ABSTRACT
In its broadest sense, the Palaeolithic can be described as the rst and by far the longest period of human existence, covering a timespan of more than 2.5 million years. The Palaeolithic is dened largely on the basis of the presence of stone artefacts (hence the derivation of the term ‘Old Stone Age’) which in turn can be typed and classied according to subdivisions for this period. In Britain and northern Europe such tool-making traditions can be traced back to at least 0.7 million years ago (in the Pleistocene or ‘Recent’ geological epoch) and continued until the end of the last Ice Age approximately 11,500 years ago.
