unit 5: the stone age - … 5. the stone...stone age metal age palaeolithic (“old stone”)...

UNIT 5: THE STONE AGE

• What is the origin of human beings?

• What is Prehistory?

• How many stages are there in Prehistory?

• What was life like in the Palaeolithic Age?

• What was life like in the Neolithic Age?

• When does History begin?

CONTENTS

1. Prehistory

2. Origin and evolution of human beings

3. Life in the Palaeolithic Age

3.1. Economy and society

3.2. Skills

3.3. Art

4. The Neolithic Revolution

4.1. Economy and society

4.2. Skills

4.3. Art

5. The Stone Age in Spain

1. PREHISTORY

• Prehistory refers to a long period of time that

began with the appearance of the first human being and ended with the discovery of the written word.

• Bones, tools, utensils, weapons and cave paintings from this era are still survive today.

• The names of the two prehistoric ages refer to the material of the tools used at the time.

STONE AGE METAL AGE

Palaeolithic (“Old stone”) Neolithic (“New stone”) - They began to use metals to make tools and weapons.

- Some communities started to write but the way of life was Neolithic.

- From the first human being (2.5 mill.) to 7. 000 B.C. approximately.

- They used tools made of carved stone.

- From the 7.000 B.C. to 3.500 B.C. approximately.

- They used tools made of polished stone.

2. ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF HUMAN BEINGS

THE ORIGIN OF HUMAN BEINGS…

CHARLES DARWIN

The Origin of Species (1859)

CREATION

EVOLUTION


• The upper primates who walked upright and all

their descendants, including human beings, are known as hominids.

• These primates evolved (through a process called hominization) until they had some of the characteristic features of humans today:

Have a more developed brain

Think and use language

Have the ability to make tools and utensils.

WHERE?

RIFT VALLEY

ACTIVITIES

1. Match the words with the physical features in the picture and complete the text.

ACTIVITIES

2. Match the information with the correct species

ACTIVITIES

3. Are the following sentences true or false? Correct the false ones.

ACTIVITIES

4. Complete the sentences

ACTIVITIES

5. Read the text and answer the questions

3. LIFE IN THE PALAEOLITHIC AGE

ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

What was the climate like?


ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

What was the climate like?

• Some very cold periods where large parts of the planet were permanently covered in ice.

• There were also milder periods


ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

What did people eat?


ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

What did people eat?

• Humans were predators: they lived from hunting and fishing. They used the whole animal: meat, fat, milk, hide, etc.

• There also gathered wild fruit, eggs, honey, etc.

• In other words, they consumed nature´s products but they did not replace them.


ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

Where did they live?


ECONOMY AND SOCIETY


• They were nomads: they did not always live in the same place. When the resources ran out in one place, they moved to another to find food.

• They lived in caves or shelters made of leaves, branches, the skin and bones of animals, and stones. The shelters were grouped to form camps.


ECONOMY AND SOCIETY


• Twenty to thirty people lived together in groups known as hordes.

• Sometimes, various hordes formed a groups called a tribe.


ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

What was society like?


ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

What was society like?

• There was a hierarchy within each group.

• Some individuals were more important than others: the strongest warrior, the wisest old man and the sorcerer or witch doctor, who knew the properties of plants.


ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

What did they believe in?


ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

What did they believe in?

• We know they had certain religious beliefs from the fact that they buried their dead.

• They deified the forces of nature (lightening, rain, sun), all of which they needed, admired or feared.


SKILLS

Chopper


SKILLS


ART

The earliest expressions of art are cave paintings.

WHERE DID THEY PAINT?

• On rocks

• On ceiling and wall caves

WHAT DID THEY PAINT?

• Animals: mammoths, bison, deer, lynxes, wild boar and horses


ART

CHARACTERISTICS OF PAINTINGS?

Lascaux, France

Altamira, Cantabria


ART

Characteristics of paintings:

• Standing alone

• Very realistically

• Colours obtained in different ways:

o Red from iron or blood

o Black from coal

o Ochre and Yellow from the earth and plants


ART

Characteristics of paintings:

• Used the protruding parts of the rock to give an impression of relief.

• Paint applied with the fingers

• Also they had brushes made of animal hair and spatulas.


ART

WHY DID THEY PAINT?


ART

There are various theories explaining rocks painting:

• Humans painted animal because they believed that by painting them, they would be able to hunt them more easily.

• They needed to express themselves through painting.

• They simply wanted to express what they had seen.


ART

They also made…

• Batons: small carved pieces of bone and horn in the shape of the head of a horse or a deer.


ART

They also made…

• Venus statues: little statues of women made of ivory, stone or bone.

• They are considered fertility symbols, as they feminine physical features are very exaggerated.

Willendorf Venus Lespugue Venus

ACTIVITIES

1. Match the verbs and nouns to describe the different activities people did.

ACTIVITIES

2. Use the verbs to complete the sentences: carved, painted, moved, gathered, used, shared, hunted, buried, defended.

ACTIVITIES

3. Answer the questions:

ACTIVITIES

4. Read the text and answer the question:

ACTIVITIES

5. Match each noun with the correct description:

unit 5: the stone age - … 5. the stone...stone age metal age palaeolithic (“old stone”)...

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