171 NCEA Style Question: Cultural Evolution

1. Early Palaeolithic tool culture lasted almost 2.5 million years with only a few major developments in that time. At the beginning of the Upper Palaeolithic, about 40,000 years ago, there was a rapid expansion in the types and complexity of tools being made by humans. These represented a massive developmental leap in comparison to earlier stone tools.

Compare the stone tools of early species of Homo with stone tools from the Upper Palaeolithic. Discuss the developments that allowed the production of more complex tools and the effects these had on human cultural development. You may use more paper if required.