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The Lower Paleolithic covers a vast period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula. As illustrated in the figure, it spanned from 1,350,000 years ago to roughly 130,000 years BC, the period which is generally considered to mark the beginning of the Middle Paleolithic. The Lower Paleolithic coincides with the geological age of both the Lower (or possibly older) and Middle Pleistocene Epochs. The Lower Pleistocene had a warm climate similar to today´s Mediterranean environment in which the regular flow of water from rivers (greater in the Atlantic watershed than in the Mediterranean watershed) deposited sediment and produced fluvial terraces. The fauna typical of this time period was similar to that of the present-day African Savannah: large mammals such as elephants, panthers, saber-tooth tigers, hippopotamus, zebras, and hyenas. The Middle Pleistocene was marked by glaciations which transformed ecosystems and gave rise to mammals such as cave bears, rhinoceros, and mammoths.

[[File:Enelaboracion.jpg|right|thumb|none|300px|Image: Gran Dolina, archaeological site of Atapuerca (Burgos)]]

The defining characteristic of these hominids placing them in the genus ''Homo'' is their ability to make tools. Initially, they made stone tools, typically of flint and quartzite, shaped and sharpened on only one surface (using stone tool technology). And later, tools were made by shaping both sides of the stone, forming bifacial preforms typical of Acheulean technology. The early tools, which were bulky and heavy and made in situ, were abandoned as soon as hunted animals were cut and skinned, whereas bifacial tools were typically kept for future use, as they were more versatile and difficult to produce.

The Middle Paleolithic, which began approximately 130,000 years BC, coincided with the widespread presence of ''Homo neanderthalensis''.

In the majority of settlements, where human remains have been observed, lithic remnants have also been uncovered; however, the reverse case is not necessarily true. For example, the multiple artefacts discovered at Atapuerca can be only attributed to the Neanderthals; however, actual (skeletal) fossil remains of this hominid group have not been found at this site. Such findings hinder the study of evolutionary changes.

The Upper Paleolithic, which coincided with the end of the Upper Pleistocene, saw the evolutionary rise of a new species called ''Homo sapiens'' starting in approximately 40,000 BC. The end of the Upper Pleistocene on the Iberian Peninsula took place around 12,000 to 10,000 BC, which was followed by a new epoch called the Neolithic, also known as the Holocene on the geological time scale.

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|titulo= Artistic expression in the Upper Paleolithic

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There is much debate about whether to attribute the earliest development of artistic expression solely to ''Homo sapiens'' based on the fact that its emergence coincided with their existence, and there is also similar debate with respect to the Paleolithic. Since Neanderthals were also present at this time, they may have been responsible for some of these works, and previous works; possible examples include: El Castillo (a red disc and hand figures), Tito Bustillo (some remains), [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaG7dM-9tSA Altamira] (a claviform symbol), and cueva de Nerja with seal paintings (from possibly 42,000 years ago).

Scientists do not agree as to whether this was the beginning or the end of an epoch. As the Holocene began, the interglacial period that is believed to be taking place today was already under way. The ''sapiens'' were adapting quickly to a more temperate climate and vegetative landscape as well as to the availability of more desirable animals for hunting. Communities were becoming more specialised in exploiting a variety of available resources, leading to improvements in hunting, gathering, fishing and shellfishing. Some historians believe that the Paleolithic Period was coming to a close and refer to this time period as the Epi-Paleolithic. However, other historians consider this to be the beginning of a new era starting roughly 12,000 BC, describing it as the Mesolithic Period, or Middle Stone Age, which was then proceeded imperceptibly by the Neolithic.

A plethora of technologically advanced tools and contraptions such as harpoons, spears, sickles, saws, arrows, knives, and darts have been found, which they crafted in response to forces necessitating new ways of subsistence. Stones were finely burnished to be fashioned as useful tools and microliths embedded in polished wooden handles were made with an angular shape suitable for cutting, scraping, and penetrating their prey; samples of small painted rocks depicting this phenomenon have been discovered in some settlements.

According to diffusion theories, these lifestyle changes were brought to the Iberian Peninsula from the Eastern Mediterranean. However, to adherents of autochthonous theories, the changes occurred naturally in response to the evolution of the Mesolithic on the Iberian Peninsula. One theory asserts that there were four regions along the Peninsula: Northeast Area, Levantine Area, Southern Area and South Atlantic Area, as can be seen on ''[[:File:Enelaboracion.jpg|The Neolithic]]'' map. Another theory suggests it had logically spread throughout the entire Iberian Peninsula. History tells us that even when a theory becomes difficult to dispute, other theories cannot be ruled out.

