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Key concepts
Talking book
Prehistory
THE PROCESS OF HOMINISATION
Prehistory is the beginning of the history of the human race.
It began with the appearance of the first human beings and ended with the discovery of writing around 3 500 B.C. Prehistory is divided into periods according to the technological advances: the Paleolithic Period , the Neolithic Period and the Bronze and Iron Ages .
The Paleolithic Age
The Paleolithic Period began when hominids learnt to make tools. The used stone (knapped), wood and bone to make bifaces, stone chips, scrapers, perforators, arrow heads, harpoons, javelins, spear throwers and needles.
The Epipaleolithic was a period of transition between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic Age.
Economy and Society in the Paleolithic Age
During the Paleolithic Age, human beings were scavengers (they lived from hunting, fishing and gathering wild fruit). They lived at subsistence level (they had just enough to survive).
They did not stay in one place, but were nomads (they moved around in search of animals to hunt). They lived outside in huts or sheltered in caves. They formed small groups that shared family ties, called clans (with a common ancestor). Various clans joined together to form a tribe .
Culture and art in the Paleolithic age
Religion appeared when humans tried to find explanations for inexplicable natural phenomena. The first known religious manifestations were burials . The objects put beside the corpse in the tomb are called grave goods .
During the Upper Paleolithic, works of art were produced such as the figurines of women called Venus (which are associated with fertility) and cave paintings (which are associated with magic rituals). There were two styles of cave paintings: in the Franco-Cantabrian area, they were polychrome and naturalistic ; in the Levantine area of the Iberian Peninsula, they were monochrome and schematic .
The Paleolithic age on the Iberian Peninsula
The most important archaeological sites on the Iberian Peninsula are Atapuerca (remains of hominids such as Homo antecessor ) and Altamira (Franco-Cantabrian style cave paintings).
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