Swan lake of the Paleolithic era. Paleolithic Paleolithic Swan Lake

• Paleolithic (Greek παλαιός - ancient + Greek λίθος - stone; = ancient stone) - the first historical period of the Stone Age from the beginning of the use of stone tools by hominids (genus homo) (about 2.5 million years ago) until the advent of agriculture in humans about 10 millennium BC. e .. Selected in 1865 by John Lubbock. Paleolithic - the era of the existence of fossil man, as well as fossil, now extinct species of animals. It occupies most of the time (about 99%) of the existence of mankind and coincides with two large geological eras of the Cenozoic era - the Pliocene and Pleistocene.

  In the Paleolithic era, the climate of the Earth, its flora and fauna differed significantly from modern ones. People of the Paleolithic era lived in a few primitive communities and used only chipped stone tools, not yet knowing how to grind them and make pottery - ceramics. However, in addition to stone tools, tools were also made from bone, leather, wood and other materials of plant origin. They were engaged in hunting and gathering plant foods. Fishing was just beginning to emerge, while agriculture and cattle breeding were not known.

  The beginning of the Paleolithic (2.5 million years ago) coincides with the appearance on Earth of the oldest ape-like people, archanthropes such as the Olduvian Homo habilis. At the end of the Paleolithic, the evolution of hominids ends with the appearance of the modern species of humans (Homo sapiens). At the very end of the Paleolithic, people began to create the oldest works of art, and there were signs of the existence of religious cults, such as rituals and burials. The climate of the Paleolithic changed several times from ice ages to interglacials, becoming either warmer or colder.

  The end of the Paleolithic dates back to about 12-10 thousand years ago. This is the time of transition to the Mesolithic - an intermediate era between the Paleolithic and Neolithic.

  The Paleolithic is conditionally divided into lower and upper, although many researchers also distinguish the middle from the lower Paleolithic. The more subdivisions of the Upper or Late Paleolithic have only a local character, since the diverse archaeological cultures of this period are not universally represented. Temporal boundaries between subdivisions in different regions may also differ, since archaeological cultures did not replace each other at the same time.

  In the 19th century, Gabriel de Mortillet singled out the Eolithic as an epoch preceding the Paleolithic. Currently, the term is not used, Mortiller's criteria are recognized as erroneous. In addition, in the Russian-language archaeological literature, the Upper and Middle Paleolithic are sometimes referred to as "Archaeolithic".

Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic - these are three large cultural and historical periods of the Stone Age. It got its name due to the fact that weapons in those days were made only of stone, and only towards the end of the century did bones begin to be used and the century lasted more than one hundred thousand years. But even now, thanks to numerous historical and archaeological finds, we can learn at least the main moments of the life of primitive people at the dawn of human civilization.

What is a Paleolithic?

The most ancient history of mankind is the Paleolithic era, the longest period of the Stone Age, which began more than 2.5 million years ago. Its main feature is the evolution of people: from the animal to the primitive communal system. The emergence and development of speech is very important and significant. The Paleolithic is divided into three stages: early, middle and late.

Early Paleolithic

This is the first and longest stage. The beginning of the Paleolithic is associated with the appearance of the first ape-like man - the archanthrope. They were not tall (1.5 - 1.8 m), had characteristic clearly defined brow ridges and a sloping chin. They used animal skins as clothing, lived in caves and, according to many scientists, actively practiced cannibalism. The main feature of the early Paleolithic is the beginning of the use of stone homemade tools. They were made by cutting off everything superfluous from one stone to another in order to form a chip or cutting edge. Gradually, the manufacturing technique improved, and hand axes and the so-called drills appeared - tools with which they dug up roots or cut down trees. Another significant evolutionary step of the early Paleolithic was the use of fire. Traces of ancient bonfires 1.5 million years old were found in Africa and Asia. But at this stage, he could only support the fire, they had not yet mined it on their own.

Middle Paleolithic

Homo erectus is still the predominant species at this time, and its evolution continues. In Africa, about 200-300 thousand years ago, a new species appeared, which, in terms of brain volume, was close to modern humans - this is the Neanderthal. They were distinguished by taller stature and a very strong muscular physique, which gave them considerable physical strength. The Middle Paleolithic is an era of survival, since Neanderthals lived in perhaps the most difficult climatic conditions - during the Ice Age.

It helped to survive that people learned to make their own fire on their own, by carving. It was discovered, most likely, by accident during the manufacture of another sharp stone tool. At the same time, the first spears and knives, arrowheads and scrapers for processing animal skins appeared. The social structure is developing, people live in large groups, taking care of the elderly. Art is born in the form of rock paintings depicting hunting or, very often, women, which can be regarded as prerequisites for matriarchy.

