STONE AGE: PREHISTORY
Session aims:
Paper and pencil/pen
Materials for cave painting activity (see below)
Introduction
The Prehistoric Period — roughly dates from 2.5 million years ago to 1,200 B.C. It is generally split into three periods: the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age.
Question: Why is it called prehistoric or pre history?
Because this is the period before written records, so archaeologists have to learn about prehistoric people using other ways of investigating.
Question: If archaeologists can't use written records to find
out about prehistoric times, what can they use instead?
Archaeologists learn about prehistory by finding the objects that were left behind by prehistoric people. These objects are often buried in the ground, although sometimes they are found in other places too, such as in fields which have been ploughed.
Activity: what would survive?
The prehistoric period started and ended a VERY long time ago, so not everything made or used by prehistoric people survives. Some materials can last a very long time in the ground, some will be damaged and corroded, and some rot away completely. Can you sort the prehistoric materials below into three lists, with the following headings:
Materials which would survive from prehistory
Materials that would be damaged
Materials that would rot completely
(Note: this is a very simplified way of sorting materials, as it is very dependent on ground conditions)
Materials
Stone
Wood
Bone
Leather or animal skin
Pottery
Copper
Iron
Food
Answers
Materials which survive well
Stone
Pottery
Damaged
Bone
Iron
Copper
Materials which rot
Food
Wood
Animal skins
As prehistoric people made many of their tools from stone, archaeologists are able to learn a lot about their history and culture from these tools, and other artifacts such as cave paintings.
Timeline:
The prehistoric time line is split into three main sections, the stone age, the bronze age and the iron age. The stone age lasted a REALLY long time, and so archaeologists often split it up into different sections. They also use other words to describe these sections. Have a look the "Stone Age Britain" timeline below and see if you can find some new words that archaeologists use when describing sections in the stone age. Write down the new words you see.
New Vocabulary
Paleolithic:
An ancient stage, or level, of human social and cultural development, characterized by the use of simple chipped stone tools and hunter-gatherer societies.
Mesolithic:
An ancient cultural stage that existed between the Paleolithic with its chipped stone tools, and the Neolithic with its polished stone tools. Tools from the mesolithic show a greater variety. Farming begins to develop, but most people still live as hunter-gatherers.
Neolithic,
A stage of cultural evolution or technological development. Stone tools from the neolithic are shaped by polishing or grinding. People also domesticated plants or animals, settled in permanent villages, and made crafts as pottery.
Activity: Stone Age Tools
Below are pictures of three stone age tools. Two are from the palaeolithic, and one from the neolithic. Can you guess which is which?
Look closely at each picture to help you. Try to see the clues that archaeologists would look for. Think about how difficult each tool would be to make and which one uses the most processes.
Answers
Paleolithic
Flint flake tool
No polishing and limited shaping
Flint hand Axe,
Palaeolithic
From Furze Platt, Maidenhead, Berkshire
Definite shaping of tool, no polishing
Neolithic
Polished hand axe
Clearly shaped and polished smooth showing greater workmanship.
Activity: Prehistoric Art
Humans have made art for many thousands of years. The age of the oldest pieces of art is debated a great deal by archaeologists. However the oldest known painting made by Homo sapiens (our own species) is thought to be around 73,000 years old.
Rhino drawings from the Chauvet Cave About 30,000 to 32,000 years ago
Question : Why do you think prehistoric people made art? What kind of things do you think they drew?
Nobody knows why prehistoric people made art. It could have been for a religious purpose - they may have believed that by drawing the animals they saw around them they could inhabit their spirit and be more successful hunters.
Look at the pictures below, they are artist's impressions of animals that prehistoric man may have seen and hunted.
Which modern animals do they remind you off?
Question: What other animals can you see in these images of the paintings from the Chauvet cave in France?
Activity: Make your own cave drawing
You will need
A piece of card from a cardboard box
Chalks or chalk pastels in black, white, brown and ochre (paint will work too)
Images of prehistoric animals to draw from
Step one:
Look carefully at the prehistoric cave paintings above, and look at some more too, if you can. What do you notice about the way the artist has used the materials?
Step two:
Assemble your materials, look carefully at the images of the prehistoric animals and think about how you can draw them in a similar way to prehistoric people. What kind of marks do you need to make?
Step three:
Watch our how to video below to see how we did it.
Step Four:
Have a go! We would love to see what you've made so why not share them with us on social media, use #explorewithSWM
Session aims:
- To learn new vocabulary and understand the chronology of the period.
- To understand the changes in the development of tools used by prehistoric man
- To explore prehistoric art and consider why it was made.
Paper and pencil/pen
Materials for cave painting activity (see below)
Introduction
The Prehistoric Period — roughly dates from 2.5 million years ago to 1,200 B.C. It is generally split into three periods: the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age.
