1 The Stone Age has three periods; the Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age) 350,000 years ago, Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) 10,000 years ago and the Neolithic (New Stone Age) 5,000 years ago.

2 Palaeolithic and Mesolithic people were nomadic hunter-gatherers. They moved around following animals to hunt and they gathered fruits, nuts and berries.

3 There were four types of humans: Tool-makers (called homo habilis), Fire-makers (called homo erectus), Neanderthals (called homo neanderthalensis) and Modern humans (called homo sapiens). The last one is us!

4 Flint was commonly used for making stone tools. Each tool had a specific function, a bit like a modern tool kit! Making flint tools was a highly skilled job.

5 In the early and cold part of the Stone Age, there were large, wild animals in Britain including mammoths, cave lions and woolly rhinos.

6 The Neolithic is characterised by people living in a new way. They began to develop agriculture and domesticate animals, living in settled communities for the first time.

7 A very rare mammoth carving was discovered on a wall in Cheddar Caves, Somerset and is 13,000 years old. People decorated caves with paintings using charcoal, coloured ochres and even animal blood.

8 The dog was the first animal to be domesticated. This happened during the Mesolithic period. Dogs could help with hunting, warn of danger and provide warmth and comfort.

9 Stone Age people created their own music and dances. They had drums, bull roarers and flutes.

10 The houses in Skara Brae, a Neolithic village in Orkney, had beds, cupboards, dressers, shelves and chairs.

 

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