title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: Following either choice, Mia ends up on the wrecked ship and searches for Ethan while experiencing visions of Eveline, who refers to Mia as her mother. Eventually, Mia's memory is restored, revealing that she was a covert operative for an unnamed corporation that developed Eveline as a bioweapon. Mia and another agent were to escort Eveline as she was being transported aboard the tanker when Eveline escaped containment and sank the ship. She then infected Mia in an effort to force her to be her mother. After finding Ethan, Mia gives him a vial of Eveline's genetic material.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: After leaving the shipwreck, Ethan discovers a hidden laboratory inside an abandoned salt mine. There, he learns that Eveline is a bio-organic weapon capable of infecting people with a psychotropic mold that gives her control over her victims' minds, resulting in their insanity, superhuman regenerative abilities, and various mutations. Eveline grew up obsessed with having a family, influencing her to infect Mia and the Bakers, and lure Ethan to the Bakers' home. Lucas is also revealed to have been immunized against Eveline's control by the organization in exchange for providing observations on her. Using the lab equipment and Eveline's genetic material, Ethan synthesizes a toxin to kill her, and proceeds through a series of tunnels that lead back to the Baker house. Eveline assaults Ethan with hallucinations, but he overcomes them and injects Eveline with the toxin, which doesn't kill her, but reveals she is the elderly woman in a wheelchair, who has been rapidly aging since her escape. Eveline then mutates into a large monster but, aided by the arrival of a military squad, Ethan is able to kill her. With Eveline dead, the squad and their leader, who identifies himself as "Redfield", extracts Ethan by helicopter. If Ethan did not cure Mia, he throws his phone containing her last message to him from the helicopter, saying "goodbye", otherwise, the canon ending has Mia rescued aboard Redfield's helicopter.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: As the helicopter flies away, it is revealed to be branded with a variation of the Umbrella Corporation logo.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: In "Nightmare", Jack throws cameraman Clancy Jarvis down into the basement of the mansion. Clancy creates makeshift weapons in order to dispatch Molded within the basement. It ends with Clancy seemingly killing Jack at precisely 5 a.m.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: In "Bedroom", Clancy awakens and finds himself handcuffed to an unknown bed. Marguerite Baker enters and attempts to feed him, before leaving. Clancy attempts to use his surroundings to break out of his restraints, during which Marguerite periodically visits him. Eventually, Clancy uncovers a secret passage underneath the bed, alerting Marguerite; Clancy stabs her with a knife before escaping.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: In "21", Clancy is knocked unconscious by Lucas. When Clancy awakens, he finds himself confined to a chair, his hand placed within a "finger guillotine"; a man sits across from him wearing a sack whom Lucas refers to as "Hoffman". Broadcasting himself, Lucas announces that the men will have to play blackjack to win their freedom; the loser of each round will lose a finger, and the first to lose all five fingers will be killed. After Clancy wins the first round, Hoffman demands another game. Lucas straps the two to a device that administers electrical shocks, increasing in power for each round lost, with the final level fatal. Clancy wins and Hoffman is seemingly killed. Lucas uses wires to manipulate Hoffman's body like a puppet, before he places a large saw between the men, moving closer to the loser. Clancy wins again and Hoffman is revealed to have just passed out from pain; he awakens just as he is killed. Lucas congratulates Clancy, and moves him to play another game.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: In "Daughters", which takes place on October 10, 2014, a tropical cyclone causes a ship, the SS Annabelle, to go missing off the coast of Louisiana. Jack carries in an unconscious girl, Eveline, found nearby. Jack places her in Lucas' room and orders Zoe to get her fresh clothes. Zoe retrieves the clothes when a lightning strike knocks out the house's power, and Eveline disappears. Zoe searches for her and discovers Marguerite rambling in the bathroom, before she suddenly turns violent. Jack restrains her and orders Zoe to get some rope. Returning with the rope, Zoe discovers Jack attempting to drown Marguerite, and then deliberately stabs himself before Zoe. Zoe flees, witnessing Jack dragging Lucas towards the bathroom. Downstairs, Zoe encounters an apologetic Marguerite, who claims that she had heard voices in her head. Marguerite hands Zoe the car keys and tells her to leave. If the player completed optional objectives earlier in the game, they have the option of escaping to the camper van trailer. If the player tries to escape using the car, they will be confronted by Marguerite and Jack, the latter of whom kills Zoe. If the player attempts to hide in the trailer (the canonical ending), they will discover a letter written by Mia that thanks the Bakers for their kindness and warns them about Eveline. Zoe then wakes up at the dinner table with everything seemingly back to normal, but soon starts seeing visions of Eveline.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: Moments after extracting Ethan and Mia Winters, BSAA agent Chris Redfield teams up with the now reformed Umbrella Corporation, also known as Blue Umbrella, in order to apprehend Lucas Baker and uncover evidence on the mysterious group that created Eveline, called "The Connections." After rescuing Ethan Winters and sending him away on a helicopter, Chris proceeds into Lucas' lab in the salt mine, where he accidentally runs into one of Lucas' traps and has a bomb attached to his left wrist. Undeterred, Chris continues his pursuit. He tries to rescue several captured Umbrella soldiers, but they are killed by Lucas' traps. Eventually, Lucas activates a timer on Chris' bomb. Chris is forced to freeze the bomb in liquid nitrogen, disabling it long enough for him to remove it.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: With the bomb removed, Chris battles his way through more of Lucas' Molded and traps. He then finds his way into a secret Connections research lab, where Lucas had killed all of the Connections researchers and plans to betray the organization. Chris manages to corner and shoot Lucas, which triggers a mutation in his body. Chris battles and eventually kills the mutated Lucas, and stops him from transferring all of his data on Eveline to an unknown party. With his mission done and Eveline's infection contained, Chris returns to the Umbrella base camp for an urgent call.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: Following the canon story in which Ethan cures Mia instead of Zoe, Zoe wanders into the swamp and is apparently killed by Eveline; however, a pair of Umbrella soldiers find her body and discover she is still alive. They are ambushed by Joe Baker, Zoe's uncle, who lives in the Dulvey swamps and has not been affected by Eveline's mold. Joe initially believes Umbrella is responsible for Zoe's condition, but a surviving Umbrella soldier claims they have a cure for Zoe stored in a nearby shack. Joe goes to the shack, finding a partial cure, and returns to find the Umbrella soldier killed by a Molded.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: Joe initially flees with Zoe on a boat to find the Umbrella base but is soon forced to search for the base on foot. A powerful and seemingly immortal Molded called the "Swamp Man" pursues them along the way. Joe and Zoe find the Umbrella base abandoned. They learn that the cure has been moved to a nearby paddle boat. Joe boards the boat and, after encountering the Swamp Man once again, uncovers a full dose of the cure. The Swamp Man captures Zoe before Joe can administer the cure. Joe gives chase into a heavily infected portion of the swamp and finds Zoe in an abandoned church. Inside, Joe is ambushed by the Swamp Man, who is revealed to be Jack, having survived Ethan's injection. Jack knocks Joe unconscious and throws him into the swamp water to die.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: Joe washes up near the Baker mansion and finds himself in the midst of a battle between the Molded and Umbrella forces. He recovers an Umbrella power gauntlet and enters the mansion, where he permanently kills Jack and administers the cure to Zoe just as Umbrella reinforcements arrive, including Chris Redfield. Chris assures Joe and Zoe that they are there to help, and Zoe is fully cured of her infection. She then receives a phone call from Ethan, and thanks him for keeping his promise to send help for her.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: Following the release of "Resident Evil 6", Capcom conducted internal discussions regarding the direction of the next installment. A preliminary version of the game, developed in 2013, featured a more action-oriented gameplay, similar to that of "Resident Evil 6". Taking inspiration from the 1981 film "The Evil Dead", the developers decided to scale back the game to one location and use a first-person perspective to immerse players and return the series to its roots of survival horror. Development began around February 2014. The game is built on a custom game engine, named the RE Engine, which includes virtual reality (VR) development tools. The decision to make the game first-person was made well before VR was considered; VR development started in October 2015, for which a separate team was created. The introduction of VR demanded that textures be more detailed, discarding flat textures and inaccurate object sizes that had previously been used.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: A year before the game's announcement, Capcom presented to attendants of E3 2015 a first-person horror-themed VR demo, "KI7CHEN", which ran on the same engine. While "Resident Evil 7" had been in development long before, "KI7CHEN" was seen as an opportunity to evaluate how the RE Engine and its VR capabilities would be received. As a hint to the demo's relation to "Resident Evil 7", the logo of "KI7CHEN" had the letter "T" designed so that it resembled a "7", but it went largely unnoticed. In the company's Integrated Report of 2015, the "Resident Evil" development division of Capcom was stated to focus on creating experiences for the VR market, which included the new VR engine and games for the eighth generation of consoles.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: The game was directed by Koshi Nakanishi, who previously helmed "", leading a development team numbering at about 120 staff. For the first time in the series, the narrative designer is a westerner—Richard Pearsey, writer of the two expansion packs of "F.E.A.R." and one of the narrative designers of "". At the time of the game's reveal, development was around 65% complete. Some of the creature models in "Resident Evil 7" were first created in physical form—a number of them from actual meat—by make-up artists, to then be scanned through the employment of photogrammetry. This technology developed over half of the general assets of the game, but posed a problem in researching the setting of Louisiana because its considerable demand for equipment made it unviable for transport, which required Capcom to model by hand.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: According to Jun Takeuchi, the high-ups at Capcom wanted "Resident Evil 7: Biohazard" to be a live service game with online multiplayer and microtransactions. This was putting pressure on the development team until Takeuchi was asked to join the project and scrapped those plans.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: The game's score was composed by Capcom's lead composer Akiyuki Morimoto, Miwako Chinone, and Satoshi Hori, with additional contributions from Cris Velasco and Brian D'Oliveira. Its theme song, an arranged version of the traditional American folk song "Go Tell Aunt Rhody", was written by Michael A. Levine and performed by Jordan Reyne. Levine's step-daughter Mariana Barreto was the original choice, but ended up doing the background vocals. The song went through about 20 versions until completion. A soundtrack was released digitally by Sumthing Else Music Works alongside the game on January 24.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: In October 2016, Capcom launched a 10 part video series called "The World of Resident Evil 7", teasing pieces of the game's contents. A cross-save feature between Windows and the Xbox One was confirmed in November 2016. If bought on either PC through the Windows Store or on the Xbox One digitally, it is playable on both platforms through the Xbox Play Anywhere program, making it the first game published by a third-party to be a part of the program.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: The internal marketing team at Capcom collaborated with creative agency iam8bit to produce an escape room called "Resident Evil Escape Room Experience", in which groups of six are guided through a series of rooms by Umbrella Corporation employees. It was held at a gallery space in Echo Park, Los Angeles. In London, a similar event was hosted in concurrence with the release.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: Purchase of a GameStop-exclusive Collector's Edition included an eight-inch model of the Baker mansion, which when opened functions as a music box playing the main theme rendition of "Go Tell Aunt Rhody", a mannequin finger-shaped 4 gigabyte USB flash drive contained within a VHS tape box, a SteelBook Case containing the game, a lithograph of the Baker family, and a note. The UK version added the Survival Pack: Action Set DLC, a 20th anniversary artbook and a seven-inch replica of the mansion, but did not feature the music box. U.S. pre-orders on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One came with a code for a free download of "". A 4D candle with the scent of the Baker House Mansion was made to enhance the virtual reality experience. The Gold Edition, released on December 12, 2017, includes previously released downloadable content (DLC) as well as the "End of Zoe" DLC.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: "Resident Evil 7: Biohazard" was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand on January 24, 2017, and in Japan on January 26. For the first 12 months of its release, the virtual reality format was exclusive to PlayStation VR. Over 4,700,000 players have accumulated worldwide, over 750,000 of them being VR users. The PC version was tamper-protected by anti-piracy software Denuvo, which was hacked within five days of release. A cloud version for the Nintendo Switch, titled "Biohazard 7: Resident Evil Cloud Version", was released in Japan on May 24, 2018. Players may access the first 15 minutes of the game for free, and continue playing it afterwards by purchasing a pass allowing unlimited play for 180 days. This version is scheduled for a worldwide release on December 16, 2022. The game was also released for Amazon Luna on December 9, 2020, and for Google Stadia on April 1, 2021.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: Versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S were announced on March 2, 2022, and released on June 13, 2022 alongside upgrades for "Resident Evil 2" (2019) and "Resident Evil 3" (2020). These versions include visual enhancements including ray-tracing and high-framerate modes, and the PlayStation 5 version supports haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. Owners of the game on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are able to upgrade for free, and a free upgrade patch for the Windows version was released simultaneously.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: Shortly after the game's reveal, a playable teaser named "Resident Evil 7 Teaser: Beginning Hour" was released on the PlayStation Store. The demo takes place in a dilapidated house, which the unnamed male player character needs to escape. Depending on the actions taken by the player, the teaser may have three different outcomes. Capcom later revealed that the teaser was a standalone experience and not a segment of the game, which has more variety in its environments, and additional mechanics, such as combat. By July 2016, the demo had been downloaded over 2 million times. An update called the "Twilight Version" was released on September 15, 2016, and gave access to new rooms and items to find. Along with the new version, Capcom released a trailer for the game. Another update called the "Midnight Version" was released on December 3, which unlocked additional areas of the house, along with several new items to find and a puzzle concerning a riddle in the Twilight Version. The demo was released for Xbox One on December 9 and for PC on December 19.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: A playable demo called "Lantern" was made available for attendees at Gamescom 2016, as part of revealing the first "Resident Evil 7" story trailer. It makes use of found footage and first-person narrative as it tells the story of a young woman by the name of Mia hiding from an agitated old lady holding a lantern. The old lady is Marguerite Baker, who was first mentioned in "Beginning Hour".


