James Baquet

    Ming is chatting with his classmate Mark in the common room of their dorm.

    Ming: Hey, Mark. Remember the other day I was asking you about different kinds of men?

    Mark: Sure! “Straight man,” straw man,” and so forth.

    Ming: Right. Well, here’s another one: “cave man.”

    Mark: Oh, yes. That refers to “early man,” the earliest humans on the planet. Some of them lived in caves part of the time.

    Ming: They’re the ones who lived with dinosaurs, right?

    Mark: Oh, no! That’s a popular misconception. The earliest humans who used tools lived in what we call the “Stone Age,” which some scholars say started around two and a half million years B.P.

    Ming: “B.P.?” You mean “B.C.?” Before Christ?

    Mark: No, B.P. means “before the present.” When you’re talking about millions of years, B.C. and B.P. are pretty close to the same. But if you say “3,000 B.P.” that’s really only 1,000 B.C.

    Ming: I see. Anyway, the Stone Age…?

    Mark: Started around 2.5 million B.P. And dinosaurs became largely extinct around 66 million years ago.

    Ming: Oh! So they didn’t live at the same time at all!

    Mark: That’s right. Now, the Stone Age is part of what archaeologists call the “Three Age System.” And the first age is called the “Stone Age” because that’s the material mainly used for their tools and weapons.

    Ming: Weapons?

    Mark: Sure. Stone tips for arrows or spears, and stone knives, for example.

    Ming: I see.

    Mark: When humans started making materials from bronze, the Bronze Age began. And after that came the Iron Age.

    Ming: Three Ages. I get it. What are the dates?

    Mark: Well, they’re different depending on where we’re talking about. But in Europe, you might say the Stone Age was 2.5 million years B.P. to 3000 B.C.; the Bronze from then until 1000 B.C.; and the Iron until about 500 B.C.

    Ming: That’s pretty short!

    Mark: Yes, because after that, though iron and steel were still used, we start finding more written records, and move into the historical period.

    Ming: So these are all prehistoric?

    Mark: Mostly, yeah. Also, the Stone Age is divided into three parts. The “Old Stone Age” or Paleolithic —

    Ming: Pardon?

    Mark: Oh, Paleo- means “old,” and lithos is “stone.”

    Ming: Okay.

    Mark: The Mesolithic is the Middle Stone Age, and the Neolithic —

    Ming: The New Stone Age! I get it! Dates?

    Mark: The Paleolithic ended around the end of the last Ice Age, so maybe 10000 B.C. The Meso- runs until 5000 B.C., and the Neolithic until the Bronze Age.

    Ming: Got it. Thanks!