•Introduction
•Dates
& Places
•Physical Appearance
•Shelter
•Food
•Daily Life
•Tools
•Fire
•Religion & Ceremonies
•Language
•Clothing
•Painting & Carving
•Other Information
•Footnotes
•Questions
•Answers
•Bibliography
By:
Sonia, Danielle, Kira, & Joshua
Come back in time with us
to the end of the Ice Age
to learn about the CroMagnons. Here you will
learn how Cro-Magnons
lived, ate, hunted, and
survived in prehistoric
times! You will see how
interesting and dangerous
life was alongside the CroMagnons!
Cro-Magnons lived about 40,000 years ago in
Asia, Europe, and Africa. The Neanderthals
had just died off, and the Cro-Magnons were
beginning to evolve.[1]
Cro-Magnons looked almost like
modern humans because they had
small eyebrow ridges, noses, jaws,
and teeth. They also had the same
shaped bodies as modern humans,
and they had flat foreheads,
pointed chins, and rounded skull
cases.[2] Male Cro-Magnons were
about five feet five inches tall and
women were about five feet two
inches tall. Their weight was the
same as an average human today,
although they were heavier per
inch of height.[3]
Cro-Magnons lived in huts and caves. They
made their homes out of leftover tusks and
large animal bones, and then they covered that
in pelts.[4]Though they moved every summer,
they built homes that were meant to be stable.
[5]
Cro-Magnons ate wild game and
plants. They hunted deer-like
animals and other game. Usually,
the hunting was done by the men,
and other food was collected by the
children and women. They collected
food like carrots, beets, turnips,
onions, cabbage, celery, fruits, and
berries. Cro-Magnons also
harvested grains like wheat and
healing teas for medical reasons.
Since they had no way to preserve
their food, food that did not spoil
was valuable. [6]
The Cro-Magnons were great hunters and
usually used the whole animal they killed.
Their daily life was very hard and dangerous
for the Cro-Magnons. Since the Cro-Magnons
were excellent hunters, and sometimes used
animals for game. They also used animal bones
to build huts.[7]
Cro-Magnons made special spears out of wood,
and they designed these so that the spears would
fly straight and far, instead of wobbling, going a
different direction, and only going five feet. They
made rafts with their hands to go from place to
place, over seas. [8] Cro-Magnons also built
flutes, since they were very good with their
hands. They also carved pictures into their
tools.[9]
For Cro-Magnons, fire
was the only source of
heat and light since they
lived in dark caves. Fire
was used for trapping
animals, for they were
attracted to the heat and
light. Cro-Magnons had
fire at an entrance of a
cave or a hut. Fire was
also used for protection
against wild animals. [10]
Cro-Magnons made burial art, and
they prepared their dead with
beautiful flowers, seashells, and art.
They also had ceremonies for boys
going into manhood, and after
good hunting, they would also
have a ceremony. Cro-Magnons
also played simple drums at
ceremonies. Cro-Magnons also
celebrated the changing of the
seasons.[11]
Cro-Magnons did not have a wide
variety of language, so instead they
made clicking sounds with their throats.
They did not have written language.[12]
Cro-Magnons wore clothes out of animal hides.
They wore pants, tunics, and dresses. The
women made necklaces out of shells, beads,
stones, bones, fish bones, and bits of egg shells.
The clothing Cro-Magnons made were far more
sophisticated than the clothing of the
Neanderthals.[13]
Cro-Magnons were the first people to have cave art
because they had free time.[14]They made paints by
picking flowers and plants, then crushing them, and
adding water.[15]Additionally, they carved pictures
of hunters and animals into cave walls, although it
was hard to get into caves because of the wild
animals that lived there, so they had to crawl with a
spoon with fire in it for light.[16]




Name at least three reasons why fire was
important to the Cro-Magnons.
Did the Cro-Magnons speak, and if they did,
how?
Were the Cro-Magnons’ huts meant to be
permanent or meant to be moved?
What were two things the Cro-Magnons had
ceremonies for?




Possible answers: they used fire for heat, light,
to cook food, to scare animals, and to trap
animals.
Yes, they made clicking sounds with their
throats.
They were meant to be permanent, even
though they moved every summer.
Possible answers: the coming into manhood,
changing of seasons, after a good hunt, and
when someone died.
Come on back to the present, but don’t
forget all that you have learned! We hope
you learned interesting and fun facts
about the Cro-Magnons because we sure
did! We also hope you enjoyed our
PowerPoint and learned a lot!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Kearns, Marsha,“Cro-Magnons,” Early Humans. Creative
Teaching Press: CA, 1993, p. 9.
Ibid.
http://www.angelfire.com/film/materija/cromlang.pdf
Kearns, “Cro-Magnons,” p. 11.
Facchini, Fiorenzo, A Day with Homo Sapiens, Books:
Connecticut, Twenty-First Century, 2003, p. 26.
Kearns, “Cro-Magnons,” p. 11.
Ibid, p. 9.
Ibid, p. 10.
California Visits Ancient Civilizations, Macmillan/MacGraw
Hill: New York, NY, 2007, p. 89.
Kearns, “Cro-Magnons,” p. 9.
California Vistas Ancient Civilizations, p. 91.
12.http://www.angelfire.com/film/materija/cromlang.
pdf.
13. Kearns, “Cro-Magnons,” p. 11.
14. “Cro-Magnon,” Early Humans PowerPoint,
http://www.earlyhumans.mrdonn.org.
15. Ms. McClure and Class Discussion.
16. Mr. Donn’s Early Human PowerPoint.
California Visits Ancient Civilizations.
Macmillan/MacGraw Hill: New York, NY, 2007.
“Cro-Magnon.” Cro-Magnon.
http://www.earlyhumans.mrdonn.org.
Facchini, Fiorenzo. A Day with Homo Sapiens. Books:
Connecticut, Twenty-First Century, 2003.
http://www.angelfire.com/film/materija/cromlang.
pdf
Kearns, Marsha.“Homo Habilis.” Early Humans.
Creative Teaching Press: CA, 1993.
“Otzi the Iceman.” Early Human Class Presentation by
Lonnie Johnson on October 28, 2010.
Ms. McClure and Class Discussion.