The Middle Paleolithic is the second part of the Old Stone Age, characterized by flake tools made with the prepared-core method called Levallois. In Europe and western Asia it is associated with the Mousterian industry of the Neanderthals, while in Africa the corresponding period is known as the Middle Stone Age. The earliest fossils classed as Homo sapiens, such as those from Jebel Irhoud in Morocco, date to its early phase. People of this time used fire routinely, hunted large game, made hafted tools and, at least among Neanderthals, buried their dead. Evidence of ornaments and pigments appears in the later part of the period. In Europe it was followed by the Upper Paleolithic, when modern humans spread and the Neanderthals disappeared.
Before and after
- about 2.7 million years agoGreat American Interchange
- about 2.6 million years agoOldowan
- from about 1.76 million years ago to 150,000 years agoAcheulean
- from about 315,000 years ago to 33,000 years agoMousterian
- from about 302,000 years ago to 32,000 years agoMiddle Paleolithic
- from about 115,000 years ago to 10th millennium BCELast Glacial Period
- about 75,100 years agoSymbolic engraving at Blombos Cave
- about 51,300 years agoSulawesi cave art is made
- from about 50,000 years ago to 2nd millenniumPre-Columbian era
More in Evolution & life
- about 33.9 million years agoEocene–Oligocene extinction event
- about 7 million years agoSahelanthropus, one of the earliest hominins
- from about 3.3 million years ago to 15,000 years agoPaleolithic
- from about 3.3 million years ago to 302,000 years agoLower Paleolithic
- from 3rd millennium BCE to 2nd millenniumMaya civilization
- 24 November 1974Discovery of Lucy
The era
This moment belongs to the Cenozoic (66 million years ago to 300,000 years ago), the rise of mammals and the ice ages.