pre-Palaeolithic
/priːˌpalɪəˈlɪθɪk/ /priːˌpeɪlɪəˈlɪθɪk/(US pre-Paleolithic) Archaeol.
adjective
Of, relating to, or designating the period immediately preceding the Palaeolithic or Early Stone Age.
- Now rare in technical use, as all early tool-using hominids are now assigned to the Palaeolithic..
Origin
Late 19th century; earliest use found in Alexander Melville Bell (1819–1905). From pre- + Palaeolithic.