Lesson 2 - The Stone Ages
In the lesson you will:
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Assignment: Take notes on your readings in your notebook. Make sure to note the specific characteristics or developments within each of the time periods. You may also want to have your vocab cards handy so as you run across words you have not yet completed definitions for, you can do so at at time.
One of the ways historians break history into blocks of time, that can help make it easier for us to understand, is to reference them by the materials that were used to make tools and weapons. The Stone Ages refers to the time in history where people used ‘stone’ and ‘bone’ to do just that.
This is the time before writing was invented, so it can also be referred to as ‘pre-history’. History, in and of itself is a record of people, events, the choices they have made and the consequences that have come as a result of those choices, good and bad. We gain our greatest understanding of their struggles and their triumphs through written records they have left behind for us to read and interpret. This becomes a problem with ‘pre-history’ since writing had not yet been invented, so those written records do not exist. We then are left to make our best educated guess of what their life was like, based upon by the artifacts they have left behind. The more artifacts archeologists find, and as they are dated, the more complete our picture becomes of how they lived, their culture, and the things they had to deal with.
This is the time before writing was invented, so it can also be referred to as ‘pre-history’. History, in and of itself is a record of people, events, the choices they have made and the consequences that have come as a result of those choices, good and bad. We gain our greatest understanding of their struggles and their triumphs through written records they have left behind for us to read and interpret. This becomes a problem with ‘pre-history’ since writing had not yet been invented, so those written records do not exist. We then are left to make our best educated guess of what their life was like, based upon by the artifacts they have left behind. The more artifacts archeologists find, and as they are dated, the more complete our picture becomes of how they lived, their culture, and the things they had to deal with.
Paleolithic Era or Old Stone Age
Paleolithic is derived from the Latin word ‘Paleo’ which means Old Stone. The Paleolithic Era started about 2.5 Million years ago and lasted until about 18,000 BCE. During this time frame we have found evidence of people living in Africa, China, Asia, Europe, and America; basically on every continent of the world other than Antarctica. It is believed that the first people appeared in East Africa and overtime spread across the globe from there.
Visit Early Human Migration for a more in-depth look at their migratory path.
Paleolithic is derived from the Latin word ‘Paleo’ which means Old Stone. The Paleolithic Era started about 2.5 Million years ago and lasted until about 18,000 BCE. During this time frame we have found evidence of people living in Africa, China, Asia, Europe, and America; basically on every continent of the world other than Antarctica. It is believed that the first people appeared in East Africa and overtime spread across the globe from there.
Visit Early Human Migration for a more in-depth look at their migratory path.
Let me introduce you to Oog. Oog will help us better understand what his life might have been like growing up in the Old Stone Age. Oog is part of a small nomadic group of people, probably a bit younger than you.
Paleolithic Era – Old Stone Age
Life during the Paleolithic Era would have been hard. They had to live off the land, and what it provided, with no modern conveniences that we take for granted today. Their daily lives were for the most part consumed with meeting the three basic needs for survival; food, water and shelter. They had no way to preserve anything they collected or hunted for an extended period of time so it was a never-ending cycle of hunting and gathering for the next meal.
More often than not, once a group ran across a meat source, a herd of animals, it would be in their best interest to follow the herd as it moved on so they would have a consistent food source. As a result, early groups were nomadic. Oog’s group may wake up one morning to find the herd they have been following has moved to new grazing grounds. So Oog and his family would pack up everything they own, and could carry, and set off after the herd. Following a herd to increase your groups’ chances of survival meant that you were never in one place for very long. Because of that, there was no sense in expending a lot of time or energy building or creating things you would have to leave behind. Items that do not help your group meet the necessities of food, water or shelter would have no value and would only slow you down.
Life during the Paleolithic Era would have been hard. They had to live off the land, and what it provided, with no modern conveniences that we take for granted today. Their daily lives were for the most part consumed with meeting the three basic needs for survival; food, water and shelter. They had no way to preserve anything they collected or hunted for an extended period of time so it was a never-ending cycle of hunting and gathering for the next meal.