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: The first downloadable content package for the game, "Banned Footage Vol. 1", was released for the PlayStation 4 on January 31, 2017. "Banned Footage Vol. 1" includes two scenarios, called "Nightmare" and "Bedroom", and a new game mode, "Ethan Must Die". On February 14, "Banned Footage Vol. 2" was released for the PlayStation 4, which includes two additional scenarios, called "21" and "Daughters", and a new game mode, "Jack's 55th Birthday". "Banned Footage Vol. 1" and "Banned Footage Vol. 2" were released for the Xbox One and PC on February 21. "Not a Hero"—a story chapter where players control Chris Redfield, which was delayed from its Q2 2017 release date,—was released for free, on December 12, 2017, along with a new DLC called "End of Zoe", that came out the same day. While "End of Zoe" was developed by Capcom, development duties for "Not a Hero" were outsourced to HexaDrive.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: Due to its first-person presentation, the game has drawn comparisons to Konami's cancelled "Silent Hills" game and its "P.T." demo. Capcom responded to this by pointing out that "Resident Evil 7" was in development long before the reveal of "P.T.", and dispelled any rumors about staff of "P.T." having been hired to work on the game. "Shacknews" noted that "Beginning Hour" had several similarities with "Sweet Home" (1989), the Capcom horror game that inspired the original "Resident Evil" (1996). These similarities to "Sweet Home" include the plot of a film crew going to an abandoned house, a paranormal female presence in the house, and a tragic tale involving a family that once lived there. "Eurogamer" found the element of survival horror in "Lantern" reminiscent of "". "Resident Evil 7" was well-received for the dissimilarity to its polarizing predecessor, in particular the change from action-oriented combat and effects to an approach more grounded in horror.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: "Resident Evil 7: Biohazard" received "generally favorable reviews" from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: "Destructoid"s Zack Furniss felt that the primary accomplishment of "Resident Evil 7" concerned its pacing, which was praised as "masterful". Furniss' apprehensive expectations of how the story would unfold were subverted to his liking, deeming the result a blend similar to the horror and comedy found in "The Evil Dead" films. He found a sense of finality in the combat and lauded it for having produced lasting tension. What held more sway, however, was the priority of survival horror, with the management of limited resources meeting a positive response. Furniss considered the boss fights to be "harrowing" and welcomed the consistent surreality of the game. His playthrough with the PlayStation VR inspired unease, unpredictable jump scares and ultimately an "intuitive" experience. Ray Carsillo of "EGMNow" favored the atmosphere's constant mood of anxiety, which was partly impacted by the interiors of the main setting. The sound design was also thought to complement this sense of dread, increasing the level of player involvement. He noted the slow narrative build as the game's most substantial achievement, and likened its efficacy to that of earlier games in the series. Like Furniss, Carsillo expressed appreciation for the pacing, and opined that it brought considerable intrigue, accommodating lengthy play sessions. Playing with the virtual reality headset was "even more frightening than doing it normally", according to Carsillo, echoing Furniss' view that it made the game more immersive.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: Writing for "Game Informer", Andrew Reiner commended the "tense, unsettling, overly gory" atmosphere for providing a competent introduction to "Resident Evil 7". The Baker house and the nature of exploring it posed significant interest to him, for together, they would present new aspects regarding the occupants and be enhanced by the first-person perspective. Scott Butterworth at "GameSpot" enjoyed the narrative overall, valuing its memorable moments and the thematic consistency of the writing. He was impressed with the reliance of atmosphere as opposed to jump scares to heighten the feeling of danger. Using the Baker family to multifarious ends of gameplay was complimented as a logical extension of the established world; the interactive VHS tapes were approved of for the same reason, said to serve "beautifully as both a narrative device and a way to break up Ethan's exhausting mission". On PlayStation VR, Butterworth mentioned that, in its employment, the element of horror appeared more realistic.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: Leon Hurley, writing for "GamesRadar+", was of the opinion that, while the "gore and guts" were sparingly effective, a number of his most favorite moments had to do with investigating the "beautifully designed" Baker house. As for the VR, it was dubbed as a terrifying experience "where the mildewy atmosphere gets into your soul". "Giant Bomb"s Dan Ryckert referred to "Resident Evil 7" as the reinvigoration of earlier components in the series while at the same time yielding a fresh outlook with a yet-unrivaled story. The main antagonists bore substantial weight to Ryckert's cause for worry, and gave way to thrills when prompted to flee them. He viewed the first-person perspective as "bold", and attributed to the PlayStation VR, an earnest addition to the "scare factor". Chloi Rad of "IGN" endorsed the pervading tone of eeriness in the game, owed entirely to the plantation, which she thought was "one of the creepiest single settings since the Spencer Mansion". Also, she observed that the game world gave off a robust sense of place with unwavering exploration. To her, the Baker family were the most compelling of the characters because of the consequent emotional strain felt in their presence. Andy Kelly at "PC Gamer" began his review, writing, "It's a return to the atmospheric, slow-burning horror of the original". He disagreed with Ryckert's assessment that the first-person was a bold reinvention, instead praising it for being "classic "Resident Evil" through and through". Kelly saw the regular state of vulnerability he was faced within the game as one of its greatest strengths, giving credit to the visuals and audio for adding to the "rumbling sense of dread". He considered flashbacks via VHS tapes to be one of his favorite features. "Polygon"s Philip Kollar applauded "Resident Evil 7"s return to form, declaring that "no "Resident Evil" game since the first has done as good a job as "RE7" at making me feel scared and helpless".


