Name____________________________________________ Period ___________ Date _______________
Chapter 1 - Lesson 3 "How Archaeologists Study the Past" p. 26-33
MAIN IDEAS
• Science and technology - Archaeologists are scientists who work to uncover the story of
early people
• Science and technology – Archaeologists have found evidence that tells us a great deal
about early humans.
• Culture – Human culture developed during the prehistoric period known as the Stone Age.
Word
(Term, person or place)
Definition
(in your own words)
remains (p.26)
artifact
fossil
hominid
Paleolithic Age
Mesolithic Age
Neolithic Age
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Name____________________________________________ Period ___________ Date _______________
Finding Clues to the past (p. 27 – 28)
1. Who do archaeologists work with when making new discoveries about how prehistoric
people lived?
Teams of other researchers and scientists
2. How do archaeologists uncover the story of early people?
By searching for and studying artifacts and fossils.
3. Scientists called anthropologists often work with archaeologists too. Anthropologists
study culture. What does studying culture mean / include? (p.28)
An anthropologist studies culture which is the way of life of a group of people
The Search for Early Humans (p.29-31)
4.
Fill in the chart below for EARLY HUMANS (p.29)
Who?
australopithecines / hominids
How many
years ago?
Characteristics / interesting facts
• Hominids walk on ____________ feet
• Learned to walk on the ___________________
Homo habilis
• Homo habilis means “Man of ______________”
• Where did they appear? __________________
• What kind of tools did they use to crack open
bones? ________________________
Homo erectus
• Homo erectus means “___________________”
5. Fill in the chart below for MODERN HUMANS (p.30)
Who?
How many
Characteristics / interesting facts
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Name____________________________________________ Period ___________ Date _______________
years ago?
Homo sapiens
• Homo sapien means _______________
• they ____________ their dead
• they created ___________________
• made __________________ tools
• began to ____________________________
• developed _______________ systems
• built _____________________________
• migrated from ________ to________ and ____
6. What was the name of the husband/wife who first began searching for early human
remains in Africa in the 1930’s?
7. In 1974, American archaeologist Donald Johanson discovered an unusually complete
skeleton of an australopithecine. He and his team named the skeleton ___________.
8. Answer these questions about Lucy from the History Makers section on p.31.
A. Where in Africa did they find the skeleton of Lucy?
B. What was the first part of the skeleton discovered?
C. How much of the skeleton were they able to retrieve?
D. Why is she named Lucy?
E. What was Lucy’s brain like and what animal did they compare it to?
F. Was Lucy able to walk upright?
G. What "theory" did Lucy challenge? The theory that a bigger brain led to walking
The Stone Age (p.32-33)
The invention of tools, the mastery of fire and the development of language and farming are
some of humankind’s most important achievements. These advances took place during the
prehistoric period known as the Stone Age. List DATES and try to list 3 characteristics of
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Name____________________________________________ Period ___________ Date _______________
each stone age.
Period
Paleolithic Age
(Old Stone Age)
Dates
2.5 million –
8000 BC
Characteristics of period
• homo hablis, homo erectus, homo sapiens
lived during this period
• hunters and gatherers
Mesolithic Age
(Middle Stone Age)
10,000 – 6000 BC
• used simple stone tools with sharp edges
to cut and chop
• developed needles, thread, harpoons, and
spear throwers
• began to control fire and develop
language
• specialize in hunting particular animals
• gatherers used grindstones to prepare the
food they gathered
Neolithic Age
(New Stone Age)
8000 – 3000 BC
• only homo sapiens lived during this time
•
•
Lesson Summary (p.33)
• Studying ancient artifacts and fossils helps reveal early human history.
• The first human-like creatures developed in Africa.
• During the Stone Age, people began to use tools, control fire, speak, grow crops, and raise
animals.
Why it matters now (p.33)
Learning about our common beginnings can help people see that our similarities outweigh
our differences.
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