The Stone Age

The Stone Age

• The stone age was an era when our
early ancestors mainly used tools and
weapons made from stone. It lasted
from about 3.4 million years ago,
when stone was widely used until the
age of metals. It is usually divided
into two periods and the exact dates
for each period vary across the world.
The Old Stone Age (Palaeolithic era)
lasted from the first use of stone to
the end of the last Ice Age. The New
Stone Age (Neolithic era) lasted from
the discovery of farming until the first
use of metal.
 Stone Age Beliefs
Early humans developed religious beliefs to explain the world around them.
Hunters and gatherers tried to make contact with the spirits of the animals they
hunted. As people began to settle and farm, they made tombs for their ancestors.
They became aware of the changing seasons and made up stories about why there
were thunderstorms, and started worshipping such forces of nature. To keep their
gods happy, they offered gifts and performed ceremonies. Tombs, made of large
boulders called megaliths, were a link between the living and the dead. In
September 2015, almost 100 stone boulders were found buried near the famous site
of Stonehenge in England. Researchers believe it could be the largest Stone Age
monument to be built in Britain. Megalith comes from two Greek words: mega,
meaning “big” and lithos ,meaning “rock” or “stone”.
Rock Art:
Wonderful rock art has been found all over the world. Colored with natural
pigments, the paintings mostly show wild horses, herds of bison and other
prey, as well as dangerous predators such as bears and lions.
Carvings:
Early humans carved small statues of men,
women, children and animals. Some carvings
were realistic, while others were more mysterious.
One of the oldest carvings in the world shows a
man with the head of a lion. Strange statuettes of
women ,often without facial features, have been
found across Europe and Asia. They are called
“Venus figurines” and were carved between
25,000 and 15,00 BCE. The female figures often
look pregnant, but no one knows if they were toys,
statues of goddesses, or self portraits.
Shelter:
When our ancestors abandoned life in trees they started living in windproof huts of
branches. They also lived in caves but it was difficult to do so as the natural caves
were short in supply and early humans had to compete for them with bears, lions and
hyenas. Mammoth bones and skins were also used for building homes.
Food:
The early humans were usually hunter- gatherers and hunted animals for food. They
also gathered edible plants, collected eggs from birds’ nests and took honey from
beehives. But , with the discovery of fire, there was an important effect on the human
diet. It meant that meat could be roasted and preserved by smoking. Some plant
products such as tubers and bulbs could be baked to remove poisons.
Clothing:
The cold climate made clothing essential. Early humans cleaned, prepared and
wrapped animal skins around themselves to keep warm. They made clothing out of
skins too. First, the skins were pieced with a sharp stone, then they were sewn
together using needles of bone with thin strips of leather to make rough clothes.
Also, they may have decorated their faces and bodies with ‘paints’ made from
natural pigments. They even strung shells, clay beads and stones together to make
some of the oldest jewellery. Women plaited their hair, too and people usually let
their hair grow long.
Tools:
It took about two million years to
progress from the shaped stone to the
polished stone. In the past, early
hominids used sticks, broken bones
and pieces of antler to dig up edible
plant roots, tubers and bulbs. But in
the Old Stone Age, efficient stone
tools were widely used in everyday
life, from hunting beasts of all kinds
to making clothes.
 The New Stone Age
The Neolithic or new Stone Age
saw the beginning of
agriculture. Animals such as the
cow and sheep were domesticated
and provided a ready supply of
meat, milk, wool, leather and
bone. Grain was the first food
that could be stored for long
periods of time. Grain needed to
be processed so stones were used
for scything (cutting grass crops)
and grinding. The need to harvest
and store grain meant that it
became necessary to stay in one
place and settlements could
develop. Large scale
construction could take place,
trade developed and
Farming:
Around 12,000 years ago, hunter gatherers made an incredible discovery. They dug
up the ground ,scattered a few wild grains, and learned how to farm .Farming
meant that early humans could control their sources of food by growing plants and
raising animals. They did not have to move in search of food and eventually began
to settle in one place all year round.