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: Conversely, Furniss observed the final boss fight and ending as disappointing. He cited issues with the PlayStation VR, including the prospect of sacrificing graphics for improved aim and immersion, as the resolution would decrease while in virtual reality. Carsillo disliked the inventory system because its restricted capacity left weaponry and ammunition with the same amount of space as other items critical to story progression. The lack of character development for the protagonist Ethan Winters was disparaged as well, with Reiner stating that the plot suffered flaws of inconsistency from this approach. Also subject to criticism was the required body movements while in seated VR mode, which were described as stomach-churning. Butterworth felt a loss of excitement by the end, blaming the repetition of certain assignments to be carried out. He faulted enemies for exerting less of a threat than was preferred in the given difficulty level. Unlike with other platforms, Butterworth detected inferior visual performance on the Xbox One with degraded colors and textures. Hurley expressed disapproval of the decision one comes across near the end of the game, calling into question its relevance by arguing that it could be quickly resolved in the event of regret. Rad criticized "Resident Evil 7" for its dependence on "overplayed tropes about rural America" which came to resemble a cartoon, and the puzzles were appraised as the sole shortcoming of the setting. Kollar said the boss battles interrupted the inherent suspense.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: The game won the Gold Prize, User's Choice Prizes, and the PlayStation VR Special Award at the PlayStation Awards. It was also nominated for "Best Setting" in "PC Gamer"s 2017 Game of the Year Awards, and won the award for "Best VR Game" in "Destructoid"s Game of the Year Awards 2017. It also won the People's Choice Award for "Best VR Experience" for which it was a runner-up in "IGN"s Best of 2017 Awards; its other nominations were for "Best Xbox One Game", "Best PlayStation 4 Game", "Best Action/Adventure Game", and "Best Graphics".


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: Capcom's pre-release sales projection for the game's launch window, through the end of March 2017, was 4 million copies. The game had shipped over 2.5 million units worldwide days after the release, while the demo exceeded 7.15 million downloads. The modest shipment figure had an effect on Capcom's stock price, which fell more than three percent following the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It was the best-selling video game in the UK during its week of release according to Chart-Track, amounting to the third-best debut in "Resident Evil" history behind "Resident Evil 5" (7.1 million) and "Resident Evil 6" (6.6 million). 200,000 copies had also been sold through Steam during that time. It ranked first in the Japanese charts for the week ending January 29; the PS4 sales totalled 187,306 copies, 58.9 percent of its initial shipment. In the month of January in the United States, "Resident Evil 7" sold the most out of any video game.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: On February 1, Capcom communicated to its investors that the game had recouped its budget, while it remained at the top of the UK sales chart in its second week and ranked as the second-best-selling video game in the United States, behind "For Honor". By April 2017, "Resident Evil 7" had sold 3.5 million copies worldwide, short of Capcom's expectation of 4 million. In May 2017, Capcom gave the game a lifetime sales forecast of ten million units, citing favorable reviews, marketing and downloadable content as contributing factors. The game entered the top 10 of "Capcom Platinum Titles" that passed 1 million sold copies, and by September 2018, total sales reached 5.7 million, which rose to 6 million by that December, 7.5 million by March 2020, 7.9 million by June 2020, 8.5 million by December 2020, and 9 million units by March 2021. As of June 2022, the game had sold 11 million units.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: "Resident Evil 7" was included in numbered lists of the best video games in 2017: 1st place for "Best Horror Game of All Time" and 6th place in the 25 Best Games of 2017 list at "GamesRadar+" and 5th place at "Business Insider". "Vulture.com" listed it among the best video games of the year. "PlayStation Official Magazine – UK" listed it as the fourth-best PlayStation VR game. "Entertainment Weekly" ranked the game 3rd on their list of the "Best Games of 2017", "Polygon" ranked it 5th on their list of the 50 best games of 2017, and "EGMNow" ranked it 7th on their list of the 25 Best Games of 2017, while "Eurogamer" ranked it 14th on their list of the "Top 50 Games of 2017". Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw of "The Escapist" listed it as his favorite game of 2017, and "The Verge" named it as one of their 15 Best Games of 2017. In "Game Informer"s Reader's Choice Best of 2017 Awards, it came in the lead for "Best VR Game", receiving the award for "Best VR Action" in their 2017 Action Game of the Year Awards.


title: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

text: A sequel, titled "Resident Evil Village", was officially revealed during the PlayStation 5 reveal event. The game was released on May 7, 2021. Set a few years after the events of "Resident Evil 7: Biohazard", it continues the first-person perspective and follows Ethan Winters.


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is a 2017 epic fantasy action-adventure film directed by Guy Ritchie who co-wrote the film with Joby Harold and Lionel Wigram from a story by Harold and David Dobkin, inspired by Arthurian legends. The film stars Charlie Hunnam as the title character and Jude Law as the tyrannical king Vortigern who is attempting to kill him, with Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey, Djimon Hounsou, Aidan Gillen, and Eric Bana in supporting roles.


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword" premiered at the TCL Chinese Theater on 8 May 2017 and was theatrically released in 2D and RealD 3D on 12 May 2017 in the United States and 19 May 2017 in the United Kingdom. The film grossed $148 million worldwide against its $175 million production budget. Originally, the film was meant to be the first in a six-film franchise, but the planned sequels were cancelled after it underperformed at the box office and lost Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures over $150 million.


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: Mordred the warlock and his armies lay siege to Camelot. Uther Pendragon, the king of the Britons, infiltrates Mordred's lair during the attack and beheads him with the help of a unique sword forged by Merlin, saving Camelot. Uther's brother Vortigern; who covets the throne, orchestrates a coup and sacrifices his wife, Elsa to moat hags to become a Demon Knight. He kills Uther's wife, Igraine and defeats Uther; Uther's son Arthur escapes by boat and ends up in Londinium. Taken in by prostitutes, he becomes a tough and savvy crime boss on the street. However, he is plagued by nightmares of the night that his parents died without seeing who attacked them.


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: Vortigern rules Briton cruelly and dedicates resources to building a tower near the castle. When the water surrounding the castle recedes, revealing a sword in a stone, he has all the men in the city taken to it in an attempt to remove it. Arthur is able to evade capture with the help of the prostitutes, but is eventually caught. He is taken to the stone where he removes the sword, but is overwhelmed by its power and passes out. In captivity, Vortigern explains Arthur's lineage and that the sword's significance to him before planning his execution.


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: Meanwhile, a mage identifying herself as an acolyte of Merlin presents herself to Uther's former general, Sir Bedivere. At Arthur's planned execution, the mage creates a diversion while Bedivere's men rescue Arthur. Taken to Bedivere's hideout, Arthur (initially) refuses to help them, not believing that he is king. The mage persuades Bedivere to take Arthur to a realm called the "Darklands", where he sees a vision of how the Demon Knight, revealed to be Vortigern, killed his mother. He also witnesses his father sacrifice himself to save Arthur and entomb the sword in stone made of his own body, making him realize that he is indeed the rightful king. Arthur learns Vortigern was responsible for persuading Mordred to attack Camelot, having grown jealous of Uther's popularity and wanting the throne for himself. He builds the tower to increase his own magical powers.


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: Arthur and the rebels chip away at Vortigern's army and eventually plan an assassination attempt. Vortigern eludes the assassination, and a battle ensues. Arthur escapes with his friend's son Blue but several of his men are killed and one is captured. Frustrated with the situation, Arthur attempts to throw the sword into a lake, but the Lady of the Lake returns it and shows him a vision of England's future under Vortigern's rule. Coming to terms with his responsibility, Arthur reunites with Bedivere and they return to their hideout. However, their captured man revealed its location under torture, the mage and Blue were captured, and all other rebels killed. An emissary from Vortigern instructs Arthur to surrender that day at the castle.


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: Bedivere brings the sword to Vortigern at the castle in exchange for the mage, indicating that Arthur is powerless without the sword. Arthur promises to surrender himself the next day in exchange for Blue. Before riding to the castle, the mage injects him with special snake venom to protect him from a surprise attack she has in store. When Arthur confronts Vortigern, a giant snake attacks the castle under the control of the mage, saving Arthur. However, Vortigern is covered in the blood of a snake that tries to attack him, providing him protection from the giant snake. As Bedivere's rebels begin their attack, Arthur reclaims his sword and follows Vortigern into the tower. Needing help from the moat hags once more, Vortigern sacrifices his daughter to once again become the Demon Knight and is confronted by Arthur. After a brutal fight, Arthur has a vision of his father passing the sword of Excalibur on to him, enabling him to defeat Vortigern. As he dies, Arthur consoles him and leaves his body behind. In the aftermath, the rebels are victorious and celebrate.


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: Arthur, after reclaiming his rightful throne, knights his friends and begins construction on his Round Table.


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: After 2004's "King Arthur", Warner Bros. made multiple attempts to make a new film based on Arthurian legend: one was a remake of "Excalibur" (1981), helmed by Bryan Singer, while the other was a film titled "Arthur & Lancelot", which would have starred Kit Harington and Joel Kinnaman in the title roles respectively. Warner Bros. worried that neither names were big enough, and attempted to replace both actors with more profitable ones, before eventually dropping the project altogether.


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: Warner's next attempt to create a new King Arthur film was an attempt to create an Arthurian cinematic universe which would span six films, following different characters before their eventual team up. For this endeavour they hired director Guy Ritchie, who had himself wanted to make a King Arthur movie for several years. According to "The Guardian", the script soon became "a strange Frankenstein's Monster-style screenplay" incorporating elements from several of the unproduced Arthurian scripts.


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: In August 2014, Charlie Hunnam, Ritchie's choice for the role, was cast to play King Arthur. Elizabeth Olsen was in talks for the female lead, but on 18 September, Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey landed the role instead. On 14 November, Jude Law was in talks to play the lead villain role in the film. On 11 February 2015, Eric Bana was added to the cast to play Uther, the father of King Arthur. Mikael Persbrandt joined the film on 6 March 2015, to play a villainous role. Although there were reports Idris Elba had been cast, he would confirm, in a Reddit AMA, this was a rumour.