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[[File:Enelaboracion.jpg|left|thumb|none|200px|Image: Ancient Iberian Bronze coin. Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona

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|titulo= Artistic expression from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic

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It was not until 12,000-10,000 BC, that Homo sapiens realised their full artistic potential. Evidence of this resides on the East coast of the Iberian Peninsula where more modest, schematic and stylised paintings than those from the Palaeolithic were developed. As contours of discontinuous lines, the figures lack interior polychromy and are smaller in size. Human beings and animals on which they preyed were the centre piece of the art, often depicted in motion and in scenes that tell a story. These paintings were now displayed in rock shelter rather than caves, undoubtedly reflecting the change to a sedentary lifestyle. Well-preserved examples of such art can be found at the Cogull, Valltorta, and [https://m.facebook.com/watch/?v=519305595439306&vanity=CMMediaes Alpera] sites as well as in cueva de la Araña.

Like the art in the Franco-Cantabrian region, these images were found on parietal walls throughout the Peninsula, frequently comingled with paintings and engravings from later periods. They were concentrated in three large areas: the Galician-Portuguese region, the south, and most commonly, along the East coast, so prevalent in this area that it is often referred to as “Levantine Art”.

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|titulo=The beginning of the use of copper

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In the beginning of the Third Millennium BC, the use of copper, a new raw material, was becoming widespread throughout Europe. It was relatively abundant on the Peninsula and could be extracted from the ground. This sparked the beginning of the Chalcolithic or Copper Age, the first of the traditionally recognised Metal Ages.

Fortified settlements were now being constructed high up on plateaus. The most notable examples of this were [https://argarica.es/index.php/allcategories-es-es/14-argarica/calcolitico/35-visita-al-yacimiento-calcolitico-de-los-millares the culture of Los Millares] and subsequently, the Argar (Almeria) and Zambujal in Torres Vedras (Portugal), which were the most magnificent architectural settlements on the Chalcolithic Iberian Peninsula. However, most communities were still typically found in the flatlands (particularly on river terraces and in valleys), which were more suitable for farming or raising livestock. Excavations at these sites have unearthed grain stores, landfills, store rooms, ditches and pits at these sites dating from this same time period. These societies also left behind an extensive fields of ring-diches which served as storage pits, particularly at les Jovades en Concentaina site, in Alicante and at the Ventorro site in Madrid. Notable exceptions to the settlements on the plains were those in caves or rock shelter such as the cova des Moro in Manacor (Mallorca) or cova des Fum in Formentera or Estremera in Madrid. Collective burying of their dead and the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEKCytXtatQ construction of megalithic burial chambers] typical of the Late Neolithic continued to be common in the southeast, southwest, Northern Plateau and northwest of the Peninsula. These customs endured until the introduction of [https://www.um.es/web/sala-prensa/-/el-vaso-campaniforme-desmonta-la-expansion-migratoria-de-nuestros-ancestros-peninsulares-hacia-europa bell-shaped ceramic pots], which then allowed them to bury just a single individual.

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[[File:Enelaboracion.jpg|right|thumb|none|200px|Image:The Bull from Costix. Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid

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In the Second Millennium BC, population growth created a greater demand for raw materials and subsistence products, causing agricultural and livestock farming (and its by-products) to become more widespread. This still Neolithic society had already mastered metallurgical techniques and had discovered bronze, a strong alloy of copper and tin. Bronze arrived on the Peninsula through the Pyrenees in the Third Millennium BC and was used along with copper to make tools and objects, according to stratigraphic studies of the Bauma del Serrat del Pont site (Girona).

During this period emerge control walkway in livestock routes, water points, mountain passes or river fords as the Tagus River Trail. Metallurgical production sites were built to the north of the Tagus River in Portugal and along the Tinto-Odiel estuary, home to the Tartessian Civilisation during the 10^th and 11^th centuries BC. By the 8^th century BC The Atlantic metallurgy was predominant on the entire Iberian Peninsula, especially at settlements in fertile and grassy areas along the river plains. Such settlements were frequently left open and unprotected, but at other times, built inside walled enclosures. Phoenician merchants began to appear on the coasts around this precolonial period, and later, towards the end of the 7^th century BC, the Greeks.<br>

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[[File:Enelaboracion.jpg|right|thumb|none|300px|Map: Tartessian culture. Iberian Peninsula, south zone.

<span style="color: #b20027; ">16028 [PDF]. [Datos]. </span>]]The dawning of the Iron Age on the Peninsula meant a new era in the Neolithic, but it did not lead to significant cultural changes for the people who settled on the Iberian Peninsula at that time.

[[File:Enelaboracion.jpg|left|thumb|none|200px|Image:Belt from Aliseda Hoard. Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid

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The use of this new metal technology, which required furnaces capable of reaching extremely high temperatures, did not spread homogenously throughout the Peninsula. Iron-making first began on the coastline in the middle of the 8^th century BC by such predominant protohistoric cultures as [https://historia.nationalgeographic.com.es/a/tartessos-busca-reino-perdido_6233/3 the Tartessos] while inland civilisations continued to work with bronze and were slower to adopt this new technology. These diverse regional differences (evident at some archaeological sites) led to transformations in how these societies were organised throughout the territory, signalling that the Iberian people were entering into a new era (known as ancient history) and leaving Prehistory behind.