The Stone Age is a prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools and weapons. It is characterized by the creation and use of stone tools, and it lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with the advent of metalworking. The Stone Age is divided into three separate periods: the Paleolithic era, the Mesolithic era, and the Neolithic era.

• Paleolithic era: This is the earliest and most primitive stage of the Stone Age, lasting from the first appearance of human beings as tool-using mammals (which is believed to have occurred sometime before 3.3 million years ago) and about 8000 BCE. Paleolithic archaeology is concerned with the origins and development of early human culture.

• Mesolithic era: This is a transitional period with finer tools than the Paleolithic era. It began after the end of the last glacial period, around 10,000 BCE, and ended with the introduction of agriculture, the date of which varied by geographic region.

• Neolithic era: This is the final stage of the Stone Age, characterized by the rise of village-farming communities. It began around 10,000 BCE in the Middle East and other parts of the world, and it ended with the advent of metalworking.

The Stone Age is the first period in the three-age system frequently used in archaeology to divide the timeline of human technological prehistory into functional periods, with the next two being the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, respectively. The Stone Age is also commonly divided into three distinct periods: the earliest and most primitive being the Paleolithic era; a transitional period with finer tools known as the Mesolithic era; and the final stage known as the Neolithic era.

The Stone Age is a period of great technological and social advancement that laid the foundation for the development of civilization. During this period, humans transitioned from nomadic hunter-gatherers to the beginnings of agriculture, animal domestication, and the use of tools.