Question: Why is it called prehistoric or pre history?
Because this is the period before written records, so archaeologists have to learn about prehistoric people using other ways of investigating.
Question: If archaeologists can't use written records to find
out about prehistoric times, what can they use instead?
Archaeologists learn about prehistory by finding the objects that were left behind by prehistoric people. These objects are often buried in the ground, although sometimes they are found in other places too, such as in fields which have been ploughed.
Activity: what would survive?
The prehistoric period started and ended a VERY long time ago, so not everything made or used by prehistoric people survives. Some materials can last a very long time in the ground, some will be damaged and corroded, and some rot away completely. Can you sort the prehistoric materials below into three lists, with the following headings:
Materials which would survive from prehistory
Materials that would be damaged
Materials that would rot completely
(Note: this is a very simplified way of sorting materials, as it is very dependent on ground conditions)
Materials
Stone
Wood
Bone
Leather or animal skin
Pottery
Copper
Iron
Food
Answers
Materials which survive well
Stone
Pottery
Damaged
Bone
Iron
Copper
Materials which rot
Food
Wood
Animal skins
As prehistoric people made many of their tools from stone, archaeologists are able to learn a lot about their history and culture from these tools, and other artifacts such as cave paintings.
Timeline:
The prehistoric time line is split into three main sections, the stone age, the bronze age and the iron age. The stone age lasted a REALLY long time, and so archaeologists often split it up into different sections. They also use other words to describe these sections. Have a look the "Stone Age Britain" timeline below and see if you can find some new words that archaeologists use when describing sections in the stone age. Write down the new words you see.
Paleolithic:
An ancient stage, or level, of human social and cultural development, characterized by the use of simple chipped stone tools and hunter-gatherer societies.
Mesolithic:
An ancient cultural stage that existed between the Paleolithic with its chipped stone tools, and the Neolithic with its polished stone tools. Tools from the mesolithic show a greater variety. Farming begins to develop, but most people still live as hunter-gatherers.
Neolithic,
A stage of cultural evolution or technological development. Stone tools from the neolithic are shaped by polishing or grinding. People also domesticated plants or animals, settled in permanent villages, and made crafts as pottery.
Activity: Stone Age Tools
Below are pictures of three stone age tools. Two are from the palaeolithic, and one from the neolithic. Can you guess which is which?
Look closely at each picture to help you. Try to see the clues that archaeologists would look for. Think about how difficult each tool would be to make and which one uses the most processes.
Answers
Flint flake tool
No polishing and limited shaping
Flint hand Axe,
Palaeolithic
From Furze Platt, Maidenhead, Berkshire
Definite shaping of tool, no polishing
Neolithic
Polished hand axe
Clearly shaped and polished smooth showing greater workmanship.
Activity: Prehistoric Art
Humans have made art for many thousands of years. The age of the oldest pieces of art is debated a great deal by archaeologists. However the oldest known painting made by Homo sapiens (our own species) is thought to be around 73,000 years old.
Rhino drawings from the Chauvet Cave About 30,000 to 32,000 years ago
Question : Why do you think prehistoric people made art? What kind of things do you think they drew?
Nobody knows why prehistoric people made art. It could have been for a religious purpose - they may have believed that by drawing the animals they saw around them they could inhabit their spirit and be more successful hunters.
Look at the pictures below, they are artist's impressions of animals that prehistoric man may have seen and hunted.
Which modern animals do they remind you off?
 |
| Derivative of File:Mammuthus trogontherii122DB.jpg Date 12 January 2013, 23:00:24 Source Own work Author Kurzon |
 |
| Wild Boar |
 |
| Aurochs |
Question: What other animals can you see in these images of the paintings from the Chauvet cave in France?
 |
| Copyright Claude Valette 2016 https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:12_PanneauDesChevaux(PartieDroite)Cervid%C3%A9LionChevauxEtCoupleDeLions.jpg |
 |
Copyright: Thomas T.
https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Chauvet%C2%B4s_cave_horses.jpg
|
Activity: Make your own cave drawing
You will need
A piece of card from a cardboard box
Chalks or chalk pastels in black, white, brown and ochre (paint will work too)
Images of prehistoric animals to draw from
Step one:
Look carefully at the prehistoric cave paintings above, and look at some more too, if you can. What do you notice about the way the artist has used the materials?
Step two:
Assemble your materials, look carefully at the images of the prehistoric animals and think about how you can draw them in a similar way to prehistoric people. What kind of marks do you need to make?
Step three:
Watch our how to video below to see how we did it.
Step Four:
Have a go! We would love to see what you've made so why not share them with us on social media, use #explorewithSWM
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