The Stone Age was the time of the rise and establishment of the earliest forms of human society in Central Asia. According to the chronology generally accepted by scientists internationally, the Stone Age is di vided into three main periods: the Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age: 1,500,000 BP - 12,000 BC), the Meso lithic (Middle Stone Age: 12,000 - 6,000 BC) and the Neolithic (New Stone Age: 5,000-4,000 BC). These, in turn, are sub-divided into a series of shorter periods which take into account the development of material culture.

The transitional period from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age is called the Eneolithic or Copper Age (4,000-3,000 BC).

These periods, as reflected in the archaeological sites presented in the exhibition sections, are evidence that settlement by man in Central Asia occurred in the early Palaeolithic period. The early Palaeolithic is characterized by the establishment of humans and the appearance of the first stone tools.