Cro-Magnon
By: Bjorn, Camille, Jack, and Sarah
Cro- Magnon Table of Contents
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Dates and Places of Existence
Description of Daily Life
Description of Physical Appearance
Description of Shelters
Food
Tools
Fire
Religion
Development of Language
Religion and Ceremonies
Clothing
Paintings and Carvings
Introduction
• Come with us and experience an adventure
of a lifetime—the life of Cro-Magnon. We
will embark on a journey through the CroMagnons’ lives. We will unmask the daily life
of the everyday Cro-Magnon. What they ate
and how they lived will captivate you and
give you a piece of history!
Dates and places of existence
• Cro-Magnon lived up to 40,000 years ago,
towards the end of the ice age. At the
beginning of their existence, they lived in
France. They migrated to Asia, Africa, and
Europe. Cro-Magnons only lived during the ice
age.[1]
Description of Daily Life
• Cro-Magnons had very busy days.
Sometimes, when they had good
weather, they were in festive moods.
Occasionally, after a hard day’s work,
they had time to relax, which they
barely got to do with all the hunting
and gathering on their hands. [2]
Description of Physical Appearance
Cro-Magnons were robustly built, and they
were generally heavy and solid with strong
musculature. They had straight, tall foreheads,
and slight eyebrow ridges. Their brains were
bigger than those of modern humans.[3]
Description of Shelters
These early men built permanent homes to shelter them
from the long harsh, winter of the ice age. In the summer,
they followed the herds of animals, and so during those
months, they lived in tents. Winter homes were ice age
huts, built tepee-style, from branches and mammoth bones
covered with animal skins. These huts were used for many
years, so they built them carefully. Holes were dug deeply ,
into the ground. Poles were inserted into the ground, and
then tied tightly together at the point of the tee-pee. Warm
furs were laid over the structure and sewn tightly in place.
Large rocks were piled around the bottom to help pull the
hut together.[4]
Food
• Cro-Magnons were hunters and gathers who ate a
variety of fish. They had an ample amount of freshly
caught game.
• They also ate seeds, berries, and nuts, as did their
ancestors.
• Cro-Magnons did not struggle for food. They were
splendid hunters. They used traps, which helped
them to catch food while they were busy doing
something else. They fished with bows and arrows,
net woven from vines, fish hooks, and even poisons.
Some groups built rafts and canoes to catch bigger
fish in deeper waters.[5]
Fire
• Cro-Magnons’ only source of heat and light
was fire. Since they lived in dark caves, the
fire provided them light. The fire was used
for trapping animals because the animals
were attracted to the luminous light. CroMagnons lived during the end of the ice age
so it was very difficult to get a lightning
strike. They used flint and stone to make a
spark. It was challenging to strike fire so they
were really ecstatic to ignite a fire.[6]
Religion and Ceremonies
• When a Cro-Magnon passed away, all the CroMagnons participated in the funeral. The body
was put in a grave with tools and weapons.
The Shaman, or religious leader, put some
ingredients on the dead body to have a happy
afterlife. For ceremonies, Cro-Magnons made
flutes; then played music. [7]
Tools
Cro-Magnons were hunters and gatherers.
Cro-Magnons were the ones who created
bows and arrows. Cro-Magnons made unique
spears out of wood. They carved pictures into
their tools. They also made wood spears so
they would fly straight and far instead of
wobbling.
Development of language
They had not developed a written
language yet. They made clicking
sounds with their throats to
communicate. [8]
Clothing
• The Cro–Magnon wore robes,
which they made from thin
animal hide. Their belts were
made of thicker material. They
wore very thick fur to keep
warm.[9]
Paintings and Carvings
Cro- Magnon painted the following scenes on cave walls:
• Wolves
• Wooly mammoths
• Wooly mastodon
• Horses
• Cave bears
• Reindeer
• People as stick figures
• Black bulls
• Bison
• Stags
• They used pigments made from the local plants and minerals. The
colors were primarily earth tones.
Questions
• What was Cro-Magnons’ only source
of light and heat?
• What were three of the foods they
ate?
• How long ago did Cro-Magnon live?
Answers
• Cro-Magnons’ only source of heat
and light was fire.
• Some of the foods they ate were
seeds, berries, nuts, fish, and other
game.
• Cro-Magnon lived 40,000 years ago,
during the ice age.
Conclusion
Now, buckle up and get ready to accelerate
forty thousand years into the future. It’s been
a superb adventure in the past. We hope you
learned as much as we did. Keep in mind that
Cro-Magnons were hunters and gathers, and
they lived forty thousand years ago. Thanks! (:
~ Bjorn, Camille, Jack, and Sarah. ☻
Endnotes
1. California Visits Ancient CivilizationCalifornia Visits Ancient
Civilizations,Macmillan/MacGraw Hill: New York, NY, 2007, p. 89.:
2. Ibid, p. 90.
3. http://www.mikedust.com/history/cromagnon.html.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. California Visits Ancient CivilizationCalifornia Visits Ancient
Civilizations,Macmillan/MacGraw Hill: New York, NY, 2007, p. 91.
8. http://www.mikedust.com/history/cromagnon.html.
9. Ibid.
10. California Visits Ancient CivilizationCalifornia Visits Ancient
Civilizations,Macmillan/MacGraw Hill: New York, NY, 2007, p. 91
Bibliography
Dust, Mike. “ Early History: Cro-Magnon.” Sunday,
October 26, 2003 9:02:04 PM.
http://www.mikedust.com/history/cromagnon.html
Von Rechendorff, Allen.[Bjorns dad].
McClure,Tracy. “Ms. M’s Presentation.” Tuesday, 12:17
Johnson, Lonnie. “Ancient Artifact Presentation.”
Thursday, October 27, 2011 1:15