Stage 6 - The Stone Age...Unit focus: The Stone Age STAGE 6 Text focus: Information Text (920L)...
3
STAGE 6 Unit focus: The Stone Age Text focus: Information Text (920L) Human history for a long me was defined by the main material used to make tools. The Stone Age was no excepon. It was a long period of history from before 300,000 BC all the way to 3,000 BC. However, these are just guesses. Finding evidence from this period in history is very hard. It also depends on what you class as human ancestors. Evidence of Australopithecus - a very early ancestor of homo sapiens (modern humans) - have been found from as long ago as 3.9 million years. This is why the Stone Age is oſten recorded as starng “before 300,000 BC”. It is also important to remember that not all human ancestors would have started using stone, or moved on to using bronze, at the same point. By that point, humans were spread across the Earth and would have progressed at different mes. The Stone Age is split into three secons by archaeologists. The earliest period was the Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) period, which started at the beginning of the Stone Age and connued unl about 10,000 BC. The Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) period then connued unl roughly 8,000 BC and the Neolithic (New Stone Age) unl 3,000 BC. The people who lived in the Paleolithic period were hunter-gatherers. They were nomadic, which means they didn’t build cies or villages. Instead, they would move around looking for food. Any remains from this period are oſten found in caves. These people would have lived alongside and hunted woolly mammoths and sabre-tooth gers. There is evidence that they held funerals and created art. During this period, the landscape of Britain and Europe changed considerably. There were many significant ice ages during this me. 500,000 years ago, the whole of Europe was buried beneath a vast ice sheet. 16,000 years ago, most of the ice had melted but Britain was joined to Europe by land. The area is referred to as Doggerland by archaeologists. By the Mesolithic age, sea levels had started to rise and the land between Britain and Europe all resources ©2019 Literacy Shed http://www.literacyshedplus.com The Stone Age
Transcript of Stage 6 - The Stone Age...Unit focus: The Stone Age STAGE 6 Text focus: Information Text (920L)...
-
STAGE 6Unit focus: The Stone AgeText focus: Information Text (920L)
Humanhistoryforalongtimewasdefinedbythemainmaterialusedtomaketools.TheStoneAge
wasnoexception.Itwasalongperiodofhistoryfrombefore300,000BCallthewayto3,000BC.
However,thesearejustguesses.Findingevidencefromthisperiodinhistoryisveryhard.Italso
dependsonwhatyouclassashumanancestors.
EvidenceofAustralopithecus-averyearlyancestorofhomosapiens(modernhumans)-have
beenfoundfromaslongagoas3.9millionyears.ThisiswhytheStoneAgeisoftenrecordedas
starting“before300,000BC”.Itisalsoimportanttorememberthatnotallhumanancestorswould
havestartedusingstone,ormovedontousingbronze,atthesamepoint.Bythatpoint,humans
werespreadacrosstheEarthandwouldhaveprogressedatdifferenttimes.
TheStoneAgeissplitintothreesectionsbyarchaeologists.TheearliestperiodwasthePaleolithic
(OldStoneAge)period,whichstartedatthebeginningoftheStoneAgeandcontinueduntilabout
10,000BC.TheMesolithic(MiddleStoneAge)periodthencontinueduntilroughly8,000BCand
theNeolithic(NewStoneAge)until3,000BC.
ThepeoplewholivedinthePaleolithicperiodwerehunter-gatherers.Theywerenomadic,which
meanstheydidn’tbuildcitiesorvillages.Instead,theywouldmovearoundlookingforfood.Any
remainsfromthisperiodareoftenfoundincaves.Thesepeoplewouldhavelivedalongsideand
huntedwoollymammothsandsabre-toothtigers.Thereisevidencethattheyheldfuneralsand
createdart.
Duringthisperiod,thelandscapeofBritainandEuropechangedconsiderably.Thereweremany
significanticeagesduringthistime.500,000yearsago,thewholeofEuropewasburiedbeneath
avasticesheet.16,000yearsago,mostoftheicehadmeltedbutBritainwasjoinedtoEuropeby
land.TheareaisreferredtoasDoggerlandbyarchaeologists.
BytheMesolithicage,sealevelshadstartedtoriseandthelandbetweenBritainandEurope
all resources ©2019 Literacy Shed
http://www.literacyshedplus.com
The Stone Age
-
all resources ©2019 Literacy Shed
http://www.literacyshedplus.com
RETRIEVAL FOCUS1.WhatisthePaleolithicareacalledwhereBritainwasjoinedtoEurope?
2.WhenwasthewholeofEuropeunderanicesheet?
3.Whowouldhavehuntedwoollymammoths?
4.WhatwasoneoftheanimalsfarmedbytheNeolithicpeople?
5.WhymightNeolithicpeoplenothaveeatenfish?
VIPERS QUESTIONSI WheredoyouthinkPaleolithicpeoplesheltered?Whattellsyouthis?V Whichwordmeanstherewasalotofchange?V Findawordorphrasethatmeanssomethingwasn’tfinishedtoahighstandard.E Theauthorhasusedbracketsinthistext.Whatimpactdoesthishaveonthereader?S WhatwerethethreeperiodsoftheStoneAge,inorderfromearliesttolatest?
begantoflood.Britainfinallyseparatedroughly7,500yearsago.Thereisevidencethat,whilst
Mesolithicpeoplewerestillnomadic,therewerelargesiteswheretheywouldreturnforspecial
eventseachyear.Thefirstevidenceofhumansbuildinghousescomesfromthisperiodinhistory.
Peoplehadstartedtostrapflintheadstopiecesofwoodbynowtomakemoreadvancedtools.
However,thewoodenhandleswerestillcrude.
TheNeolithicperiodsawariseinfarmingofdomesticspecies.Oneofthemostimportantanimals
appearstohavebeencattle.These,alongwithsheepandpigs,seemtobethemainanimals
farmed.Duringthistime,peopleseemedtoeatalotlessfish.Riverswereconsideredsacred,soit
ispossiblethatthisputpeopleoffeatingfromthem.Thiswasalsothefirsttimethatpeopleseem
tohavestarteddeliberatelyplantingcrops.However,thiswasmuchmoretimeconsumingthan
farminganimals.
TheNeolithicperiodisalsothefirsttimethatarchaeologistscanfindevidenceofpeoplemaking
pottery.Theyalsobegantousepolishedstonefortheirtoolswhichmadethemstrongerandmore
ornate.Examinationsofthepotteryshowevidencethattheycontaineddairyproducts.Thismeans
thatfarmerswouldhavemilkedtheircattle,muchlikewedotoday.
-
Answers:
1. Doggerland
2. 500,000yearsago
3. Paleolithicpeople
4. Cattle,sheeporpigs
5. Riversweresacred
I:Theirremainsareoftenfoundincaves.
V:Considerably
V:Crude
E:Acceptexplanationsthatarewellreasonedandconsiderthepresentationofextrainformation
forclarity
S:Paleolithic,Mesolithic,Neolithic
all resources ©2019 Literacy Shed
http://www.literacyshedplus.com