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: Filming in Windsor Great Park was underway in February 2015, then later in North Wales from 2 March 2015. Later on 10 March 2015, Ritchie tweeted a photo and confirmed the first day of shooting. In April 2015, filming took place in Snowdonia, where locations used were Tryfan, Nant Gwynant near Beddgelert and Capel Curig. Early in July filming continued in the Shieldaig, Loch Torridon and Applecross areas of Wester Ross in the Scottish Highlands. One day of filming also took place at The Quiraing on the Isle of Skye. Filming also took place at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden.


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: Bergès-Frisbey's character was originally intended to be Guinevere. During production, the connection to Guinevere was dropped and the character became simply "the Mage". In an interview with Den of Geek, Hunnam ascribes the change to "partly the film, and partly the actor dictating that is was going to be something different, and Guy having the confidence and versatility to just roll with it and realise that what he intended wasn’t going to work, and him recognising the value of that being something else."


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: It was originally planned for an IMAX release on 22 July 2016, as evident in the Comic-Con trailer, but was cancelled due to it being postponed and only received non-IMAX presentations.


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: An extended TV spot was released on 22 January 2017, and was shown on the 2017 NFC Championship Game on Fox Broadcasting Company between the Atlanta Falcons and the Green Bay Packers and the 2017 AFC Championship Game on CBS between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots.


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: The first trailer was released on 20 February 2017. The second trailer was released on 1 April 2017. All in all, Warner Bros. spent $135 million on marketing the film.


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: The film was shown at select AMC Theatres in a special preview on 27 April 2017, in a promotional event titled "King for a Day." Demand for tickets led AMC to expand the event to 200 theatres.


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: In April 2014, Warner Bros. set the film for a 22 July 2016 release, alongside "Lights Out", but it was then moved by Warner Bros. to 17 February 2017, alongside "". Warner Bros. moved the release date to 24 March 2017. The title was changed to "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword" in July 2016. In December 2016 the release date was again moved, this time to 12 May 2017, possibly so as not to compete with "CHiPs".


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword" was released on DVD, Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray and Ultra HD on 8 August 2017.


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword" grossed $39.2 million in the United States and Canada and $107 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $146.2 million, against a production budget of $175 million. "Deadline Hollywood" calculated the film lost the studio $153.2 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: In North America, the film was released alongside "Snatched" and "Lowriders" and was initially projected to gross around $25 million from 3,702 theatres during its opening weekend. It made $1.15 million from Thursday night previews at about 3,200 theatres, but after making just $5.3 million on Friday, weekend projections were lowered to $15 million. It ended up debuting to $15.4 million, finishing third at the box office. "Deadline Hollywood" noted that due to the film's $175 million production budget, as well as at least an additional $100 million spent on marketing, the film was destined to be a box office bomb. Regarding the cost of the film, the site quoted one finance expert as saying: "Make original IP [intellectual property] for a cost effective price. If it works then spend more if necessary on the sequel. "King Arthur" should have been done for $60–80 [million]. Warner Bros. had no reason to spend $175M-plus on this picture." Comparing its opening to cost, "IndieWire" called the film's failings "historic". "The Hollywood Reporter" noted that the film would likely lose about $150 million. In its second weekend the film grossed $7.2 million (a drop of 53.5%), finishing 5th at the box office.


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: The film debuted at No. 1 in an estimated 29 countries, including Russia, with openings to follow in the United Kingdom, France, South Korea and Australia. Over its opening weekend, it made $29.1 million worldwide.


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 31% based on 275 reviews and an average rating of 4.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""King Arthur: Legend of the Sword" piles mounds of modern action flash on an age-old tale – and wipes out much of what made it a classic story in the first place." On Metacritic, the film has a score 41 out of 100 based on 45 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reporter filmgoers gave it an overall positive score of 78%; 56% of the opening weekend filmgoers were under the age of 35, and 59% were men.


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: Writing for "The Guardian", Peter Bradshaw gave the film a generally positive review: "Guy Ritchie's cheerfully ridiculous Arthur is a gonzo monarch, a death-metal warrior-king. Ritchie's film is at all times over the top, crashing around its digital landscapes in all manner of berserkness, sometimes whooshing along, sometimes stuck in the odd narrative doldrum. But it is often surprisingly entertaining, and whatever clunkers he has delivered in the past, Ritchie again shows that a film-maker of his craft and energy commands attention, and part of his confidence in reviving King Arthur resides here in being so unselfconscious and unconcerned about the student canon that has gone before."


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: In a pan of the film for the "Chicago Tribune", Michael Phillips questioned the long-term longevity of the projected series of six "Arthur" films from Ritchie: "I'm no businessman, but plans for a six-film franchise may be optimistic. Optimism is nowhere to be found in Ritchie's movie itself. It is a grim and stupid thing, from one of the world's most successful mediocre filmmakers, and if Shakespeare's King Lear were blogging today, he'd supply the blurb quote: 'Nothing will come of nothing.'." Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave the film one-and-a-half out of four stars, stating that despite the potential for a revisionist King Arthur story with "[t]he Ritchie sense of style", the overall problem is the film's lack of modulation: "Ritchie keeps rushing us along for two hours, as if to make absolutely certain that we never have time to absorb any character or moment, much less revel in the glorious, cheeky ridiculousness of the whole thing."


title: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

text: Alissa Wilkinson of "Vox" writes that the film is "surprisingly good, and surprisingly political" in relation to the British withdrawal from the European Union, and "occasionally, it's even pretty great". Chris Hartwell of "The Hollywood Reporter" expressed disappointment in the film's lackluster box office performance denying a sequel for the introduction of Merlin, stating it would have been more successful as a solo film instead of setting up a franchise.


title: Addison Timlin

text: Addison Jayne Timlin (born June 29, 1991) is an American actress, best known for her roles as Jami Lerner in "The Town That Dreaded Sundown" (2014) and Colleen Lunsford in "Little Sister" (2016). She is also known for playing Sasha Bingham in Showtime's "Californication".


title: Addison Timlin

text: Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Timlin debuted on the big screen as Amy, a 14-year-old girl with diabetes, in the 2005 film "Derailed" alongside Clive Owen and Melissa George, who played her parents. Timlin played Maddy in a short film, "The Isabel Fish", directed by Lara Zizic for the Columbia Film Festival. In 2007, Timlin appeared in the music video, "Sleeping Lessons", by Albuquerque, New Mexico based indie-rock band, The Shins. In 2008, she made an appearance in the music video for the song "Check Yes Juliet" by We the Kings, playing the fictional Juliet. She was cast in the short-lived CBS television drama, "3 lbs", as Charlotte Hanson (the daughter of the main character played by Stanley Tucci), in three of the eight episodes that were filmed. Timlin is seen in the short film "Man", written and directed by Myna Joseph, which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival and at Cannes. In 2008 she played Emily Draper in the ABC television show, "Cashmere Mafia", the troubled teenage daughter of Juliet Draper (Miranda Otto).


title: Addison Timlin

text: Timlin was cast in "Day One", an NBC midseason replacement TV series which was cut down to a mini-series that never aired. In the fourth season of "Californication" she portrayed Sasha Bingham, an actress who is in a casual sexual relationship with protagonist Hank Moody (David Duchovny). Timlin appeared in an indie film called "Best Man Down" which starred Justin Long. She played the female lead, Stormy Llewellyn, in Stephen Sommers' adaptation of the first book of Dean Koontz’s "Odd Thomas" series, opposite Anton Yelchin as the title character. In February 2012, Timlin was cast in ABC's drama pilot, "Zero Hour", which was picked up as a mid-season replacement and premiered in February 2013. In May that same year, Timlin joined the cast of the indie romantic comedy, "The Bounceback". In 2013, Timlin appeared in the action-comedy "Stand Up Guys", which starred Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin.


title: Addison Timlin

text: In 2016, Timlin was cast as a female lead in CBS's drama pilot "MacGyver", but was dropped from the cast when the network picked up pilot to series. In 2017, Timlin was cast in the second season of Crackle's show "StartUp". She played a young Hillary Clinton in the 2019 film "When I'm a Moth".


title: Addison Timlin

text: Timlin married actor Jeremy Allen White on October 18, 2019. The couple have two daughters (born in October 2018 and December 2020).


title: 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election

text: The 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022 to elect the governor of Georgia. Incumbent Republican governor Brian Kemp won re-election to a second term against Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams. Abrams conceded on election night. The primary occurred on May 24, 2022.


title: 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election

text: Incumbent Republican governor Brian Kemp ran for re-election and was endorsed by former Vice President Mike Pence. He faced a primary challenge from former U.S. Senator David Perdue, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump after Kemp refused to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.


title: 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election

text: Stacey Abrams, the former Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives and founder of Fair Fight Action who was narrowly defeated by Kemp in the 2018 gubernatorial election, was once again the Democratic nominee for the governorship. This was Georgia's first gubernatorial rematch since 1950.


title: 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election

text: Libertarian Shane T. Hazel, the Libertarian nominee for U.S. Senate in 2020, also declared he would run. This race was one of six Republican-held governorships up for election in 2022 in a state carried by Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.


title: 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election

text: Despite Kemp's narrow 55,000-vote victory in 2018, which was Georgia's closest gubernatorial election since 1966, he went on to win by 300,000 votes (7.5%) - the largest raw vote victory for a Georgia governor since 2006. The race was seen as a potential benefit to Herschel Walker, who ran in the concurrent Senate race, as it was speculated Kemp's strong performance could help Walker avoid a runoff. He vastly underperformed compared to Kemp, however, and lost to incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock in the December 6 runoff election.


title: 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election

text: Incumbent Governor Brian Kemp faced criticism from former President Donald Trump for his refusal to overturn the results of the 2020 United States presidential election. Kemp was booed at the Georgia Republican Convention in June 2021, and in December former Senator David Perdue announced a primary challenge to Kemp, and was promptly endorsed by Trump. Initial polling showed a competitive race, however Kemp significantly outraised his opponent and signed conservative legislation such as permitless carry of firearms and a temporary suspension of the gas tax that shored up his position among voters, and on election day, he won by over 50 points, a margin far larger than predicted.


