Prehistory: Hominisation, Palaeolithic, Neolithic, and the Metal Age

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering hominisation, Palaeolithic tools and art, Neolithic socio-technical developments, and Metal Age metallurgy, inventions, and megaliths.

Bipedalism

The adaptation of walking upright on two legs, representing one of the fundamental physical changes in the process of hominisation.

Australopithecus

An early hominid that appeared in the Rift Valley (East Africa) $4.5\text{ million years ago}$, walked upright on two legs, used sticks and stones without manufacturing tools, had an average height of $1.10\,\text{m}$, and weighed $40\,\text{kg}$.

Homo habilis

A hominid that appeared in East Africa $2.3\text{ million years ago}$ and did not leave the continent; known for manufacturing the first stone tools for cutting, possessing speaking ability, measuring $1.59\,\text{m}$ in height, and weighing $50\,\text{kg}$.

Homo erectus

A hominid that appeared in East Africa $1.6\text{ million years ago}$, hunted in groups, discovered fire, and created flint stone tools sharpened on both sides.

Homo antecessor

A hominid species whose oldest remains were discovered in Atapuerca, Burgos; individuals reached $1.70\text{ to }1.85\,\text{m}$ in height, weighed $60\text{ to }90\,\text{kg}$, and practiced cannibalism.

Homo sapiens neanderthalensis

A hominid species that appeared exclusively in Europe $300\,000\text{ years ago}$, evolving from Homo erectus; known for carrying out the first intentional burials.

Homo sapiens sapiens

A species appearing in East Africa $200\,000\text{ years ago}$ that expanded into Asia, Australia/Oceania, Europe ($40\,000\text{ years ago}$), and the Americas, producing advanced tools such as harpoons and spears from bone and antler.

Palaeolithic Age

The earliest period of human prehistory where humans lived as predatory hunters and gatherers in nomadic tribes and developed primitive stone tools.

Strikers

Stone pieces used during Prehistory to strike other stones in order to flake and manufacture different tools.

Biface

A Palaeolithic hand axe named for having two working edges, primarily used to chop and cut.

Cutters

Palaeolithic tools manufactured with sharp cutting edges used specifically to slice animal skins.

Denticulate

A Palaeolithic stone tool similar to a scraper that features tooth-like or serrated edges like a saw.

Scrapers

Stone tools utilized in the Palaeolithic to work and clean animal skins and to strip meat away from bones.

Spears (Palaeolithic)

Hand-thrown projectile weapons featuring points obtained from animal horns affixed to wooden shafts.

Engraver

A small tool worked into a sharp point capable of making deep incisions to manufacture instruments from bone and horn.

Axes (Palaeolithic)

Implements consisting of a stone tied to a stick that functioned as weapons or as tools to cut bones and plants.

Arrow heads

Pointed stone tips attached to arrow shafts to improve hunting efficiency, which were made progressively smaller and sharper over time.

Hammer (Palaeolithic)

A prehistoric tool consisting of uncarved stone attached to a wooden pole used for heavy striking.

Punch

A pointed Palaeolithic tool manufactured from bone used specifically to perforate materials.

Needles (Palaeolithic)

Tools carved from bone (such as bear bone) with an eyelet hole at one end used to thread and sew animal skins.

Sedentary lifestyle

A permanent way of living established during the Neolithic Age where communities settled in self-sufficient villages situated on high ground near rivers to tend crops and animals.

Polished stone

A technical innovation of the Neolithic Age in which stone was smoothed and polished to produce refined, durable instruments.

Loom

A Neolithic apparatus invented to weave threads and manufacture textiles.

Pottery

A major Neolithic technical invention involving molded and fired clay vessels primarily used to store grain.

Palaeolithic Cave Art

Realistic, polychromatic rock paintings representing animals, typically created deep within caves for probable religious purposes (e.g., Altamira and Lascaux).

Neolithic Cave Art

Schematic, monochromatic rock art depicting scenes of both humans and animals, such as those found at La Araña in Valencia.

Venus statuettes

Small Palaeolithic figurines made of stone, bone, or antler depicting women with minimalist facial details and exaggerated fertility traits (e.g., Venus of Willendorf).

Mother Goddess

A Neolithic fertility divinity revered as the mistress of nature and the protector of crops and livestock.

Metallurgy

The technological process of extracting and shaping metals to produce weapons, tools, and jewelry, developed approximately $7\,000\text{ years ago}$.

Bronze

A metal alloy composed of copper and tin; it was the second major metal used by humans following copper.

Iron

The third and hardest of the primary metals adopted during the Metal Age, replacing bronze for weaponry and tools.

Wheel

A Metal Age invention that fundamentally improved land transport.

Plough

An agricultural tool introduced during the Metal Age that made tilling and cultivating land significantly easier.

Megaliths

Monumental structures built using large blocks of stone during the Metal Age.

Menhir

A single tall megalithic stone standing vertically in the ground, such as El Cabezudo in Cantabria.

Dolmen

A megalithic burial monument made of upright vertical stones supporting a horizontal flat slab on top, exemplified by Santa Elena in Biescas, Huesca.

Stone circle

A megalithic monument consisting of standing stones arranged in a circular formation, exemplified by Stonehenge in England.