E

Term describing the archaeological sites and the time interval of the Oldowan and Acheulean industries, aswell as of the nonhandaxe traditions of the Middle Pleistocene (e.g., the “chopper-chopping-tool” complexes of Asia). Grouping all of these sites and industries under the same rubric is primarily a function of the history of archaeology, in which divisions tended to be made in groups of three: Lower, Middle, and Upper. In the nineteenth century, handaxe industries were assigned to the Early Paleolithic and subdivided into the Chellean, Abbevillian, and Acheulean. The simple technologies of the Oldowan were subsequently also assigned to the Early Paleolithic (= African Early Stone Age) as research in Africa progressed.