Term 2 - What was new in the Stone Age?

Year 2 and 3 had an exciting delivery of mud excavated from a site of historical interest. Through their fantastic archaeology skills they discovered:

• Teeth from a predator 
• Flint arrow heads
• Bones
• Fossils of ancient sea creatures

All were respectful and careful with the artefacts, delicately brushing off the soil with brushes. 

The Stone Age is a long period of time representing over 99% of human existence. The period lasted roughly 3.4 million years and ended around 2000 bce with the advent of metal working. The Stone Age itself is divided into three periods: Palaeolithic (Early Stone Age), Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) and Neolithic (New Stone Age).

By the end of the unit

All children can:

• Identify some features of Stone Age life
• Understand how the Stone Age changed over time
• List some sources we can use to find out about the Stone Age.

Most children can:

• Categorise changes into the different periods of the Stone Age
• Describe in some detail some of the most significant features and changes
• Describe how particular sources help provide evidence about the Stone Age.

Some children can:

• Explain why certain features of the Stone Age belong to the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic or Neolithic periods
• Explain the causes and impacts of changes during the Stone Age
• Make deductions and inferences from sources about Stone Age life.

Key Vocabulary:

Archaeologist: someone who digs up remains of old societies

Artefact: an object left as evidence of life in an earlier time

BC(E): Before Christ/Before Common Era

Domestication: keeping animals such as cattle, rather than having them completely wild

Flint and flint knapping: chipping flint into a usable shape

Homo sapiens: the type of human being that we are today

Hunter gatherer: a person who hunts and forages for food

Megaliths, henges, barrows, stone circles: Stone Age monuments

Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age): a period of history from around 9500 BCE until around 4000 BCE

Neanderthal: an early species of human being

Neolithic (New Stone Age): a period of history from around 4000 BCE until around 2000 BCE

Nomad: a person with no fixed home who travels around searching for food

Palaeolithic (Early Stone Age): a period of history from early humans until around 9500 BCE

Saddle quern: a stone for grinding corn around 9500 BCE.