<P> Both Homo erectus and Homo neanderthalensis became extinct by the end of the Paleolithic, having been replaced by a new wave of humans, the anatomically modern Homo sapiens sapiens, which emerged in eastern Africa c . 200,000 BP, left Africa around 50,000 BP, and expanded throughout the planet . It is likely that multiple groups coexisted for some time in certain locations . Neanderthals were still found in parts of Eurasia c . 30,000 BP years, and engaged in a limited degree of interbreeding with modern humans . Hominin fossils not belonging either to Homo neanderthalensis or to Homo sapiens species, found in the Altai Mountains and Indonesia, were radiocarbon dated to c. 30,000--c . 40,000 BP and c . 17,000 BP respectively . </P> <P> For the duration of the Paleolithic, human populations remained low, especially outside the equatorial region . The entire population of Europe between 16,000 and 11,000 BP likely averaged some 30,000 individuals, and between 40,000 and 16,000 BP, it was even lower at 4,000--6,000 individuals . </P> <P> Paleolithic humans made tools of stone, bone, and wood . The early paleolithic hominins, Australopithecus, were the first users of stone tools . Excavations in Gona, Ethiopia have produced thousands of artifacts, and through radioisotopic dating and magnetostratigraphy, the sites can be firmly dated to 2.6 million years ago . Evidence shows these early hominins intentionally selected raw materials with good flaking qualities and chose appropriate sized stones for their needs to produce sharp - edged tools for cutting . </P> <P> The earliest Paleolithic stone tool industry, the Oldowan, began around 2.6 million years ago . It contained tools such as choppers, burins, and stitching awls . It was completely replaced around 250,000 years ago by the more complex Acheulean industry, which was first conceived by Homo ergaster around 1.8--1.65 million years ago . The Acheulean implements completely vanish from the archaeological record around 100,000 years ago and were replaced by more complex Middle Paleolithic tool kits such as the Mousterian and the Aterian industries . </P>

The paleolithic age man used a hard stone