Tools:
Around 50,00 years ago, towards the end of the Ice Age, small razor-sharp
stone flakes were used in weapons and in tools such as sickles. Stone
arrow-heads were invented around 13,000 years ago. Making tools and
weapons became a skilled craft, especially when agriculture began around
12,000 years ago. The first domestication of sheep and goats coincided
with the use of fire to smelt copper metal for the first time, around 8,000
years ago. Tools were created for measuring the passage of time, such as
calendars, star charts and sundials. This helped farmers track when the
growing season would arrive, and when the best time to plant crops would
be. People learned improved farming techniques, such as how to use
fertilizers in their fields, and how to better utilize water through irrigation.
Villagers dug large canals and complex systems of ditches, delivering
water from distant sources to where it was most needed.
Clothing:
People learned that instead of only using
animal skins for clothes, they could also
twist the wool of their tame animals into
thread, and weave the threads together to
make cloth. They still used bone needles
for sewing, but their thread was now made
of twisted wool as well as stringy plants
such as nettles. Of course, people still
needed furs and skins for warmth, but with
woven cloth they had a bigger variety of
clothing that was lighter and easier to wear.
Shelters:
People usually chose settling down near a river because of access to water
and built houses of what was easily available nearby. Some huts were built
of mud, some of rushes or straws and some were tents of skins over a
framework of branches or bones. When more people began living together
they formed tiny villages and the need for leaders and rulers arose to make
sure everyone obeyed them. Soon, different roles such as leaders, priests,
fighters, farmers, hunters or slaves began appearing.
Disease And Fighting:
Unfortunately, living close to animals meant that people sometimes got
diseases from them. Water and stored food could be contaminated by
animal dung and this made people sick. Another problem was that when
everyone wanted the best land for growing crops or raising animals,
disagreements could turn into fights. There wasn’t always enough food
and, if the weather was bad, farmers might lose their crops. Moving on
to new land wasn’t as simple as it was for the earlier ‘hunter gatherers’
and feeding a large family was a struggle.
Food:
People began to bake grains – such as barley, wheat and rye – into
bread. They also learned how to shape and bake clay pots. They
used these to hold milk, cheese, yogurt and butter from their dairy
animals, as well as to store grain and make beer in. having pots
meant that food could be boiled by heating it over the fire – so
now grain could be turned into porridge, and meat and vegetables
could be cooked into stews. Now that meat was available from
domesticated farm animals, people relied less on hunting.
Settling:
Farming brought many good changes. Because people stayed in one
place and didn’t have to spend so much time hunting, they could
develop other skills, especially if they had a talent for something,
such as making beads, jewellery or pots. People started to specialize
in their jobs – some would fish, some would hunt and some would
farm. Money wasn’t used, but it is likely that swaps were made – for
example, someone might swap fish for eggs, or a pot for some meat.
 Travel and trade
Because more people lived together, they began to specialize in different
jobs depending on their skills. For example, if a person was good at
making pots, they would make pots for their whole village, and people
would give them food in exchange for their pots. If the village had more
pots than they needed, they could trade them with another village. As well
as goods, skills were traded – if another village had someone who wanted
to learn to make pots, they could visit to learn from this person, and bring a
skill in exchange for them to learn.
Villages:
In the New Stone Age, people lived in groups bigger than families, but not
quite as big as tribes. By the end of this period there were still no more
than about 20,000 people in all of Britain. They lived in little round
houses, gathered together, near a good source of water and an area where
crops could grow. Groups of people began to think of an area of land as
their own – something that belonged to them, where their crops grew and
their animals lived.
Work:
People didn’t split life into work and play-time. There were always jobs
that had to be done – animals to care for, and crops to sow, weed and
harvest. There was wool to spin and weave, clothes to make, food to
prepare and cook, as well as many other tasks to help the village survive.
Everyone was expected to help out. As soon as children were strong
enough, they had to share this work, even if it was difficult or dangerous!