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What was the Stone Age?

The Stone Age was a huge period of time, which lasted over 2 million years. The Stone Age period began when the first human-like animal came into existence. This period is described as being prehistoric because it was at a time before written records were kept. As a result, there is limited evidence of what life was like during the Stone Age. Archaeologists must rely on clues that were left behind.

The Stone Age gets its name from the tools made with stones during this period. Many of these tools (e.g. axes and arrows) were made from stones with sharp edges or points.

The Stone Age is divided into three periods:

the Palaeolithic is also known as the Old Stone Age. This period began 2.58 million years ago and ended in about AD 9500;

the Mesolithic, also known as the Middle Stone Age, dated between AD 9500 and 4000 BC;

the Neolithic, also known as the New Stone Age, was between 4000 BC to 2,500 BC.

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If you love reading about the Stone Age, then find out more with this fantastic eBook, which is a great tool for increasing and assessing familiarity with the main events in the Stone Age.

What will my child study?

'The Stone Age' is a topic taught in many primary schools. Your child may study:

History - between the ages of 8 and 11, your child should study changes to Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age. Children should be able to ask and answer historical questions about cause, change, similarity, difference and importance.

Art and Design Technology - your child should be able to use a range of materials and techniques to share their ideas. They may find out about cave paintings and their significance. In Design Technology children might design, make or evaluate 'Stone Age' tools. They might also find out about the Stone Age diet and prepare some Stone Age meals in Food Technology.

Top 10 Things for Kids to Know About the Stone Age

1. Some archaeologists believe that early humans cut open the stomach of an animal and ate their last meal.

2. Skeletons of more than 10,000 wild horses have been found at the bottom of a cliff in France. It is thought that hunters crept up and scared the animals, who ran over the cliff to their deaths.

3. Archaeologists think that Stonehenge was built at the end of the Stone Age between 3000 BC to 2000 BC. Find out more about Stonehenge with this great fact file.

4. The sabre-tooth tiger became extinct about 10,000 years ago. Scientists believe that this was as a result of climate change.

5. Woolly mammoths became extinct about 10,000 years ago, as well. They were related to modern-day elephants and were up to 4m tall and covered in thick woolly hair.

6. The remains of many mammoths have been very well preserved which has meant that scientists have been able to find out a lot about them. For example, in 2007 in Siberia, two mummified baby mammoths were discovered. Their remains were so well preserved that scientists found that they had been killed by choking on mud about 40,000 years ago. This great powerpoint will tell you more about prehistoric animals.

7. Stone Age cavemen are often depicted as living at the same time as the dinosaurs. This is not true. Dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago.

8. Stone Age cave paintings in Bulgaria were painted using bat excrement. The images show people hunting and dancing.

9. Stone Age cave paintings in Somalia depict cows wearing ceremonial robes, giraffes, dogs and people.

10. Tigers, lions, bison, crocodiles, people in disguise and people dancing are depicted in Stone Age cave paintings in India.

What are cave paintings?

Cave paintings, which were created during the Stone Age, have been discovered and offer great insights into the lives of humans at the time. Most cave paintings were of animals or people hunting. Hand stencils have also been found in some caves. These are impressions made by blowing paint around hands.

Cave paintings have been created with natural colours from mineral pigments. Some caves are full of many paintings by many different painters. There are many caves with prehistoric cave paintings found in different countries around the world, including Bulgaria, Argentina, Somalia, France and India. Find out more with this great Cave Painting PowerPoint.

What were homes like during the Stone Age?

Humans need homes for warmth and shelter. Early Stone Age people sheltered in caves. These were great as they provided ready-made homes. Later, homes in the Stone Age were constructed from wood. These homes have now rotted away so archaeologists have to look for clues to work out more about these buildings.

Some Stone Age houses were made of stone like those uncovered at Skara Brae, an island off the coast of Scotland. These homes were built into mounds (known as midden) of small stones, shells, animal bones and mud which would provide stability and insulation for the houses. These houses were usually round and had a hearth for a fire in the middle. They had beds and chairs made of stones. You can find out more about Skara Brae with this informative powerpoint.

What did Stone Age people eat?

People from the early Stone Age period were called hunter-gatherers because they had to hunt animals and fish and gather wild food, such as berries, leaves, nuts and seeds. Help your child to step into the Stone Age and learn how our ancestors survived in prehistoric times with this fun Hunter-Gatherer Activity.

People in the Stone Age would hunt whatever animals they could find, including deer, hares, rhino, hyena and even mammoths. They would also hunt for seabirds, fish and seals. Every part of the animal was used including the blood, brain and feet. There is evidence that Stone Age people started using fire in Britain about 400,000 thousand years ago. Before this, meat would have been eaten raw.

It was not until towards the end of the Stone Age that people discovered how to grow and produce their own food. Crops could now be grown because the climate had changed and there was more rain. Stone Age people also started to keep sheep and goats. This was the first time in history that people had control over their food source. It meant that they did not need to move about anymore in search of food and could stay in one place to form settlements.

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What do we know about Skara Brae?

Skara Brae is a Stone Age settlement found in the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland. The settlement was discovered following a storm in 1850, which revealed the outline of this village. Archaeologists believe that people lived here from 3180 BC to 2500 BC. Help your child find out more about Skara Brae with this handy word search and gap-fill activity.

What events took place during the Stone Age?

Help your child to understand the order in which events in the Stone Age took place with this great Timeline Matching Activity where your child will have to match the images with the descriptions.

