By about 100,000 years ago, Neanderthal cultures had several types of tools and were using bone implements. .
At the end of the Paleolithic period, modern humans (Homo sapiens) made such specialized tools as needles and harpoons. In the Cro-Magnon caves of Europe, wall paintings and evidence of both religious cults and possible social stratification point to the complexity of the cultures.
After 13,000 bc more clement weather patterns resulted in the greater availability of food. In tropical and temperate forest regions, Paleolithic tools, still chipped, were adapted to the new conditions. This period is known as the Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age. .
In both the Middle East and in Mesoamerica, however, agricultural villages had begun to develop by 8000 bc. This is known as the Neolithic period, or New Stone Age. Stone tools became highly polished and varied. By 6000 bc pottery appeared in the ancient Middle East, and copper was used for the first time in some regions. In other regions, the Neolithic arrived much later. .
Bronze Age, the time in the development of any human culture, before the introduction of iron, when most tools and weapons were made of bronze. .
Chronologically, the term is of strictly local value, for bronze came into use, and was again replaced by iron, at different times in different parts of the world. It generally succeeds a culture's Copper Age.
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Archaeological discoveries since 1960 have upset traditional theories concerning the origins of copper and bronze technologies. It had been thought that the use of bronze had originated in the Middle East, but discoveries near Ban Chiang, Thailand, indicate that bronze technology was known there as early as 4500 bc. .
This preceded the working of bronze in the Middle East by several hundred years. Bronze objects have been found in Asia Minor that date from before 3000 bc. At first this alloy was used sparingly, mostly for decorative purposes; the tin needed to make it was not available in the region.