title: Paleolithic

text: The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός "palaios", "old" and λίθος "lithos", "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehistoric technology. It extends from the earliest known use of stone tools by hominins,  3.3 million years ago, to the end of the Pleistocene,  11,650 cal BP.


title: Paleolithic

text: The Paleolithic Age in Europe preceded the Mesolithic Age, although the date of the transition varies geographically by several thousand years. During the Paleolithic Age, hominins grouped together in small societies such as bands and subsisted by gathering plants, fishing, and hunting or scavenging wild animals. The Paleolithic Age is characterized by the use of knapped stone tools, although at the time humans also used wood and bone tools. Other organic commodities were adapted for use as tools, including leather and vegetable fibers; however, due to rapid decomposition, these have not survived to any great degree.


title: Paleolithic

text: About 50,000 years ago, a marked increase in the diversity of artifacts occurred. In Africa, bone artifacts and the first art appear in the archaeological record. The first evidence of human fishing is also noted, from artifacts in places such as Blombos cave in South Africa. Archaeologists classify artifacts of the last 50,000 years into many different categories, such as projectile points, engraving tools, Sharp knife blades, and drilling and piercing tools.


title: Paleolithic

text: Humankind gradually evolved from early members of the genus "Homo"—such as "Homo habilis", who used simple stone tools—into anatomically modern humans as well as behaviourally modern humans by the Upper Paleolithic. During the end of the Paleolithic Age, specifically the Middle or Upper Paleolithic Age, humans began to produce the earliest works of art and to engage in religious or spiritual behavior such as burial and ritual. Conditions during the Paleolithic Age went through a set of glacial and interglacial periods in which the climate periodically fluctuated between warm and cool temperatures. Archaeological and genetic data suggest that the source populations of Paleolithic humans survived in sparsely-wooded areas and dispersed through areas of high primary productivity while avoiding dense forest-cover.


title: Paleolithic

text: By  BP, the first humans set foot in Australia. By  BP, humans lived at 61°N latitude in Europe. By  BP, Japan was reached, and by  BP humans were present in Siberia, above the Arctic Circle. By the end of the Upper Paleolithic Age humans had crossed Beringia and expanded throughout the Americas.


title: Paleolithic

text: The term "Palaeolithic" was coined by archaeologist John Lubbock in 1865. It derives from Greek: παλαιός, "palaios", "old"; and λίθος, "lithos", "stone", meaning "old age of the stone" or "Old Stone Age".


title: Paleolithic

text: The Paleolithic coincides almost exactly with the Pleistocene epoch of geologic time, which lasted from 2.6 million years ago to about 12,000 years ago. This epoch experienced important geographic and climatic changes that affected human societies.


title: Paleolithic

text: During the preceding Pliocene, continents had continued to drift from possibly as far as from their present locations to positions only from their current location. South America became linked to North America through the Isthmus of Panama, bringing a nearly complete end to South America's distinctive marsupial fauna. The formation of the isthmus had major consequences on global temperatures, because warm equatorial ocean currents were cut off, and the cold Arctic and Antarctic waters lowered temperatures in the now-isolated Atlantic Ocean.


title: Paleolithic

text: Most of Central America formed during the Pliocene to connect the continents of North and South America, allowing fauna from these continents to leave their native habitats and colonize new areas. Africa's collision with Asia created the Mediterranean, cutting off the remnants of the Tethys Ocean. During the Pleistocene, the modern continents were essentially at their present positions; the tectonic plates on which they sit have probably moved at most from each other since the beginning of the period.


title: Paleolithic

text: Climates during the Pliocene became cooler and drier, and seasonal, similar to modern climates. Ice sheets grew on Antarctica. The formation of an Arctic ice cap around 3 million years ago is signaled by an abrupt shift in oxygen isotope ratios and ice-rafted cobbles in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Ocean beds. Mid-latitude glaciation probably began before the end of the epoch. The global cooling that occurred during the Pliocene may have spurred on the disappearance of forests and the spread of grasslands and savannas.


title: Paleolithic

text: The Pleistocene climate was characterized by repeated glacial cycles during which continental glaciers pushed to the 40th parallel in some places. Four major glacial events have been identified, as well as many minor intervening events. A major event is a general glacial excursion, termed a "glacial". Glacials are separated by "interglacials". During a glacial, the glacier experiences minor advances and retreats. The minor excursion is a "stadial"; times between stadials are "interstadials". Each glacial advance tied up huge volumes of water in continental ice sheets deep, resulting in temporary sea level drops of or more over the entire surface of the Earth. During interglacial times, such as at present, drowned coastlines were common, mitigated by isostatic or other emergent motion of some regions.


title: Paleolithic

text: The effects of glaciation were global. Antarctica was ice-bound throughout the Pleistocene and the preceding Pliocene. The Andes were covered in the south by the Patagonian ice cap. There were glaciers in New Zealand and Tasmania. The now decaying glaciers of Mount Kenya, Mount Kilimanjaro, and the Ruwenzori Range in east and central Africa were larger. Glaciers existed in the mountains of Ethiopia and to the west in the Atlas mountains. In the northern hemisphere, many glaciers fused into one. The Cordilleran Ice Sheet covered the North American northwest; the Laurentide covered the east. The Fenno-Scandian ice sheet covered northern Europe, including Great Britain; the Alpine ice sheet covered the Alps. Scattered domes stretched across Siberia and the Arctic shelf. The northern seas were frozen. During the late Upper Paleolithic (Latest Pleistocene)  BP, the Beringia land bridge between Asia and North America was blocked by ice, which may have prevented early Paleo-Indians such as the Clovis culture from directly crossing Beringia to reach the Americas.


title: Paleolithic

text: According to Mark Lynas (through collected data), the Pleistocene's overall climate could be characterized as a continuous El Niño with trade winds in the south Pacific weakening or heading east, warm air rising near Peru, warm water spreading from the west Pacific and the Indian Ocean to the east Pacific, and other El Niño markers.


title: Paleolithic

text: The Paleolithic is often held to finish at the end of the ice age (the end of the Pleistocene epoch), and Earth's climate became warmer. This may have caused or contributed to the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna, although it is also possible that the late Pleistocene extinctions were (at least in part) caused by other factors such as disease and overhunting by humans. New research suggests that the extinction of the woolly mammoth may have been caused by the combined effect of climatic change and human hunting. Scientists suggest that climate change during the end of the Pleistocene caused the mammoths' habitat to shrink in size, resulting in a drop in population. The small populations were then hunted out by Paleolithic humans. The global warming that occurred during the end of the Pleistocene and the beginning of the Holocene may have made it easier for humans to reach mammoth habitats that were previously frozen and inaccessible. Small populations of woolly mammoths survived on isolated Arctic islands, Saint Paul Island and Wrangel Island, until  BP and  BP respectively. The Wrangel Island population became extinct around the same time the island was settled by prehistoric humans. There is no evidence of prehistoric human presence on Saint Paul island (though early human settlements dating as far back as 6500 BP were found on the nearby Aleutian Islands).


title: Paleolithic

text: Nearly all of our knowledge of Paleolithic human culture and way of life comes from archaeology and ethnographic comparisons to modern hunter-gatherer cultures such as the !Kung San who live similarly to their Paleolithic predecessors. The economy of a typical Paleolithic society was a hunter-gatherer economy. Humans hunted wild animals for meat and gathered food, firewood, and materials for their tools, clothes, or shelters.


title: Paleolithic

text: Human population density was very low, around only . This was most likely due to low body fat, infanticide, high levels of physical activity among women, late weaning of infants, and a nomadic lifestyle. Like contemporary hunter-gatherers, Paleolithic humans enjoyed an abundance of leisure time unparalleled in both Neolithic farming societies and modern industrial societies. At the end of the Paleolithic, specifically the Middle or Upper Paleolithic, humans began to produce works of art such as cave paintings, rock art and jewellery and began to engage in religious behavior such as burials and rituals.


title: Paleolithic

text: At the beginning of the Paleolithic, hominins were found primarily in eastern Africa, east of the Great Rift Valley. Most known hominin fossils dating earlier than one million years before present are found in this area, particularly in Kenya, Tanzania, and Ethiopia.


title: Paleolithic

text: By  BP, groups of hominins began leaving Africa and settling southern Europe and Asia. Southern Caucasus was occupied by  BP, and northern China was reached by  BP. By the end of the Lower Paleolithic, members of the hominin family were living in what is now China, western Indonesia, and, in Europe, around the Mediterranean and as far north as England, France, southern Germany, and Bulgaria. Their further northward expansion may have been limited by the lack of control of fire: studies of cave settlements in Europe indicate no regular use of fire prior to  BP.


title: Paleolithic

text: East Asian fossils from this period are typically placed in the genus "Homo erectus". Very little fossil evidence is available at known Lower Paleolithic sites in Europe, but it is believed that hominins who inhabited these sites were likewise "Homo erectus". There is no evidence of hominins in America, Australia, or almost anywhere in Oceania during this time period.


title: Paleolithic

text: Fates of these early colonists, and their relationships to modern humans, are still subject to debate. According to current archaeological and genetic models, there were at least two notable expansion events subsequent to peopling of Eurasia  BP. Around 500,000 BP a group of early humans, frequently called "Homo heidelbergensis", came to Europe from Africa and eventually evolved into "Homo neanderthalensis" (Neanderthals). In the Middle Paleolithic, Neanderthals were present in the region now occupied by Poland.


title: Paleolithic

text: Both "Homo erectus" and "Homo neanderthalensis" became extinct by the end of the Paleolithic. Descended from "Homo sapiens", the anatomically modern "Homo sapiens sapiens" emerged in eastern Africa  BP, left Africa around 50,000 BP, and expanded throughout the planet. Multiple hominid groups coexisted for some time in certain locations. "Homo neanderthalensis" were still found in parts of Eurasia  BP years, and engaged in an unknown degree of interbreeding with "Homo sapiens sapiens". DNA studies also suggest an unknown degree of interbreeding between "Homo sapiens sapiens" and "Homo sapiens denisova".