Late Paleolithic

This is the period when a person appeared, reminiscent of the modern - Cro-Magnon, he is named after the Cro-Magnon cave, in which his remains were found. The Cro-Magnon phenotype resembles modern people: a high forehead, a pronounced chin, smaller muscles, developed hand motor skills, which made it possible to manufacture improved tools for hunting and everyday life. The main material is still stone. During the late Paleolithic-Mesolithic (early) period, the first similarity of boats appeared. This was preceded by the manufacture of the first rafts from logs or dry rods. Needles were made from bones, the progenitors of modern ones, they were used to make clothes, rods. Figurines made of mammoth tusks and bones, rock art were actively developed. The Paleolithic era at a later stage marked the beginning of the domestication of wild animals, the first, as you know, were dogs. The Cro-Magnons determined the time according to the solar and lunar calendars. gradually replaced by matriarchal Making the first clay figurines characterizes the Paleolithic. The Neolithic is marked by the appearance of the first pottery.

Mesolithic

This era begins after the end of the last ice age. This segment is controversial among historians. It is most pronounced in the north of modern Europe. During this period, weapons continued to improve, bows and arrows appeared. People domesticated wild animals: buffaloes, horses, cows. Society develops, and the first norms of behavior, rules appear. The Mesolithic is characterized by the further development of speech.

Neolithic

If the Paleolithic is a period of active hunting, fishing and gathering, then one of the main events of the Neolithic is the transition to a productive economy: agriculture and cattle breeding. People became more attached to one place, the first houses, huts and even cities began to appear. Clay began to be used for making dishes and in art.

The Neolithic, like the Paleolithic, is divided into early, middle and late periods. And each of them proceeded unevenly, not at the same time, different cultures entered each stage at different times. Even then, for example, the territory of modern China could boast of high development.

Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic - these are milestones in the evolution of man as a biological species. For thousands of years, he has won his place under the sun from nature. One type replaced another, tools were improved, the system changed from the herd, characteristic of animals, to the primitive communal one, art was born.

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The Old Stone Age, along with the Mesolithic and Neolithic, constitutes the Stone Age, precedes the Mesolithic. It is divided into lower (early; ca. 2.6 million years ago - 70 thousand years ago), middle (Mousterian; 70 thousand - up to 32 thousand years ago) and upper (late; from ca. 32 thousand to 8300 years ago) Paleolithic.

The Lower Paleolithic is characterized by the separation of man from the animal world (see Art. Australopithecus, Handy Man) and the beginning of the manufacture of primitive stone tools by him: core pebble tools, hand axes and choppers (large pebbles, upholstered on one side). The earliest industry in Europe for the production of massive hand axes is the Abbeville culture. It is replaced by the Acheulean culture, characterized by the production of bifaces (2-sided axes) and the use of a tool made of soft material (wood, bone, horn) instead of a chipping stone for chipping. In African terminology, all hand ax industries are referred to as Acheulean, the earliest phases of the African Acheulean coincide with Abbeville in Europe. There were also cultures in which hand axes were practically not used; tools were made from flint flakes (Clekton culture, etc.).

People of the Lower Paleolithic lived in small groups (20-40 people) along the banks of reservoirs. The main occupations are hunting and gathering. It is possible that wooden spears or spears were used at this time. At the end of the era, cooling gradually sets in, flora and fauna change. Camps (in and out of caves) become more durable. On some, the remains of dwellings in the form of oval huts with hearths protected from the wind have been preserved.

The Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian) is associated with the appearance of the Neanderthals, differs from the previous ones in a large variety of tools. Flint tools of the Mousterian type (scrapers) and triangular points made on flakes were used as scraping, cutting and percussion tools. These types of tools, as well as well-crafted hand axes, are found in almost all parts of Eurasia and North Africa. Bone began to be used more widely. At the end of the Mousterian era, glaciation sets in in Europe, mammoths, woolly rhinos, and others appear. Mousterian people begin to bury the dead (see the Teshik-Tash article).

In the Upper Paleolithic, a modern man is formed. type. The era is characterized by the further development of stone and bone processing techniques: the spread of the prismatic splitting technique; appearance of drilling, sawing and grinding of stone. The set of tools expanded, labor activity specialized. Compound tools (made of stone with handles of wood and bone) spread. Bone needles with an eyelet and awls were made, which were used for sewing clothes from skins. Various dwellings were built. The main branch of the economy (hunting) supplied people with food, materials for clothing, housing construction and heating. The tribal community became the basis of human society (see Art. Genus). A variety of female images testify to the developed cult of the female parent, the guardian of the house, allowing us to speak of the presence of a maternal clan (see Art. Matriarchy). Funeral rites became more complicated. Samples of cave art belong to this period (see the stations of Altamira, Lasko, Shulgan-Tash).

Paleolithic. Tools of labor: a wooden club, stone-tipped spears, an axe, a bone harpoon.

