The Beginnings of

Human Society

Prehistory

Section 2 - PrehistorySection 2 - Prehistory

The Stone Age

The Stone Age began when humans first made tools out of stone. This happened about two-hundred fifty million years ago. They used stones to hammer at soft volcanic rock, and the volcanic rock chipped off into sharp pieces. Humans used the sharp pieces to cut plants or meat. The first tools were very simple, and the Stone Age lasted for hundreds of thousands of years.

This is a prehistoric shelter that people in Russia used about 18,000 years ago. They are built out of the bones of the Wooly Mammoth, which was a very large animal that resembled an elephant. These shelters protected early humans from the weather, and from predators.

Shelter

The Stone Age: Two Periods

The Old Stone Age

During the Old Stone Age, people did not know how to farm. They hunted animals and gathered roots and berries. They used stone tools to cut meat, cut animal skins for clothes, and to protect themselves. Eventually, Old Stone Age people began hunting in groups. Most of prehistory takes place in the Old Stone Age.

The New Stone Age

The New Stone Age began about 11,000 years ago in Southwest Asia. The New Stone Age began when people began planting seeds and farming.

Fire!About 500,000 years ago, during the Old Stone Age, people discovered fire. It is thought that people began striking stones together to make a spark, or maybe they rubbed two sticks together. When people learned how to make fire, they could move to colder places.

Settling New AreasWhen people developed the use of tools, they began to leave

their original homes in Africa. People in the Stone Age became nomads, which are people who wander and do not have a settled home. Nomads move around from place to place, searching for food. People began to spread out all over the earth.

The Beginning of FarmingWhen people discovered farming, about 11,000 years ago, the

New Stone Age began. It is thought that women may have been the first farmers, since men were always off hunting. Women gathered plants and seeds, and it is likely that they discovered farming.

When people began farming, they did not have to travel around anymore. They could get food from the land that they lived on. People began building shelters that looked more like houses.

When farming began, people settled in lands with fertile soil. Fertile soil is soil that has nutrients, which help plants grow the best.

Taming AnimalsHumans learned another important skill during the New Stone

Age. They learned to domesticate, or tame, wild animals. Dogs may have been among the first animals that were domesticated, because they could help early humans hunt. Humans also tamed sheep, cows, and pigs. This meant that they had a ready source of meat - they could just kill one of their domesticated animals when they needed food, instead of going out and hunting. The domestication of animals, along with the beginning of farming, led to humans staying in one place for longer periods of time.