title: Paleolithic

text: Hominin fossils not belonging either to "Homo neanderthalensis" or to "Homo sapiens" species, found in the Altai Mountains and Indonesia, were radiocarbon dated to  BP and  BP respectively.


title: Paleolithic

text: 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. However, remains of thousands of butchered animals and tools made by Palaeolithic humans were found in Lapa do Picareiro (), a cave in Portugal, dating back between 41,000 and 38,000 years ago.


title: Paleolithic

text: Paleolithic humans made tools of stone, bone (primarily deer), 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 stone with good flaking qualities and chose appropriate sized stones for their needs to produce sharp-edged tools for cutting.


title: Paleolithic

text: The earliest Paleolithic stone tool industry, the Oldowan, began around 2.6 million years ago. It produced 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.


title: Paleolithic

text: Lower Paleolithic humans used a variety of stone tools, including hand axes and choppers. Although they appear to have used hand axes often, there is disagreement about their use. Interpretations range from cutting and chopping tools, to digging implements, to flaking cores, to the use in traps, and as a purely ritual significance, perhaps in courting behavior. William H. Calvin has suggested that some hand axes could have served as "killer Frisbees" meant to be thrown at a herd of animals at a waterhole so as to stun one of them. There are no indications of hafting, and some artifacts are far too large for that. Thus, a thrown hand axe would not usually have penetrated deeply enough to cause very serious injuries. Nevertheless, it could have been an effective weapon for defense against predators. Choppers and scrapers were likely used for skinning and butchering scavenged animals and sharp-ended sticks were often obtained for digging up edible roots. Presumably, early humans used wooden spears as early as 5 million years ago to hunt small animals, much as their relatives, chimpanzees, have been observed to do in Senegal, Africa. Lower Paleolithic humans constructed shelters, such as the possible wood hut at Terra Amata.


title: Paleolithic

text: Fire was used by the Lower Paleolithic hominins "Homo erectus" and "Homo ergaster" as early as 300,000 to 1.5 million years ago and possibly even earlier by the early Lower Paleolithic (Oldowan) hominin "Homo habilis" or by robust "Australopithecines" such as "Paranthropus". However, the use of fire only became common in the societies of the following Middle Stone Age and Middle Paleolithic. Use of fire reduced mortality rates and provided protection against predators. Early hominins may have begun to cook their food as early as the Lower Paleolithic ( million years ago) or at the latest in the early Middle Paleolithic ( years ago). Some scientists have hypothesized that hominins began cooking food to defrost frozen meat, which would help ensure their survival in cold regions.


title: Paleolithic

text: Archaeologists cite morphological shifts in cranial anatomy as evidence for emergence of cooking and food processing technologies. These morphological changes include decreases in molar and jaw size, thinner tooth enamel, and decrease in gut volume


title: Paleolithic

text: During much of the Pleistocene epoch, our ancestors relied on simple food processing techniques such as roasting


title: Paleolithic

text: The Upper Palaeolithic saw the emergence of boiling, an advance in food processing technology which rendered plant foods more digestible, decreased their toxicity, and maximised their nutritional value Thermally altered rock (heated stones) are easily identifiable in the archaeological record. Stone-boiling and pit-baking were common techniques which involved heating large pebbles then transferring the hot stones into a perishable container to heat the water This technology is typified in the Middle Palaeolithic example of the Abri Pataud hearths


title: Paleolithic

text: The Lower Paleolithic "Homo erectus" possibly invented rafts ( BP) to travel over large bodies of water, which may have allowed a group of "Homo erectus" to reach the island of Flores and evolve into the small hominin "Homo floresiensis". However, this hypothesis is disputed within the anthropological community. The possible use of rafts during the Lower Paleolithic may indicate that Lower Paleolithic hominins such as "Homo erectus" were more advanced than previously believed, and may have even spoken an early form of modern language. Supplementary evidence from Neanderthal and modern human sites located around the Mediterranean Sea, such as Coa de sa Multa ( BP), has also indicated that both Middle and Upper Paleolithic humans used rafts to travel over large bodies of water (i.e. the Mediterranean Sea) for the purpose of colonizing other bodies of land.


title: Paleolithic

text: By around 200,000 BP, Middle Paleolithic stone tool manufacturing spawned a tool making technique known as the prepared-core technique, that was more elaborate than previous Acheulean techniques. This technique increased efficiency by allowing the creation of more controlled and consistent flakes. It allowed Middle Paleolithic humans to create stone tipped spears, which were the earliest composite tools, by hafting sharp, pointy stone flakes onto wooden shafts. In addition to improving tool making methods, the Middle Paleolithic also saw an improvement of the tools themselves that allowed access to a wider variety and amount of food sources. For example, microliths or small stone tools or points were invented around 70,000–65,000 BP and were essential to the invention of bows and spear throwers in the following Upper Paleolithic.


title: Paleolithic

text: Harpoons were invented and used for the first time during the late Middle Paleolithic ( BP); the invention of these devices brought fish into the human diets, which provided a hedge against starvation and a more abundant food supply. Thanks to their technology and their advanced social structures, Paleolithic groups such as the Neanderthals—who had a Middle Paleolithic level of technology—appear to have hunted large game just as well as Upper Paleolithic modern humans. and the Neanderthals in particular may have likewise hunted with projectile weapons. Nonetheless, Neanderthal use of projectile weapons in hunting occurred very rarely (or perhaps never) and the Neanderthals hunted large game animals mostly by ambushing them and attacking them with mêlée weapons such as thrusting spears rather than attacking them from a distance with projectile weapons.


title: Paleolithic

text: During the Upper Paleolithic, further inventions were made, such as the net ( or  BP) bolas, the spear thrower ( BP), the bow and arrow ( or  BP) and the oldest example of ceramic art, the Venus of Dolní Věstonice ( BP). Kilu Cave at Buku island, Solomon Islands, demonstrates navigation of some 60 km of open ocean at 30,000 BCcal.


title: Paleolithic

text: Early dogs were domesticated sometime between 30,000 and 14,000 BP, presumably to aid in hunting. However, the earliest instances of successful domestication of dogs may be much more ancient than this. Evidence from canine DNA collected by Robert K. Wayne suggests that dogs may have been first domesticated in the late Middle Paleolithic around 100,000 BP or perhaps even earlier.


title: Paleolithic

text: Archaeological evidence from the Dordogne region of France demonstrates that members of the European early Upper Paleolithic culture known as the Aurignacian used calendars ( BP). This was a lunar calendar that was used to document the phases of the moon. Genuine solar calendars did not appear until the Neolithic. Upper Paleolithic cultures were probably able to time the migration of game animals such as wild horses and deer. This ability allowed humans to become efficient hunters and to exploit a wide variety of game animals. Recent research indicates that the Neanderthals timed their hunts and the migrations of game animals long before the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic.


title: Paleolithic

text: The social organization of the earliest Paleolithic (Lower Paleolithic) societies remains largely unknown to scientists, though Lower Paleolithic hominins such as "Homo habilis" and "Homo erectus" are likely to have had more complex social structures than chimpanzee societies. Late Oldowan/Early Acheulean humans such as "Homo ergaster"/"Homo erectus" may have been the first people to invent central campsites or home bases and incorporate them into their foraging and hunting strategies like contemporary hunter-gatherers, possibly as early as 1.7 million years ago; however, the earliest solid evidence for the existence of home bases or central campsites (hearths and shelters) among humans only dates back to 500,000 years ago.


title: Paleolithic

text: Similarly, scientists disagree whether Lower Paleolithic humans were largely monogamous or polygynous. In particular, the Provisional model suggests that bipedalism arose in pre-Paleolithic australopithecine societies as an adaptation to monogamous lifestyles; however, other researchers note that sexual dimorphism is more pronounced in Lower Paleolithic humans such as "Homo erectus" than in modern humans, who are less polygynous than other primates, which suggests that Lower Paleolithic humans had a largely polygynous lifestyle, because species that have the most pronounced sexual dimorphism tend more likely to be polygynous.


title: Paleolithic

text: Human societies from the Paleolithic to the early Neolithic farming tribes lived without states and organized governments. For most of the Lower Paleolithic, human societies were possibly more hierarchical than their Middle and Upper Paleolithic descendants, and probably were not grouped into bands, though during the end of the Lower Paleolithic, the latest populations of the hominin "Homo erectus" may have begun living in small-scale (possibly egalitarian) bands similar to both Middle and Upper Paleolithic societies and modern hunter-gatherers.


title: Paleolithic

text: Middle Paleolithic societies, unlike Lower Paleolithic and early Neolithic ones, consisted of bands that ranged from 20–30 or 25–100 members and were usually nomadic. These bands were formed by several families. Bands sometimes joined together into larger "macrobands" for activities such as acquiring mates and celebrations or where resources were abundant. By the end of the Paleolithic era ( BP), people began to settle down into permanent locations, and began to rely on agriculture for sustenance in many locations. Much evidence exists that humans took part in long-distance trade between bands for rare commodities (such as ochre, which was often used for religious purposes such as ritual) and raw materials, as early as 120,000 years ago in Middle Paleolithic. Inter-band trade may have appeared during the Middle Paleolithic because trade between bands would have helped ensure their survival by allowing them to exchange resources and commodities such as raw materials during times of relative scarcity (i.e. famine, drought). Like in modern hunter-gatherer societies, individuals in Paleolithic societies may have been subordinate to the band as a whole. Both Neanderthals and modern humans took care of the elderly members of their societies during the Middle and Upper Paleolithic.


title: Paleolithic

text: Some sources claim that most Middle and Upper Paleolithic societies were possibly fundamentally egalitarian and may have rarely or never engaged in organized violence between groups (i.e. war).


