Modelling the Past: The Paleoethnological Evidence

The chapter considers the earliest Palaeolithic Mode 1 (Olduwan) and Mode 2 (Acheulian) Cultures of the Old Continent and the traces left by tyhe earliest hominins since their departure from Africa some 2Myr ago. Following the discovery of Dmanisi in the mountains of Georgia the firt Palaeolithic settlement of Europe is date to some 1.75 Myr, while the first weel-defined "structural remains" so far discovered in Europe are those from Isernia La Pineta in south-central Italy. Some 0.35Myr H. Erectus is suposed to have begun the domestication of fire. Although most of the archaeological finds from the above ages consist of chipped stone tools, indication of art demonstrations seem to be already present in the Acheulian of Africa and the Indian Subcontinent