A Story of the Stone Age
Encyclopedia
"A Story of the Stone Age" is a short story
written in 1897 by H. G. Wells
.
The story was featured in three parts between May and August 1897 in The Idler magazine, and was later released in collected editions. The story is set during the Stone Age
, and tells of a caveman named Ugh-lomi, who kills his rival, the de facto tribal leader Uya. Whilst in exile, Ugh-lomi becomes the first man to combine stone and wood to fashion an axe. He uses this weapon, along with his wits, to claim the position of tribal leader for himself.
The story is unusual for Wells, in that the various animals featured, including boars, bear
s and hyena
s, all have names and can speak English.
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
written in 1897 by H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
.
The story was featured in three parts between May and August 1897 in The Idler magazine, and was later released in collected editions. The story is set during the Stone Age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
, and tells of a caveman named Ugh-lomi, who kills his rival, the de facto tribal leader Uya. Whilst in exile, Ugh-lomi becomes the first man to combine stone and wood to fashion an axe. He uses this weapon, along with his wits, to claim the position of tribal leader for himself.
The story is unusual for Wells, in that the various animals featured, including boars, bear
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
s and hyena
Hyena
Hyenas or Hyaenas are the animals of the family Hyaenidae of suborder feliforms of the Carnivora. It is the fourth smallest biological family in the Carnivora , and one of the smallest in the mammalia...
s, all have names and can speak English.