title: Paleolithic

text: Some Upper Paleolithic societies in resource-rich environments (such as societies in Sungir, in what is now Russia) may have had more complex and hierarchical organization (such as tribes with a pronounced hierarchy and a somewhat formal division of labor) and may have engaged in endemic warfare. Some argue that there was no formal leadership during the Middle and Upper Paleolithic. Like contemporary egalitarian hunter-gatherers such as the Mbuti pygmies, societies may have made decisions by communal consensus decision making rather than by appointing permanent rulers such as chiefs and monarchs. Nor was there a formal division of labor during the Paleolithic. Each member of the group was skilled at all tasks essential to survival, regardless of individual abilities. Theories to explain the apparent egalitarianism have arisen, notably the Marxist concept of primitive communism. Christopher Boehm (1999) has hypothesized that egalitarianism may have evolved in Paleolithic societies because of a need to distribute resources such as food and meat equally to avoid famine and ensure a stable food supply. Raymond C. Kelly speculates that the relative peacefulness of Middle and Upper Paleolithic societies resulted from a low population density, cooperative relationships between groups such as reciprocal exchange of commodities and collaboration on hunting expeditions, and because the invention of projectile weapons such as throwing spears provided less incentive for war, because they increased the damage done to the attacker and decreased the relative amount of territory attackers could gain. However, other sources claim that most Paleolithic groups may have been larger, more complex, sedentary and warlike than most contemporary hunter-gatherer societies, due to occupying more resource-abundant areas than most modern hunter-gatherers who have been pushed into more marginal habitats by agricultural societies.


title: Paleolithic

text: Anthropologists have typically assumed that in Paleolithic societies, women were responsible for gathering wild plants and firewood, and men were responsible for hunting and scavenging dead animals. However, analogies to existent hunter-gatherer societies such as the Hadza people and the Aboriginal Australians suggest that the sexual division of labor in the Paleolithic was relatively flexible. Men may have participated in gathering plants, firewood and insects, and women may have procured small game animals for consumption and assisted men in driving herds of large game animals (such as woolly mammoths and deer) off cliffs. Additionally, recent research by anthropologist and archaeologist Steven Kuhn from the University of Arizona is argued to support that this division of labor did not exist prior to the Upper Paleolithic and was invented relatively recently in human pre-history.<ref name="NG2006/12/061207"></ref> Sexual division of labor may have been developed to allow humans to acquire food and other resources more efficiently. Possibly there was approximate parity between men and women during the Middle and Upper Paleolithic, and that period may have been the most gender-equal time in human history. Archaeological evidence from art and funerary rituals indicates that a number of individual women enjoyed seemingly high status in their communities, and it is likely that both sexes participated in decision making. The earliest known Paleolithic shaman ( BP) was female. Jared Diamond suggests that the status of women declined with the adoption of agriculture because women in farming societies typically have more pregnancies and are expected to do more demanding work than women in hunter-gatherer societies. Like most modern hunter-gatherer societies, Paleolithic and Mesolithic groups probably followed a largely ambilineal approach. At the same time, depending on the society, the residence could be virilocal, uxorilocal, and sometimes the spouses could live with neither the husband's relatives nor the wife's relatives at all. Taken together, most likely, the lifestyle of hunter-gatherers can be characterized as multilocal.


title: Paleolithic

text: Early examples of artistic expression, such as the Venus of Tan-Tan and the patterns found on elephant bones from Bilzingsleben in Thuringia, may have been produced by Acheulean tool users such as "Homo erectus" prior to the start of the Middle Paleolithic period. However, the earliest undisputed evidence of art during the Paleolithic comes from Middle Paleolithic/Middle Stone Age sites such as Blombos Cave–South Africa–in the form of bracelets, beads, rock art, and ochre used as body paint and perhaps in ritual. Undisputed evidence of art only becomes common in the Upper Paleolithic.


title: Paleolithic

text: Lower Paleolithic Acheulean tool users, according to Robert G. Bednarik, began to engage in symbolic behavior such as art around 850,000 BP. They decorated themselves with beads and collected exotic stones for aesthetic, rather than utilitarian qualities. According to him, traces of the pigment ochre from late Lower Paleolithic Acheulean archaeological sites suggests that Acheulean societies, like later Upper Paleolithic societies, collected and used ochre to create rock art. Nevertheless, it is also possible that the ochre traces found at Lower Paleolithic sites is naturally occurring.


title: Paleolithic

text: Upper Paleolithic humans produced works of art such as cave paintings, Venus figurines, animal carvings, and rock paintings. Upper Paleolithic art can be divided into two broad categories: figurative art such as cave paintings that clearly depicts animals (or more rarely humans); and nonfigurative, which consists of shapes and symbols. Cave paintings have been interpreted in a number of ways by modern archaeologists. The earliest explanation, by the prehistorian Abbe Breuil, interpreted the paintings as a form of magic designed to ensure a successful hunt. However, this hypothesis fails to explain the existence of animals such as saber-toothed cats and lions, which were not hunted for food, and the existence of half-human, half-animal beings in cave paintings. The anthropologist David Lewis-Williams has suggested that Paleolithic cave paintings were indications of shamanistic practices, because the paintings of half-human, half-animal figures and the remoteness of the caves are reminiscent of modern hunter-gatherer shamanistic practices. Symbol-like images are more common in Paleolithic cave paintings than are depictions of animals or humans, and unique symbolic patterns might have been trademarks that represent different Upper Paleolithic ethnic groups. Venus figurines have evoked similar controversy. Archaeologists and anthropologists have described the figurines as representations of goddesses, pornographic imagery, apotropaic amulets used for sympathetic magic, and even as self-portraits of women themselves.


title: Paleolithic

text: R. Dale Guthrie has studied not only the most artistic and publicized paintings, but also a variety of lower-quality art and figurines, and he identifies a wide range of skill and ages among the artists. He also points out that the main themes in the paintings and other artifacts (powerful beasts, risky hunting scenes and the over-sexual representation of women) are to be expected in the fantasies of adolescent males during the Upper Paleolithic.


title: Paleolithic

text: The "Venus" figurines have been theorized, not universally, as representing a mother goddess; the abundance of such female imagery has inspired the theory that religion and society in Paleolithic (and later Neolithic) cultures were primarily interested in, and may have been directed by, women. Adherents of the theory include archaeologist Marija Gimbutas and feminist scholar Merlin Stone, the author of the 1976 book "When God Was a Woman". Other explanations for the purpose of the figurines have been proposed, such as Catherine McCoid and LeRoy McDermott's hypothesis that they were self-portraits of woman artists and R.Dale Gutrie's hypothesis that served as "stone age pornography".


title: Paleolithic

text: The origins of music during the Paleolithic are unknown. The earliest forms of music probably did not use musical instruments other than the human voice or natural objects such as rocks. This early music would not have left an archaeological footprint. Music may have developed from rhythmic sounds produced by daily chores, for example, cracking open nuts with stones. Maintaining a rhythm while working may have helped people to become more efficient at daily activities. An alternative theory originally proposed by Charles Darwin explains that music may have begun as a hominin mating strategy. Bird and other animal species produce music such as calls to attract mates. This hypothesis is generally less accepted than the previous hypothesis, but nonetheless provides a possible alternative.


title: Paleolithic

text: Upper Paleolithic (and possibly Middle Paleolithic) humans used flute-like bone pipes as musical instruments, and music may have played a large role in the religious lives of Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherers. As with modern hunter-gatherer societies, music may have been used in ritual or to help induce trances. In particular, it appears that animal skin drums may have been used in religious events by Upper Paleolithic shamans, as shown by the remains of drum-like instruments from some Upper Paleolithic graves of shamans and the ethnographic record of contemporary hunter-gatherer shamanic and ritual practices.


title: Paleolithic

text: According to James B. Harrod humankind first developed religious and spiritual beliefs during the Middle Paleolithic or Upper Paleolithic. Controversial scholars of prehistoric religion and anthropology, James Harrod and Vincent W. Fallio, have recently proposed that religion and spirituality (and art) may have first arisen in Pre-Paleolithic chimpanzees or Early Lower Paleolithic (Oldowan) societies. According to Fallio, the common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans experienced altered states of consciousness and partook in ritual, and ritual was used in their societies to strengthen social bonding and group cohesion.


title: Paleolithic

text: Middle Paleolithic humans' use of burials at sites such as Krapina, Croatia ( BP) and Qafzeh, Israel ( BP) have led some anthropologists and archaeologists, such as Philip Lieberman, to believe that Middle Paleolithic humans may have possessed a belief in an afterlife and a "concern for the dead that transcends daily life". Cut marks on Neanderthal bones from various sites, such as Combe-Grenal and Abri Moula in France, suggest that the Neanderthals—like some contemporary human cultures—may have practiced ritual defleshing for (presumably) religious reasons. According to recent archaeological findings from "Homo heidelbergensis" sites in Atapuerca, humans may have begun burying their dead much earlier, during the late Lower Paleolithic; but this theory is widely questioned in the scientific community.


title: Paleolithic

text: Likewise, some scientists have proposed that Middle Paleolithic societies such as Neanderthal societies may also have practiced the earliest form of totemism or animal worship, in addition to their (presumably religious) burial of the dead. In particular, Emil Bächler suggested (based on archaeological evidence from Middle Paleolithic caves) that a bear cult was widespread among Middle Paleolithic Neanderthals. A claim that evidence was found for Middle Paleolithic animal worship  BCE originates from the Tsodilo Hills in the African Kalahari desert has been denied by the original investigators of the site. Animal cults in the Upper Paleolithic, such as the bear cult, may have had their origins in these hypothetical Middle Paleolithic animal cults. Animal worship during the Upper Paleolithic was intertwined with hunting rites. For instance, archaeological evidence from art and bear remains reveals that the bear cult apparently involved a type of sacrificial bear ceremonialism, in which a bear was shot with arrows, finished off by a shot or thrust in the lungs, and ritually worshipped near a clay bear statue covered by a bear fur with the skull and the body of the bear buried separately. Barbara Ehrenreich controversially theorizes that the sacrificial hunting rites of the Upper Paleolithic (and by extension Paleolithic cooperative big-game hunting) gave rise to war or warlike raiding during the following Epipaleolithic and Mesolithic or late Upper Paleolithic.


