13/12/2024
Did you know that the National Museum of Ghana has an incredible collection of stone tools? 🗿🔨The Stone Age and Iron Age are two key periods in Ghana's technological history. The Stone Age is divided into three periods: Early, Middle, and Late Stone Age.
🔹 Early Stone Age (ESA): This period saw the development of Oldowan and Acheulian tools. Oldowan tools were simple cutting tools made by chipping flakes off volcanic pebbles, while Acheulian tools were tough, sharp, and shaped to a deliberate point. The ESA was a time of hunting and gathering, and Ghana has several Early Stone Age sites like Legon Botanical Garden, Bame, Ntereso, Shai, and Accra plains.
🔹 Middle Stone Age (MSA): Also known as Middle Paleolithic, this period was characterized by the persistence of hunter-gatherer lifestyles and the possible origins of modern human behavior. Bones were added to the raw materials for tool making, and evidence of shafts for spears, arrows, and other projectile weapons have been found in MSA sites in Africa.
🔹 Late Stone Age: Also referred to as Upper Paleolithic, this period saw significant improvements in hunting and gathering. Microliths, tiny stones fashioned into precise points and blades, were the signature tools of this period. Composite microlithic tools were used to harvest wild edibles and create intricate artifacts. The toolkits of the Late Stone Age in Africa were diverse, reflecting greater cultural variation. Ghana's Kintampo Cultural Complex has notable Late Stone Age sites with artifacts like bone fragments, terracotta figurines, and stone arrowheads. The Stone Age was a time of human progress, with the development of different tools and cultural practices. Explore the history of stone tools at the National Museum of Ghana!
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