When did story-telling start?

Storytelling has been an integral part of human existence since the origins of human language and culture, possibly dating back hundreds of thousands of years to the early periods of hominin evolution. While evidence and historical records of storytelling practices extend primarily to the Neolithic era and beyond, it's generally believed that oral tradition and storytelling emerged much earlier as a means of conveying experiences, traditions, cultural values, and knowledge. These oral stories evolved in communities before transitioning to more formal formats in later civilizations. So, although pinpointing an exact date is impossible, storytelling began during the prehistoric past within diverse human collectives worldwide.