I. What is History?
A. History is the study of the past.
B. Historians are people who study history.
1. Questions they ask.
a. How did people live? ( work, fight,
trade, farm, worship)
b. Why did they make certain choices?
c. How did they solve problems?
2. Historians study culture: the knowledge,
beliefs, customs, and values of a group of
people.
II. What is Archaeology?
A. Archaeology is the study of the past based on
what people left behind.
B. Archaeologists study places and things.
1. Examples: ruins, jewelry, tools, pottery, etc.
Dr. Zahi Hawass
III. Tools of Historians and Archaeologists
A. Fossils: a part or imprint of something that was once
alive.
Example: bone
B. Artifacts: objects created and used by humans.
Example: pottery
C. Primary Source: is an account of an event created by
someone who took part in or witnessed the event.
Example: Journal Entry
D. Secondary Source: is information gathered by someone
who did not take part in or witness the event.
Example: Textbook
E. Geography: Historians study the geography of an area
(climate, landforms, resources, and environment) to
help understand how cultures developed and lived in certain
areas
 Page H3-H5
 Use your textbook to find the following “tools.” Write
down the page number.
Tool
Document
Artifact
Map
Photograph
Painting or Drawing
Type of Source (Primary
or Secondary)
Page Number
I. Prehistory- the time before there was writing.
II. Early Humans- there are many theories about
early humans and how people came to be. You
may be interested in researching some of these
theories.
III. The Stone Age is the name that historians give
to the time before recorded history. It is divided
into three eras, or time periods. They are:
a. Paleolithic Era
b. Mesolithic Era
c. Neolithic Era
IV. Stone Age People
A. In the Stone Ages people used stone tools
1. Tool : is any handheld object that has been
modified to help a person accomplish a task.
2. In the Paleolithic Era people used rocks as
tools to process food by cutting, chopping, or
scraping.
B. Hunter-Gatherer Societies
1. Society- is a community of people who share a
common culture.
2. Hunter-Gatherers: people who hunt animals and
gather wild plants, seeds, fruits, and nuts to survive.
3. How they lived:
a. These early people lived in small
groups.
b. They were nomads-they moved from
place to place to find shelter and food.
4. Language, Art, and Religion
a. Language was developed in this era.
b. Carvings.
c. Cave Paintings (animals, humans, and
hand prints)
d. Scientists are not sure if they had
religion.
http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/?lng=en#/fr/00.xml
I. Paleolithic Era or Old Stone Age (began 2 million years ago;
ended about 10,000 years ago.)
A. During this era there were long periods of freezing
weather (in some areas) called the Ice Ages.
B. Due to climate changes people had to move, or migrate
because food was scarce.
1. Scarcity: not enough of a resource.
C. During one ice age, a strip of land between Asia and North
America was exposed called the Bering Strait.
1. Land bridges allowed people to migrate around the
world.
2. As people migrated they had to adapt to new
environments.
3. Then, the weather warmed again, and the land bridges
disappeared, under water.
II. The Mesolithic Era or Middle Stone Age (ended about
3000 BC)
III. New Tools and Technologies
a. The Mesolithic people used new tools that were smaller
and more complex than those from the Old Stone Age.
1. Bone and Stone tools with handles.
2. Fishing hooks and spears
3. Bow and arrow
4. Learned to make canoes
5. Began to make pottery
6. Pets
7. Better clothing and shelter
b. Learned to control fire.
 HOTQ #1: How did scarcity contribute to
migration in the Stone Age?
 HOTQ #2: What new technology made
life easier in the Mesolithic Era?
I. Neolithic Era and First Farmers
a. The Neolithic Era or New Stone Age was different than
the other eras because it was a time of major changes
affecting human life.
II. New Tools and Technology
a. People began using polished stones to make saws and
drills.
b. People learned how to make FIRE.
c. Eventually, people learned how to make tools out of
metal, this ended the Neolithic Era.
III. The Neolithic or “Agricultural” Revolution
A. As the earth warmed new plants began to grow
that people depended on for food.
B. People began to live where the food was.
C. People learned that they could plant seeds to
grow their own crops (food).
1. Agriculture (farming) is one of the
achievements in human
history!!!!
D. Domestication began as people changed
plants and animals to make them more useful.
E. Farming and having a stable food supply changed
society as people had more time to do other activities
than just finding food.
1. Learned how to make cloth from wool and plants
and began trading with one another.
2. Built permanent shelters and communities
3. Populations grew
4. Religious ceremonies became more common.
5. Megaliths or huge stone monuments were built.
a. Example: Stonehenge in England.
6. People began to worship gods and goddesses
based on nature, and their ancestors.
7. New jobs were created.
a. Farmers
b. Weavers
c. Basket makers
d. Toolmakers
e. Traders
f. Stoneworkers (jewelry, mirrors)
g. Potters decorated baskets and
pottery with shapes.
3 Eras

Directions: For each list below write in
the Era of the Stone Age that matches.

1. Made Fire, learned to farm, lived
in villages, domesticated plants
and animals.


ANSWERS
1.
Neolithic
Era
2. simple stone tools, migrated on
the land bridge, hunted and
gathered, nomadic
2.
Paleolithic
Era
3. bone and stone tools with
handles, better clothing and
shelter, learned to make canoes,
used fishing hooks and spears.
Word Bank
3.
Mesolithic
Era
Paleolithic Era
Mesolithic Era
Neolithic Era