Stone Age to Iron Age A quick tour of Prehistory
The Stone Age Let's Rock!!
What is Prehistory? Experts say that History began when people started to write things down. This is because we have a record things that happened, or a witness statement. Therefore, prehistory is a time period before people started to write. It makes finding out about things that happened or how people lived a bit challenging, but also very exciting!
The Stone Age The Stone Age lasted for about 3 million years!! There is evidence of people living in Britain in the Stone Age 900,000 years ago. The Stone Age was divided into three different phases - Paleolithic - the old Stone Age Mesolithic - the middle Stone Age Neolithic - the new Stone Age
Why is it called the Stone Age? We call this period of History the Stone Age because stone is the material that people used to make their tools from. Archeologists have found stone tools buried under the ground at sites where experts think that stone age people lived. As the Stone Age went on, people became cleverer at making tools and other objects out of stone.
Where did Stone Age people live? At first, Stone Age people lived in caves. They Later on, people made their own temporary painted the walls so we know what animals they shelters out of bent hazel sticks and animal hunted. Some famous Stone Age caves are in hides so they could still move around the the Lascaux caves in the Dordogne region of country. France. People probably moved around from When they became more sophisticated, they cave to cave, following animals and picking wild became farmers and grew crops and fruit. domesticated animals. They made houses to live in.
Skara Brae A very important Neolithic Site is in Orkney, a group of islands off the north coast of Scotland. See if you can do your own research to find out more about it.
The Bronze Age Man Makes Metal
When did the Bronze Age begin? The Bronze Age began about 5,000 years ago, and experts think that bronze was first discovered in countries around the area of the Mediterranean sea. The Bronze Age began in Britain about 4,500 year ago. Nobody really knows how bronze was really discovered, but one theory is that rocks containing metal ores were used to build camp fires, and when the rocks got hot, the metals became liquid and leaked out of the rocks. People began to use this material to make their tools, because they were easier to produce, easier to make sharp and lasted longer than stone tools. This is why it is called the Bronze Age.
What is bronze? Bronze is a mixture of two metals - copper and tin. A mixture of metals is called an alloy. Copper is a soft metal, so adding tin makes it harder and more useful for making tools.
What did they make out of Bronze? Of course, lots of tools and weapons As life living as part of a settlement became more established, people began to use bronze were made in the Bronze Age. for decorative objects, such as jewellery.
Where did people live in the Bronze Age? At this time, people lived in small villages or on farms. More than one family would live in one roundhouse. They built roundhouses out of materials they could find nearby, such as trees, stone and rushes or straw. Thick wooden posts would be pushed into the earth, then thinner sticks would be woven in and out to create the walls. This is called wattle. To keep the wind and rain out, mud or animal dung (yes, really!!) would be plastered, or daubed, into the cracks, so a wattle and daub house. Rushes or straw would be used for the roof, with a hole at the top to let the smoke out.
The Iron Age Harder, Stronger, Sharper
When did the Iron Age begin? The Iron Age began around 3,200 years ago. In Britain, we believe that the Iron Age started around 2,800 years ago. It ended when the Romans invaded Britain. Historians say that this is when History began, because the Romans had a very sophisticated and well established system of writing. The Romans wrote lots of information about the Iron Age people who were living in Britain when they invaded, so we know quite a lot about how Iron Age people lived.
Who first discovered iron? That is an impossible question to answer, because nothing was written down when people started to first use iron. What we do know, is that iron is a very common metal, and iron ore - the rock that contains iron - is very easy to find and to mine. we also know that iron is a very strong metal, so it would have made superior tools and weapons. Iron was considered to be a precious metal in the Iron Age.
Iron was now able to be shaped in a forge.
This way, some amazing tools, weapons and artefacts could be made.
Farming in the Iron Age In the Iron Age, farming became more developed and land was organised into fields which were rectangular in shape. Diadorus Siculus, a Roman writer, noted, " In reaping their wheat they cut off the ears from the stalk, and house them in pits under ground; then they take and pluck out the grains of just enough of the oldest of them to last for the day, and after they have bruised the wheat make it into bread."
Maiden Castle, Dorset By the end of the Iron Age, many people lived in hill forts. The forts were surrounded by walls and ditches and warriors defended the people from enemy attack. Maiden Castle was one of the largest Iron Age hill forts in Europe. It was the size of 50 football pitches!
Famous Iron Age people Boudicca A statue of Boudicca in London Boudicca was an Iron Age warrior queen, the ruler of the Iceni tribe in East Anglia. When her husband died, the Romans tried to take over her tribe. She ledher army against the Romans and destroyed Colchester, St Albans and London, before the Romans managed to stop her. It is rumoured that she poisoned herself to avoid being captured by the Romans.
Caractacus • Caractacus also fought the Romans, and An Artist's Impression of Caractacus for a time he was successful, although the Romans caught up with him in the end. The Roman writer Tacitus tell us how he fought from a hill fort. You can read more about Caractacus in Captive Celts, a Horrible History by Terry Deary. • A lot of the warriors wore body paint made from woad. It makes a very dark blue colour, like dark jeans. You can see an example in the illustration on the right
Then the Romans came... ...and History began.
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