More than a million years ago, archaic people ate rats, did not disdain shrews, and somehow managed to catch and eat birds. And they didn't just eat the birds, but seemed to give them a ritual or symbolic meaning.

New finds in the Kesem cave of the Paleolithic period, inhabited approximately 420 - 200 thousand years ago, indicate that the hominins who lived there tried to defeather their prey.

"They didn't throw anything away," says Professor Ran Barkai of Tel Aviv University, one of those involved in the exploration of Qesem Cave. The bones left from the eaten elephants were turned into tools, the tendons of birds were used as threads, and the bones were used as tools, beaks and claws were worn as pendants. It turns out that feathers were valued as well, as evidenced by an article by Ruth Blasco, Avi Gofer, and Ran Barkai of Tel Aviv University, which also co-wrote Jordi Rosell and Antonio Sánchez Marco of Rovira and Virgili University, prepared for publication in the prestigious journal Evolution person."

Archaeologists have long puzzled over the question of why archaic man ate tiny animals that were so difficult to catch, and there was nothing in them at all. Compared to hunting elephants and wild cattle, this was an extremely inefficient waste of time and effort. But there are indications that archaic people hunted this little thing not at all from hunger.

If the inhabitants of Qesem cave killed birds only for meat, it would be natural to assume that muscular bones, such as a femur, for example, would be found in the cave. However, the researchers found cuts - no doubt human-made - on the swan's wing bone, which has virtually no meat on it.

Hundreds of thousands of years ago, archaic people plucked dead swans, either for decorative or ritual purposes.

“The finds in the Kesem Cave may indicate a certain stage of cultural evolution, when relationships with a range of animals became more complex and developed,” says Barkai.

He does not believe that archaic people stuck feathers in their hair for beauty. In his opinion, it was not about aesthetics, nor about certain rituals. “That was their relationship with the animals. They wanted to feel connected to the world around them and all of its elements.” Perhaps so, but not all scientists agree with this hypothesis.

Marshes of central Israel

Kesem Cave is located about 10 km from Tel Aviv. Initially, it was huge and its height reached 12 meters. According to Barkai, during the period that archaic people lived in the cave - approximately 420 - 200 thousand years ago - they gradually littered it, which explains why this amazing cave in an area teeming with life was abandoned about 200 thousand years ago. "Her last men could barely stand up."

During these 220,000 years, significant ecological transformations have taken place in the Levant, they are also marked by the development of hominins. They began to use fire, mined flint and improved the blades that were made from it; on the other hand, large herbivores, primarily elephants, disappeared.

“During this period, archaic man plucked some species of birds, and it seems that this happened in the Kesem cave,” the researchers write. If their interpretation is correct, it strengthens the hypothesis of a link between human biological and cultural evolution.

Who lived in the Kesem cave? The author of an independent study, Professor Israel Gershkovich and his colleagues suggest that the teeth found at the excavation site could belong to both the direct predecessor of modern man and the Neanderthal, and the only thing that can be definitely said is that we are not talking about Homo erectus.

Paleolithic swan lake

Judging by the bones found in the cave, central Israel was at that time a much wetter region. Perhaps archaic people lived on the shores of a long-vanished lake or swamps, which abounded with birds and animals of all sizes.

“There is no doubt that they ate everything they could catch, including birds,” says Barkai. So far, scientists have managed to find only one swan bone, and one on which there is practically no meat. “To this day, both the swan and the raven have a special meaning in the public mind. There is no reason to believe that it was otherwise in the past.”

Barkay says that Kesem is the oldest of the places where the predecessors of man deliberately removed feathers from birds. Why would they need feathers? “Perhaps they used them for ritual purposes, or perhaps they thought that the feathers could endow them with the properties of a swan,” says Barkai.

A similar thing happened in the less distant past with a tribe that lived in what is now Louisiana. While the tribes around them saw the owl as a symbol of death, the "owl people" decided to imitate the silent nocturnal predator. The events described refer to 1750–970. BC. They built the village in the shape of an owl and "could move like owls," wrote Lee Bloch in the Journal of Social Archaeology. They also had owl figurines.

It is possible that the ancient inhabitants of the Kesem cave thought something similar about the crow and the swan: darkness and light, shadow and sun, secrecy and sincerity - who knows? And this tendency to humanize birds has survived to this day.

Wouldn't it be a stretch to extrapolate the ideas of a relatively modern society to the distant predecessors of Homo sapiens? Professor Barkai doesn't think so.

"These are universal and fundamental concepts," he explained. "Respect for nature, awareness of one's place in it is characteristic of all local tribes, from Australia to America and the Arctic."

Ruth Schuster, Haaretz, M.R.

In the photo: a swan wing bone with traces of processing. Photo: Ruth Blasco