Page "Human evolution" Paragraph 98

Stone tools are first attested around 2. 6 Ma, when H. habilis in Eastern Africa used so-called pebble tools, choppers made out of round pebbles that had been split by simple strikes.

This marks the beginning of the Paleolithic, or Old Stone Age ; its end is taken to be the end of the last Ice Age, around 10, 000 years ago.

The Paleolithic is subdivided into the Lower Paleolithic ( Early Stone Age, ending around 350, 000 – 300, 000 years ago ), the Middle Paleolithic ( Middle Stone Age, until 50, 000 – 30, 000 years ago ), and the Upper Paleolithic.