The stone age was a period of history which began in approximately 2 million B.C. and lasted until 3000. Its name was derived from the stone tools and weapons that modern scientists found. This period was divided into the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic ages. During the first period (2 million to 8000 B.C.), the first hatchet and use of fire for heating and cooking were developed. As a result of the Ice Age, which evolved about | million years into the Paleolithic age people were forced to seek shelter in caves, wear clothing, and & develop new tools. During the Mesolithic age (8000 to 26000 B.C.), people made crude pottery and the first fish hooks, took dogs hunting and developed the bow and arrow, which were used until the fourteenth century A.D. The Neolithic age (6000 to 3000 B.C.) humankind domesticating sheeps, goats and pigs, being less nomadic than in previous eras, establishing permanent settlements and creating governments.
