This chapter deals with archaeological studies of developing technology and culture from the earliest traces to the end of the Middle Pleistocene. The African sequence of archaeological documents is the longest known Pleistocene record. The energies of Palaeolithic archaeologists were formerly devoted primarily to the detailed study of stone artifacts but, as indicated, emphasis is steadily changing. The chapter reflects contemporary endeavour in African Palaeolithic prehistory by being more concerned with what is known of long-term developments in human ecology, technology and social grouping than with such versions of culture history as those expounded in the classics of African Palaeolithic literature. The excavation of undisturbed archaeological sites provides the crucial evidence for attempts to understand early prehistory in socio-economic and ecological terms. In Africa, prehistoric archaeology has provided an important opportunity for investigating the long-term record of the stages by which the contrast arose.
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