More often than not, once a group ran across a meat source, a herd of animals, it would be in their best interest to follow the herd as it moved on so they would have a consistent food source. As a result, early groups were nomadic. Oog’s group may wake up one morning to find the herd they have been following has moved to new grazing grounds. So Oog and his family would pack up everything they own, and could carry, and set off after the herd. Following a herd to increase your groups’ chances of survival meant that you were never in one place for very long. Because of that, there was no sense in expending a lot of time or energy building or creating things you would have to leave behind. Items that do not help your group meet the necessities of food, water or shelter would have no value and would only slow you down.
When the herd stopped, Oog and his family would set up temporary shelters like lean-tos or find caves where they could get out of the heat or cold and set up camp. Men would primarily be responsible for fishing, hunting and group protection. Women and children would take care of camp and gather need supplies like edible plants, roots, fruits, nuts and seeds, firewood and water. Sometimes, depending on the area, this would be easier than others. If the hunters were not successful and the gatherers found little edible food, Oog would go to bed with nothing to eat.
It is estimated that these early groups of nomadic people could only reliably support about 25-30 people and usually consisted of related families. If a group was fortunate enough to run into another group, members may be exchanged to increase the likelihood of new offspring.
Oog and his group would soon realize that it is hard to make decisions unless someone, or a small group, is chosen as leader and entrusted with those decisions that affect and will benefit the whole group. This is our earliest form of government although not nearly as structured as it will become. The reality is, the more people there are, the harder it is to come to a consensus and make a decision. Just think about how hard it can be trying to decide what movie you and your three friends are going to see, it’s easier if it’s just you and a buddy. There needs to be a leader and the rest need to be willing to follow. Someone needs to tell Oog that it’s his turn to go collect firewood.
Along with some organizational structure, comes limited spoken language. Gesturing can only get you so far. If Oog’s father needs to tell him to go gather firewood, he needs to develop some consistent way to indicate this so Oog doesn’t comeback with water. Words are developed as our need to reference something increases. The word comes after the need or invention of the item. Each nomadic group would develop its own unique language and word meanings. This would make each encounter with other nomadic groups troublesome as you would need to find some way to communicate to them that you were friendly and meant them no harm.
Early people understood you needed to use everything you could to survive. When an animal was killed for food, nothing went to waste. Fur and skins were used for clothing, bedding and shelter. Shards or splinters of bones were used as needles and fish hooks. Sinew or tendons, were used as thread for sewing skins together for fit and warmth. It can also be used to lash (tie) items together like feathers on arrows or a spear head to a pole.
Oog and his group would soon realize that it is hard to make decisions unless someone, or a small group, is chosen as leader and entrusted with those decisions that affect and will benefit the whole group. This is our earliest form of government although not nearly as structured as it will become. The reality is, the more people there are, the harder it is to come to a consensus and make a decision. Just think about how hard it can be trying to decide what movie you and your three friends are going to see, it’s easier if it’s just you and a buddy. There needs to be a leader and the rest need to be willing to follow. Someone needs to tell Oog that it’s his turn to go collect firewood.
Along with some organizational structure, comes limited spoken language. Gesturing can only get you so far. If Oog’s father needs to tell him to go gather firewood, he needs to develop some consistent way to indicate this so Oog doesn’t comeback with water. Words are developed as our need to reference something increases. The word comes after the need or invention of the item. Each nomadic group would develop its own unique language and word meanings. This would make each encounter with other nomadic groups troublesome as you would need to find some way to communicate to them that you were friendly and meant them no harm.
Early people understood you needed to use everything you could to survive. When an animal was killed for food, nothing went to waste. Fur and skins were used for clothing, bedding and shelter. Shards or splinters of bones were used as needles and fish hooks. Sinew or tendons, were used as thread for sewing skins together for fit and warmth. It can also be used to lash (tie) items together like feathers on arrows or a spear head to a pole.
Fire, to early peoples, would have been a terrifying force, and to an extent it still is. Fire would have been seen as a destroying force with an uncertain source. Oog may have witnessed large flashes of bright light in a dark sky followed by a loud ‘BOOM’ then see the dancing colors of flame on the horizon as it moves quickly, growing, toward his camp. When the fire was finally out and investigated they would have found that any and all food sources were destroyed, decreasing their groups chances of survival in that area. Overtime, and with experimentation, Oog and his group would figure out the benefit of fire and learn to control it. For early peoples fire has four main functions: light, cooking, protection and warmth. Can you come up with reasons of why each would be important to the group?
