The Paleolithic age is a prehistoric period of human distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools and covers roughly 95% of human technological prehistory It extends from the earliest known use of stone tools, probably by homo habilis initially, 2.6 million years ago, to the end of the pleistocene around 10,000
The Paleolithic era is followed by the mesolithic . The date of the Paleolithic–Mesolithic boundary may vary by locality as much as several thousand years.
During the Paleolithic period, humans grouped together in small societies such as bands, and subsisted by gathering plants and fishing, hunting or scavenging wild animals] The Paleolithic is characterized by the use of knapped stone tools, although at the time humans also used wood and bone tools. Other organic commodities were adapted for use as tools, including leather and vegetable fibers; however, due to their nature, these have not been preserved to any great degree.
About 50,000 years ago, there was a marked increase in the diversity of artifacts. In Africa, bone artifacts and the first art appear in the archaeological record. The first evidence of human fishing is also noted, from artifacts in places such as blombos cave in south africa . Archaeologists classify artifacts of the last 50,000 years into many different categories, such as projectile points, engraving tools, knife blades, and drilling and piercing tools. The new technology generated a population explosion of modern humans which is believed to have led to the extinction of neanderthals
Humankind gradually evolved from early members of the genus homo—such as Homo habilis, who used simple stone tools—into fully behaviorally and anatomically modern humans during the Paleolithic era. During the Paleolithic period, humans grouped together in small societies such as bands, and subsisted by gathering plants and fishing, hunting or scavenging wild animals. The Paleolithic is characterized by the use of knapped stone tools, although at the time humans also used wood and bone tools.

Neolithic era was was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 10,200 BC, according to the ASPRO chronology, in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world and ending between 4500 and 2000 BC. Neolithic. Neolithic (New Stone Age) Period in human cultural development following the Palaeolithic. The Neolithic began c.8000 bc in w Asia and c.4000 bc in Europe. During this period people first lived in settled villages, domesticated animals, cultivated cereal crops, and ground stone and flint. neolithic

Paleolithic