What tools did the people have during the Stone Age?

People during the Stone Age used tools such as stone axes, rocks and wooden spears with tips hardened with fire to kill their food. Later during the Stone Age, tools developed to include hard bones and sharpened flint. Bows and arrows were used to hunt smaller animals. Animals were also caught in snares or carefully set out traps.

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How can Twinkl resources help your child find out more about the Stone Age?

The above video may be from a third-party source. We accept no responsibility for any videos from third-party sources. Please let us know if the video is no longer working.

Why not try these lovely craft ideas for lots of Stone Age themed fun.

This creative activity will encourage your child to apply to be a prehistoric monster hunter. The pack includes a writing stimulus, followed by job application forms of three different levels of difficulty in order to challenge your child.

Play this fantastic educational Stone Age themed SPaG game to challenge your child's understanding of determiners, word families, present perfect tense, statutory spelling words and fronted adverbials.

What fun and creative projects about the Stone Age can I do with my child?

Find some natural materials, such as twigs, moss and grass. Build a model of a stone age home with your child.

Encourage your child to create their own cave painting. Use paint and your hands: there were no paintbrushes in the Stone Age.

Ask your child to imagine living in the Stone Age. Create a cartoon strip or diary account to show what their day as a Stone Age child would have been like.

List the foods eaten by people during the Stone Age. Ask your child to create a Stone Age menu.

Recreate Stonehenge and build a model out of biscuits!

Take a look at our Parents Hub for more great ideas and inspiration for supporting your child's learning at home.

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Disclaimer: We hope you find the information on our website and resources useful. As far as possible, the contents of this resource are reflective of current professional research. However, please be aware that every child is different and information can quickly become out of date. The information given here is intended for general guidance purposes only and may not apply to your specific situation.

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What was the Stone Age? Find out everything you and your child need to know

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The Stone Age was a huge period of time, which lasted over 2 million years. The Stone Age period began when the first human-like animal came into existence. This period is described as being prehistoric because it was at a time before written records were kept.

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The Stone Age was a time in prehistory when humans made and used stone tools. (Prehistory is the time before people invented writing.) Early humans began using stones as...

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Prehistoric - KS2 History - BBC Bitesize

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KS2 History Prehistoric learning resources for adults, children, parents and teachers.

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Fun Kids - the UK's children's radio station

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The stone age is the earliest period of human culture, where stone was first used to make tools.

1. The Stone Age began around 2.5 million years ago

It may have started millions of years ago but it only ended in 2500BC, that was just 4,520 years ago!

2. There were 4 different types of humans in the stone age

Seems strange to think there were different types of human (I thought there was only one right?) but it's true!

There were...

Tool-makers (called homo habilis)

Fire-makers (called homo erectus)

Neanderthals (called homo neanderthalensis)

Modern humans (called homo sapiens). That's us!

3. In the early stone age, humans lived in caves

Yes, they didn't have house's yet - caves were the best they could do.

Later on in the Stone Age they did start to build huts made out of wood and animal skins and then towards the end of the stone age, they started to build permanent places to live - with a roof!

4. The only two things humans had to do was to look for food and protect themselves from wild animals

That's right, no school to go to or homework to complete or chores around the house to do. The only thing they had to worry about was finding food to survive and not being eaten by wild animals!

5. Humans learnt to farm during the Stone Age

Early on in the stone age, humans hunted animals and gathered fruits and nuts.

By the end of the stone age period, they learnt how to farm. They grew crops including maize, wheat and barley!

6. Humans used animal skins to keep them warm

That's right! Humans used to take the skin off animals and use that to keep them warm.

Humans hadn't figured out how to make warm clothes yet so they had to find a way to stay warm when it got cold. Especially as they wouldn't be able to just turn the radiator on.

7. Some of the animals that lived in the stone age are now extinct

There used to be lots of animals around in the Stone Age that just don't exist anymore. We either killed them all or they couldn't adapt to the changing world well enough to survive.

Some animals that are now extinct include the Woolly Rhinoceros, Woolly Mammoth, Cave Bear and Giant Deer.

They also had some animals that we still see today like sheep, wolves, hyena, hippopotamus and wild boars.

8. Stone Age people made their own tools

They weren't very advanced and mostly made out of stone (which is why we call it the Stone Age), but they made tools like stone or wooden clubs, bone needles, bone flutes, stone axe, stone knife and even a bow and arrow.

9. Modern man appeared around 200,000 years ago!

Modern man is what we are, they are just humans.

In history there were a few different types of human but it was around 200,000 years ago that humans like us started to appear.

Modern humans are also called Homo Sapiens.

10. Dogs became domesticated in the stone age

Before dogs were domesticated they would not have made good pets, they were wild animals!

It was in the Stone Age when humans started to domesticate them which means that they started living with humans.

Homo Erectus image from Cicero Moraes

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Top 10 Facts About The Stone Age! - Fun Kids - the UK's children's radio station

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The stone age is the earliest period of human culture, where stone was first used to make tools. It may have started millions of years ago but it only ended in 2500BC, that was just 4,520 years ago! Seems strange to think there were different types of human (I thought there was only one right?)

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Also known as the Mousterian Protofigurine, the Mask of La Roche-Cotard is a representational artifact from the Paleolithic period that was discovered in the entrance of a cave named La Roche-Cotard.

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Stone Age clothes & homes presented by James Dilley