Editing Three-age system (section)

== Three-age system resumptive table ==
{{unreferenced section|date=January 2016}}
{{Stacked bar
|T1=Stone Age
|A1=2700
|T2=Bronze Age
|A2=2100
|T3=Iron Age
|A3=650
|Total=5450 }}
{| class="wikitable"
! width="5%" | Age
! width="10%" | Period
! width="17%" | Tools
! width="12%" | Economy
! width="15%" | Dwelling sites
! width="10%" | Society
! width="10%" | Religion
|-
| rowspan=3| [[Stone Age]]<br />{{small|(3.4 mya – 2000 BC)}}
| [[Paleolithic]]
| Handmade tools and objects found in nature – [[cudgel]], [[club (weapon)|club]], sharpened stone, [[chopper (archaeology)|chopper]], [[handaxe]], [[scraper (archaeology)|scraper]], [[spear]], [[harpoon]], [[Sewing needle|needle]], [[scratch awl]]. In general [[stone tool]]s of Modes I–IV.
| [[Hunting and gathering]]
| Mobile lifestyle – caves, [[huts]], tusk/bone or skin [[wikt:hovel|hovels]], mostly by rivers and lakes<br />
| A [[Band society|band]] of edible-plant gatherers and hunters (25–100 people)
| rowspan=2| Evidence for belief in the afterlife first appears in the [[Upper Palaeolithic]], marked by the appearance of burial rituals and [[ancestor worship]]. [[Shaman]]s, priests and [[sanctuary]] [[servant]]s appear in the [[prehistory]].
|-
| [[Mesolithic]] (also called [[epipalaeolithic]])
| Mode V tools employed in composite devices – [[harpoon]], [[bow (weapon)|bow]] and [[arrow]]. Other devices such as [[fishing basket]]s, boats
| Intensive hunting and gathering, porting of wild animals and seeds of wild plants for domestic use and planting
| Temporary villages at opportune locations for economic activities
| [[Tribe]]s and bands
|-
| [[Neolithic]]
| Polished stone tools, devices useful in subsistence farming and defense – [[chisel]], [[Hoe (tool)|hoe]], [[plough]], [[yoke]], [[reaping-hook]], grain pourer, [[loom]], [[earthenware]] ([[pottery]]) and [[weapon]]s
| [[Neolithic Revolution]] – [[domestication]] of plants and animals used in agriculture and herding, supplementary [[Hunter-gatherer|gathering]], hunting, and fishing. Warfare.
| Permanent settlements varying in size from villages to walled cities, public works.
| Tribes and formation of [[chiefdoms]] in some Neolithic societies the end of the period
| [[Polytheism]], sometimes presided over by the [[mother goddess]], [[shamanism]]
|-
| rowspan=2|[[Bronze Age]]<br />{{small|(3300 – 1200 BC)}}
| [[Copper Age]]<br />([[Chalcolithic]])
| Copper tools, [[potter's wheel]]
| rowspan=2| Civilization, including [[craft]], trade
| rowspan=2| Urban centers surrounded by politically attached communities
| rowspan=2| City-[[State (polity)|states]]*
| rowspan=2|Ethnic gods, state religion
|-
| [[Bronze Age]]
| Bronze tools
|-
| colspan=2|[[Iron Age]]<br />{{small|(1200 – 550 BC)}}
| [[Iron (material)|Iron tools]]
| Includes trade and much specialization; often taxes
| Includes towns or even large cities, connected by roads
| Large tribes, kingdoms, empires
| One or more religions sanctioned by the state
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki> Formation of states starts during the Early Bronze Age in Egypt and Mesopotamia and during the Late Bronze Age first empires are founded.