Oog is what I call a thinker. He wants not only to figure things out, but wants to make tasks easier. Oog looks at daily chores and is constantly thinking “wouldn’t this be easier if…..” and then he figures out the ‘if’. It is because of these thinkers and tinkerers, that we have technology. Technology is not the electronic gadgets that we have today. Technology is the innovative thinking and application of it that has gotten us to those gadgets. Oog looks at tasks like fishing and thinks “It’s really hard to catch a fish with my hands and it takes FOREVER!” He starts to daydream about ways that he could make the task easier. Maybe if he had something he could stab a fish with, a spear or long knife, he wouldn’t have to spend so much time bent over, or risk dropping the fish because they can be slippery. He starts to experiment with various methods. Sometimes what he tries works, other times it doesn’t, maybe it helps him to have another idea which gets him closer to his solution. It’s a trial and error process.
It is because of that experimentation process that specialized tools are invented. Slivers of bone are found to be sharp and can cut (probably because you cut yourself with one); they can be dried and shaped. Stones can be chipped to a sharp jagged edge that can be used for cutting, tearing and splitting. This leads to arrow and spear points, axes and other tools and weapons that help increase the chances Oog’s family can survive.
Early people, it is believed, had some basic religious beliefs, but no real structure. Cave drawings have been found that represent hunting scenes which could be seen as a celebration or gratitude for a fruitful hunt. Maybe they were meant to help positively influence the next hunt by showing a successful one.
There is evidence toward the end of the Paleolithic Era of groups burying food with those who have died. Understanding that food is one of the three necessities for survival and may not always be plentiful, it can only be seen that they felt the person who had passed was going to need it where they were going. That death is not the end, there is something after and supplies would be needed for their journey.
Early people, it is believed, had some basic religious beliefs, but no real structure. Cave drawings have been found that represent hunting scenes which could be seen as a celebration or gratitude for a fruitful hunt. Maybe they were meant to help positively influence the next hunt by showing a successful one.
There is evidence toward the end of the Paleolithic Era of groups burying food with those who have died. Understanding that food is one of the three necessities for survival and may not always be plentiful, it can only be seen that they felt the person who had passed was going to need it where they were going. That death is not the end, there is something after and supplies would be needed for their journey.
End of Paleolithic Era is marked by the end of the last Ice Age. As the glaciers start to melt and move back towards the poles, oceans fill back up and cover the land bridges between continents which people had used to cross. Without a way to cross large bodies of water, groups are forced to adapt their survival strategies to be able to live year round in their new home. This will also cause a change in the climate of many areas, deserts and forests may slowly appear where there were none, and new plants may develop and grow which may help or hinder their survival.
Cautionary note: What you just read through did not ‘just happen’. It evolved very slowly over a time period of roughly 2,482,000 years. During this time some individual groups may have little to no contact with other groups, others may meet up with others regularly. Each group is following the same evolutionary path, but at its own pace. Some will develop and progress at a faster or slower rate than others. Think about the age at you learned to walk. Maybe you learned to walk at 18 months, but your brother or sister learned at 10 months. The point is, you both learned to walk, just as you will both learn to speak, to eat, to ride a bike, etc. Each is on its own evolutionary schedule.
Cautionary note: What you just read through did not ‘just happen’. It evolved very slowly over a time period of roughly 2,482,000 years. During this time some individual groups may have little to no contact with other groups, others may meet up with others regularly. Each group is following the same evolutionary path, but at its own pace. Some will develop and progress at a faster or slower rate than others. Think about the age at you learned to walk. Maybe you learned to walk at 18 months, but your brother or sister learned at 10 months. The point is, you both learned to walk, just as you will both learn to speak, to eat, to ride a bike, etc. Each is on its own evolutionary schedule.
In your class notebook, write a concise list of the characteristics of the Paleolithic Era.
Cartoon Images © Graphics Factory.com, Cave drawing © Mulitmedia Learning, used with permission