Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Paleolithic period

(Encyclopedia)Paleolithic period pāˌlēəlĭthˈĭk, –lēō–, pălˌ– or Old Stone Age, the earliest period of human development and the longest phase of mankind's history. It is approximately coextensive w...

Mesolithic period

(Encyclopedia)Mesolithic period mĕzˌəlĭthˈĭk [key] or Middle Stone Age, period in human development between the end of the Paleolithic period and the beginning of the Neolithic period. It began with the end o...

Paleolithic art

(Encyclopedia)Paleolithic art pāˌlēəlĭthˈĭk, –lēō–, pălˌ– [key], art produced during the Paleolithic period. Study and knowledge of this art largely have been confined to works discovered at many s...

Neolithic period

(Encyclopedia)Neolithic period or New Stone Age. The term neolithic is used, especially in archaeology and anthropology, to designate a stage of cultural evolution or technological development characterized by the ...

Jurassic period

(Encyclopedia)Jurassic period jərăsˈĭk [key] [from the Jura Mts.], second period of the Mesozoic era of geologic time, lasting from 213 to 144 million years ago. At the start of the Jurassic most of the contine...

Mississippian period

(Encyclopedia)Mississippian period: see Carboniferous period. ...

Ordovician period

(Encyclopedia)Ordovician period ôrdəvĭshˈən [key] [from the Ordovices, ancient tribe of N Wales], second period of the Paleozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table) fr...

Devonian period

(Encyclopedia)Devonian period dĭvōˈnēən [key], fourth period of the Paleozoic era of geologic time between 408 and 360 million years ago (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table). It was named (...

Carboniferous period

(Encyclopedia)Carboniferous period kärbənĭfˈərəs, fifth period of the Paleozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table), from 350 to 290 million years ago. The plant li...

Cretaceous period

(Encyclopedia)Cretaceous period krĭtāˈshəs, third and last period of the Mesozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table), lasting from approximately 144 to 65 million year...