STONE AGE Although no fixed chronological epoch in world-history is under stood by the words stone age, the term has the same connotation in the history of Asia as in that of Africa. It denotes the condi tion of a people or an ethnic unit unacquainted with the working of metal. Thus stone of various kinds is used as the material from which cutting implements and weapons are manufactured. It is the stone age of man's development in his appreciation and use of the materials by which he finds himself surrounded. It is obvious, therefore, that the stone age of some peoples is far behind them, while, with others, their present development indicates that their stone age ended but yesterday.