Episode 270: Palaeolithic & Neolithic

(Piano music) 

Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

Today we have not one but two terms that were made up from Greek words and were coined in England. This time in 1865 by banker, philanthropist, scientist and polymath John Lubbock. He helped establish archaeology as a scientific discipline and promoted the need for public libraries, among other things. In his study of archaeology and the need to clearly distinguish Stone Age periods, he formed two new words. Παλαιό (paleo) in Greek means 'old' and Νεο (neo) means 'new' . Λίθος (lithos) means 'stone'. The combination seems fairly simple to us now but the concept is genius! The division of the Stone Age into ΠΑΛΑΙΟΛΙΘΙΚΟΣ & ΝΕΟΛΙΘΙΚΟΣ/PALAEOLITHIC & NEOLITHIC

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