The Stone Age for Primary Schools
About the Workshop
The Stone Age workshop looks at the different animals which lived during the Stone Age and the different types of humans around. Pupils will be able to examine real Stone Age tools and handle real animal fossils from the Ice Age. After the presentation the pupils will be able to make their own Stone Age animal, such as a Woolly Mammoth, Sabre Tooth Tiger or Lion out of clay.
Pre Historic Britain
Prehistoric Britain goes back a long way, it is by far the longest period in our timeline for human occupation of our island. The earliest evidence of occupation dates to at least 800,000 years ago with the discovery of the Happisburgh footprints in Norfolk. These footprints are the oldest in Europe, they are so old that the beings who made them weren’t Modern Humans like us but creatures known as Hominids.
Stone Age Britain
Old Stone Age (Palaeolithic)
Palaeo means old and lithic means stone. This period of the Stone Age lasted from 800,000 years ago to 10,000 years ago. In the Early Stone Age, Britain was part of mainland Europe. The first hominids arrived in Britain around 800,000 BC. Modern Humans, Homo sapiens arrived around 30,000 BC. Early Stone Age people lived in caves or very simple shelters. They made stone tools and survived by hunting and fishing.
Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic)
Meso means middle and lithic means stone. This period of the Stone Age lasted from 8000 BC to 4500 BC. During the Middle Stone Age, Britain was linked to Europe by a strip of land called Doggerland. People in Britain began to set up camps along the British coast and on river banks. Hunters often worked together as a team, using spears and bows and arrows. People also tamed wolves so they could work as hunting dogs and guard their camps.
New Stone Age (Neolithic)
Neo means new and lithic means stone. This period of the Stone Age lasted from 4000 BC to 2500 BC. Britain became an island during this period around 6100 BC when the Storegga slides released a landlocked sea in the Norwegian trench. This massive onrush of water flooded the plain of land covering the North Sea and the Channel. During this period, people also learned to farm. They cleared large areas of land and settled down to live in small communities. Neolithic people used flint, antler and bone to make tools, and developed the skill of making clay pots. They buried their dead in large tombs and built huge stone circles for outdoor ceremonies.