Stone Age Periods
There were three periods during the stone age called Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic.
Paleolithic Period
Paleolithic is the earliest period in the Stone Age, but one were the greatest evolution of man-kind happened. We evolved from ape like creatures to Neanderthals to Homo Sapiens.
The people during the Paleolith period were Nomadic. (They travelled from place to place) As they had to continually love to find food. Humans used, wood, bone and stone tools to hunt with, but as mentioned earlier a lot of their diet was vegetation. They lived in simple shelters or caves. They began to use the skins (Pelts) of animals to make simple clothing or as blankets for warmth. They also discovered fire - A wonderous invention for warmth, light and cooking! |
Mesolithic Period
The Mesolithic period is during the middle period of the Stone Age. It was mostly similar to the Paleolithic period except humans had begun to domesticate animals - mainly dogs (or wolves). These animals helped in the hunt and also provided warmth when snuggled up to in the night. They also guarded the human camps / shelters and alerted them to dangers.
During this period they began to use Pelts to make tempory housing which could be collapsed and taken with them - like tents. They refined their hunting, designing bows and spears - making the hunting an killing of animals much safer and easier. During this period the Homo Sapien diet changed becoming more meat based. It is believed that the increase eating of meat developed early man's brains. |
Neolithic Period
The Neolithic period is during the last period of the Stone Age. Homo Sapiens began to settle in communities, no longer Nomadic they built sturdier homes (made from mud bricks) to live in for longer periods of time. For protection these houses were built close together. There were no streets, in fact if you wanted to get from one side of the settlement to the other, you would walk across the roofs of the houses. Some of the oldest settlement remains can be seen at Skara Brae.
During this period humans began to farm their own food (Planting and harvesting crops). They also began to keep sheep and goats for their meat and milk. By the end of this period they also began to keep cows and pigs. They began to use Pottery, to create bowls and jugs to store food and drink in. By the time of the Neolithic period, only Homo Sapiens survived. Other humans like Neanderthals had completely died out. (Become extinct) No one knows if this was a natural extinction or whether the Homo Sapiens killed them. Mining started originally to gather flint but these mines eventually led to the discovery of metals and the end of the Stone Age. |