gravettian lithic industry includes, in its evolved phase, very straight flint blades, used to make projectile points, called “Gravette points”, and small diversified and specialized tools such as Noailles burins. 

From Siberia to the Pyrenees, stereotypical female representations in stone, bone or ivory, bear witness to symbolic traditions common to all of western Eurasia, around 30 years before the present. The climate is milder, marked by increased humidity and temperatures. From 000 years before present, Europe experienced severe cooling which reached its maximum during the Solutrean.

• The Solutrean : between 26 and 000 years before present

Eponymous site: Solutré in Saône-et-Loire.

The Solutrean developed in southwest Europe (France and the Iberian Peninsula) during the extremely cold and dry episode of the last glacial maximum (around 24 years before present). Average annual temperatures are 000 to 10°C colder, and sea levels are 15 meters lower than today.
The Solutrean is marked by a significant development of cutting techniques. The points called “bay leaves”, of great finesse, characterize its middle and recent phases. Tools made of bone, reindeer antler or ivory are less present. The eye needle and the thruster appear in the Solutrean.

• Badegoulien : between 23 and 000 years before present

Eponymous site: Badegoule in Dordogne.

Formerly called "early Magdalenian", the Badegoulian is attested in the Franco-Cantabrian zone and the south of the Paris Basin, in Switzerland, in Germany as well as in Austria and the Czech Republic. With climatic improvements, high altitude and outdoor sites are spreading. Reindeer antler is cut by percussion. In lithic tools, scrapers retouched on their edges and chipped, non-standardized pieces are multiplying.

• The Magdalenian : Between 19 and 000 years before present

Eponymous site: la Madeleine in Dordogne.

The irregular improvement in the climate accompanies a demographic boom and the multiplication of sites in western Europe. Lithic tools include a large number of chisels, scrapers, drills, blades and blades. The bone and antler tools are very diverse (pierced sticks, smoothers, wands, spatulas, harpoon thrusters, assegai points, etc.) and frequently bear an abstract or figurative decoration. Magdalenian art, in caves and shelters, is particularly rich and varied, as is portable art on bone, antler, ivory or stone. Magdalenian harpoons, intended for hunting large mammals and sometimes for fishing, appear in hunting equipment.

In a few centuries, the climate becomes hotter and more humid, the landscapes change, immense forests replace the steppes of Europe. Groups reduce the radius of their seasonal movements, taking advantage of more varied resources: fishing, collecting molluscs, berries, fruits and hunting small mammals. Within smaller territories, cultures become regionalized. The tools made from local hard rocks are miniaturized, made up of geometric segments of blades transformed into arrow frames and fitted tools. In the primary forests of Europe, bow hunting is becoming widespread. The symbolic expression becomes abstract and geometric as evidenced by painted and engraved pebbles.

The first traces of cereal cultivation and livestock appeared as early as 9 BC in the Near East and spread to the west of the Mediterranean. Sedentary peasant communities from Anatolia colonized Europe.
Clearing allows for the installation of cultivated fields and pastures. Humanity becomes the main agent of landscape modification, instead of natural causes. Herbivorous mammals are domesticated (oxen, sheep, goats, pigs), as well as wild cereal plants (wheat, barley, millet, etc.) and dried vegetables (peas, chickpeas, beans).

Polishing the cut stone makes the tools stronger and more efficient. The tools are renewed. Polished stone axes and adzes are used for clearing forests, sickles and knives, and harvesting crops. Millstones and wheels transform the grains into flour. Ceramic containers and tableware cook and store food. A real craft is organized: weaving, basketry, espartowork, pottery, crumpling, etc. Productions move over great distances within exchange networks (flint blades, types and decoration of ceramics, etc.).

Perennial houses, made of wood and cob in the north, stone in the south, grouped into villages, form the habitat. Societies become hierarchical: funerary monuments (tumuli, dolmens) are created collectively, sometimes for the benefit of a privileged elite.

At the crossroads between Prehistory and History, Europe is known for both archeology and historical writings produced by other cultures that mastered writing: this is Protohistory.

• Bronze Age
• From 2 BCE, the evolution of ovens and cooking techniques paved the way for the metallurgy of copper alloys and bronze. New objects appear in everyday life. Axes, hooks, sickles, weapons and ornaments are now cast in bronze and are multiplying. The first fibulae, pins used to hold clothing, appear in the Late Bronze Age.

The segmentation of the stages of the production and distribution chains (mining extraction, transport of ore, transformation in forges, resale and distribution of finished products) and the establishment of trade routes are profoundly transforming societies. New centers of power emerge through the accumulation of wealth. A princely aristocracy is born, accompanied by a caste of warriors. Agriculture and livestock still form the essential part of the way of life. The villages were fortified (barred spurs) and settled on the heights or at the crossroads of trade routes.
The first bronze craftsmen brought with them bell-shaped ceramics: bell-shaped vases, with complex decoration engraved with a point or comb, in a grid, chevron, triangle or checkerboard. At the beginning of the Bronze Age, the wheel revolutionized transport and cremation burials became widespread.

• The Iron Age 

Around 800 BCE, peoples knowledgeable in iron metallurgy moved west and merged with the natives. They bring with them the potter's wheel and the domestic animals from the barnyard. In the 70th century BC, the geographical area occupied by the Celts extended towards England, Spain and even Italy. The Gauls, Celts of Gaul, number around XNUMX different peoples, united by a common language.
Textiles and leatherwork are important in the Celtic economy, as is iron metallurgy. The Gauls are renowned for being exceptional blacksmiths.
The Celtic peasant is a land technician: he clears and improves the soil. Its tools have clearly improved. The plowshares, the picks, the hoes, the scythes are made of iron. THE majority of Celtic tools are identical to those used in the 19th century.
The ornaments are numerous and varied: torques, ankle rings, open or closed bracelets, fibulas... Gold, iron, bronze, or schist are used for the manufacture of jewelry.
The graves reveal numerous rings, chains or bells.
War is of great importance and weapons are neat. The sword is long, flat and with a rounded tip. Shields made of perishable material are covered with leather. The helmet is rarely used except for pageantry and prestige. Chariot tombs are characteristic of this era, for the wealthy elite.

Fortified cities on heights were born: the oppida (Bibracte is a oppidum, for example).

The Iron Age ends with the conquest of Gaul by the Romans. The famous battle of Alésia, in 52 BCE, and the defeat of Vercingétorix put an end to Prehistory, Romans and Gallo-Romans now using writing.