title: Paleolithic

text: The existence of anthropomorphic images and half-human, half-animal images in the Upper Paleolithic may further indicate that Upper Paleolithic humans were the first people to believe in a pantheon of gods or supernatural beings, though such images may instead indicate shamanistic practices similar to those of contemporary tribal societies. The earliest known undisputed burial of a shaman (and by extension the earliest undisputed evidence of shamans and shamanic practices) dates back to the early Upper Paleolithic era ( BP) in what is now the Czech Republic. However, during the early Upper Paleolithic it was probably more common for all members of the band to participate equally and fully in religious ceremonies, in contrast to the religious traditions of later periods when religious authorities and part-time ritual specialists such as shamans, priests and medicine men were relatively common and integral to religious life.


title: Paleolithic

text: Religion was possibly apotropaic; specifically, it may have involved sympathetic magic. The Venus figurines, which are abundant in the Upper Paleolithic archaeological record, provide an example of possible Paleolithic sympathetic magic, as they may have been used for ensuring success in hunting and to bring about fertility of the land and women. The Upper Paleolithic Venus figurines have sometimes been explained as depictions of an earth goddess similar to Gaia, or as representations of a goddess who is the ruler or mother of the animals. James Harrod has described them as representative of female (and male) shamanistic spiritual transformation processes.


title: Paleolithic

text: Paleolithic hunting and gathering people ate varying proportions of vegetables (including tubers and roots), fruit, seeds (including nuts and wild grass seeds) and insects, meat, fish, and shellfish. However, there is little direct evidence of the relative proportions of plant and animal foods. Although the term "paleolithic diet", without references to a specific timeframe or locale, is sometimes used with an implication that most humans shared a certain diet during the entire era, that is not entirely accurate. The Paleolithic was an extended period of time, during which multiple technological advances were made, many of which had impact on human dietary structure. For example, humans probably did not possess the control of fire until the Middle Paleolithic, or tools necessary to engage in extensive fishing. On the other hand, both these technologies are generally agreed to have been widely available to humans by the end of the Paleolithic (consequently, allowing humans in some regions of the planet to rely heavily on fishing and hunting). In addition, the Paleolithic involved a substantial geographical expansion of human populations. During the Lower Paleolithic, ancestors of modern humans are thought to have been constrained to Africa east of the Great Rift Valley. During the Middle and Upper Paleolithic, humans greatly expanded their area of settlement, reaching ecosystems as diverse as New Guinea and Alaska, and adapting their diets to whatever local resources were available.


title: Paleolithic

text: Another view is that until the Upper Paleolithic, humans were frugivores (fruit eaters) who supplemented their meals with carrion, eggs, and small prey such as baby birds and mussels, and only on rare occasions managed to kill and consume big game such as antelopes. This view is supported by studies of higher apes, particularly chimpanzees. Chimpanzees are the closest to humans genetically, sharing more than 96% of their DNA code with humans, and their digestive tract is functionally very similar to that of humans. Chimpanzees are primarily frugivores, but they could and would consume and digest animal flesh, given the opportunity. In general, their actual diet in the wild is about 95% plant-based, with the remaining 5% filled with insects, eggs, and baby animals. In some ecosystems, however, chimpanzees are predatory, forming parties to hunt monkeys. Some comparative studies of human and higher primate digestive tracts do suggest that humans have evolved to obtain greater amounts of calories from sources such as animal foods, allowing them to shrink the size of the gastrointestinal tract relative to body mass and to increase the brain mass instead.


title: Paleolithic

text: Anthropologists have diverse opinions about the proportions of plant and animal foods consumed. Just as with still existing hunters and gatherers, there were many varied "diets" in different groups, and also varying through this vast amount of time. Some paleolithic hunter-gatherers consumed a significant amount of meat and possibly obtained most of their food from hunting, while others were believed to have a primarily plant-based diet. Most, if not all, are believed to have been opportunistic omnivores. One hypothesis is that carbohydrate tubers (plant underground storage organs) may have been eaten in high amounts by pre-agricultural humans. It is thought that the Paleolithic diet included as much as per day of fruit and vegetables. The relative proportions of plant and animal foods in the diets of Paleolithic people often varied between regions, with more meat being necessary in colder regions (which were not populated by anatomically modern humans until  BP). It is generally agreed that many modern hunting and fishing tools, such as fish hooks, nets, bows, and poisons, were not introduced until the Upper Paleolithic and possibly even Neolithic. The only hunting tools widely available to humans during any significant part of the Paleolithic were hand-held spears and harpoons. There is evidence of Paleolithic people killing and eating seals and elands as far as  BP. On the other hand, buffalo bones found in African caves from the same period are typically of very young or very old individuals, and there is no evidence that pigs, elephants, or rhinos were hunted by humans at the time.


title: Paleolithic

text: Paleolithic peoples suffered less famine and malnutrition than the Neolithic farming tribes that followed them. This was partly because Paleolithic hunter-gatherers accessed a wider variety of natural foods, which allowed them a more nutritious diet and a decreased risk of famine. Many of the famines experienced by Neolithic (and some modern) farmers were caused or amplified by their dependence on a small number of crops. It is thought that wild foods can have a significantly different nutritional profile than cultivated foods. The greater amount of meat obtained by hunting big game animals in Paleolithic diets than Neolithic diets may have also allowed Paleolithic hunter-gatherers to enjoy a more nutritious diet than Neolithic agriculturalists. It has been argued that the shift from hunting and gathering to agriculture resulted in an increasing focus on a limited variety of foods, with meat likely taking a back seat to plants. It is also unlikely that Paleolithic hunter-gatherers were affected by modern diseases of affluence such as type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease, because they ate mostly lean meats and plants and frequently engaged in intense physical activity, and because the average lifespan was shorter than the age of common onset of these conditions.


title: Paleolithic

text: Large-seeded legumes were part of the human diet long before the Neolithic Revolution, as evident from archaeobotanical finds from the Mousterian layers of Kebara Cave, in Israel.<ref name="doi10.1016/j.jas.2004.11.006"></ref> There is evidence suggesting that Paleolithic societies were gathering wild cereals for food use at least as early as 30,000 years ago. However, seeds—such as grains and beans—were rarely eaten and never in large quantities on a daily basis.<ref name="doi:10.1080/11026480510032043"></ref> Recent archaeological evidence also indicates that winemaking may have originated in the Paleolithic, when early humans drank the juice of naturally fermented wild grapes from animal-skin pouches. Paleolithic humans consumed animal organ meats, including the livers, kidneys, and brains. Upper Paleolithic cultures appear to have had significant knowledge about plants and herbs and may have sometimes practiced rudimentary forms of horticulture. In particular, bananas and tubers may have been cultivated as early as 25,000 BP in southeast Asia. In the Paleolithic Levant, 23,000 years ago, cereals cultivation of emmer, barley, and oats has been observed near the Sea of Galilee.


title: Paleolithic

text: Late Upper Paleolithic societies also appear to have occasionally practiced pastoralism and animal husbandry, presumably for dietary reasons. For instance, some European late Upper Paleolithic cultures domesticated and raised reindeer, presumably for their meat or milk, as early as 14,000 BP. Humans also probably consumed hallucinogenic plants during the Paleolithic. The Aboriginal Australians have been consuming a variety of native animal and plant foods, called bushfood, for an estimated 60,000 years, since the Middle Paleolithic.


title: Paleolithic

text: In February 2019, scientists reported evidence, based on isotope studies, that at least some Neanderthals may have eaten meat. People during the Middle Paleolithic, such as the Neanderthals and Middle Paleolithic Homo sapiens in Africa, began to catch shellfish for food as revealed by shellfish cooking in Neanderthal sites in Italy about 110,000 years ago and in Middle Paleolithic "Homo sapiens" sites at Pinnacle Point, South Africa around 164,000 BP.<ref name="NYTIMES/10/08/07"></ref> Although fishing only became common during the Upper Paleolithic, fish have been part of human diets long before the dawn of the Upper Paleolithic and have certainly been consumed by humans since at least the Middle Paleolithic. For example, the Middle Paleolithic "Homo sapiens" in the region now occupied by the Democratic Republic of the Congo hunted large -long catfish with specialized barbed fishing points as early as 90,000 years ago. The invention of fishing allowed some Upper Paleolithic and later hunter-gatherer societies to become sedentary or semi-nomadic, which altered their social structures. Example societies are the Lepenski Vir as well as some contemporary hunter-gatherers, such as the Tlingit. In some instances (at least the Tlingit), they developed social stratification, slavery, and complex social structures such as chiefdoms.


title: Paleolithic

text: Anthropologists such as Tim White suggest that cannibalism was common in human societies prior to the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic, based on the large amount of “butchered human" bones found in Neanderthal and other Lower/Middle Paleolithic sites. Cannibalism in the Lower and Middle Paleolithic may have occurred because of food shortages. However, it may have been for religious reasons, and would coincide with the development of religious practices thought to have occurred during the Upper Paleolithic. Nonetheless, it remains possible that Paleolithic societies never practiced cannibalism, and that the damage to recovered human bones was either the result of excarnation or predation by carnivores such as saber-toothed cats, lions, and hyenas.


title: Paleolithic

text: A modern-day diet known as the Paleolithic diet exists, based on restricting consumption to the foods presumed to be available to anatomically modern humans prior to the advent of settled agriculture.


title: Christmas Island

text: Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the closest point on the Australian mainland. It lies northwest of Perth and south of Singapore. It has an area of .