The ancient cultural level of human development is characterized by the manufacture and use of stone tools. According to the shape and complexity of tools, the Stone Age is usually divided into three independent stages, namely Paleolithic Age, Mesolithic Age and Neolithic Age.
The Stone Age refers to the time when people used stones as tools. At this time, due to the underdeveloped technology, people can only make simple tools with stones. With the progress of the times, people are constantly improving the development of stone tools. From the time division, the Stone Age can be roughly divided into three eras: Paleolithic Age, Mesolithic Age and Neolithic Age.
Stone tools are made of different kinds of stones. For example, flint and amphibole are sharpened (or sliced) and used as cutting tools or weapons, while basalt and sandstone are used to make stone grinding tools, such as hand grinding. Materials such as wood, bones, shells and antlers are also widely used. In the late Stone Age, clay and other materials were also used to make pottery. A series of metallurgical technological innovations are used to describe the later ages (Bronze Stone Age), Copper Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age.
The Stone Age includes the first large-scale spread of science and technology in the process of human evolution, and the expansion of human beings from the East African prairie to other parts of the world. With the development of agriculture, animal husbandry and copper smelting technology, the Stone Age ended. This period is called prehistoric period, because human beings have not yet begun to write history in the traditional sense.
Archaeologists use the term "Stone Age" to mean a long time before the metallurgical age, during which stone tools were used far more than tools made of other (softer) materials. In the classic book Prehistoric Times written by John Lubbock 1865, the Stone Age is the first level in his tertiary system, and it is subdivided into Paleolithic Age, Mesolithic Age and Neolithic Age. In fact, in different regions (and cultures), the replacement of the times is very different. And even in the metallurgical age, human beings are constantly expanding into new fields, so when it comes to it, there is no definite unified "Stone Age".