Question

Explain the tool making skills of the Lower Paleolithic people.

Answer 1

Instructions: This is a question for 3 marks. Hence, the answer needs to be divided into three parts:

1. Ability of the lower paleolithic people to select appropriate raw material to make tools
2. Types of tools made by the Lower Paleolithic people
3. Highly developed cognitive skills demonstrated by the physical symmetry of the tools

Solution:

1. The human ancestors of the Lower Paleolithic period were intelligent enough to select stones as raw material and used the hammer stones to carefully flake the rocks and design tools for their needs.
2. They made various tools such as hand axes and cleavers to meet their subsistence needs. These tools are a part of the Acheulian tool making tradition.
3. These tools are also known as bifaces because they were flaked on both sides. These tools have physical symmetry and convey the human ancestors’ cognitive (perception) skills.