Context: According to Tilmann Vetter, the core of earliest Buddhism is the practice of dhyāna. Bronkhorst agrees that dhyana was a Buddhist invention, whereas Norman notes that "the Buddha's way to release [...] was by means of meditative practices." Discriminating insight into transiency as a separate path to liberation was a later development.

Question: What was the earliest Buddhism type?
Answer: dhyana

Question: Buddha's way to release was by means of what type of practices? 
Answer: meditative