Early Humans: Pre-Civilization and the Stone Age
Franceschini
Common Core SS Standards addressed throughout the reading packet:
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6H.1.3 Use primary and secondary sources to interpret various historical perspectives.
6H.2.3 Explain how innovation and/or technology transformed civilizations, societies and regions over
time (e.g., agricultural technology, weaponry, transportation and communication).
6G.1.1 Explain how the physical features and human characteristics of a place influenced the
development of civilizations, societies and regions (e.g., location near rivers and natural barriers, trading
practices and spread of culture).
6G.1.4 Explain how and why civilizations, societies and regions have used, modified and adapted to their
environments (e.g., invention of tools, domestication of plants and animals, farming techniques and
creation of dwellings).
6G.2.1 Use maps, charts, graphs, geographic data and available technology tools to draw conclusions
about the emergence, expansion and decline of civilizations, societies and regions
Common Core Reading Standards addressed throughout the reading packet:
 Locate and cite details, State main ideas and summarize.
 Determine meanings of words and phrases.
 Determine how information is presented (sequentially, comparatively, etc.).
 Integrate and analyze visuals (maps, charts, pictures) etc. with text.
Common Core Writing Standards addressed throughout the reading packet:
 Produce clear and coherent writing appropriate for the task.
 Use technology and internet to produce writing.
 Informative and Explanatory Writing in the context of SS
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Anthropology
Objectives: SWBAT create a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting anthropology and archaeology and then use
it to write a compare/contrast composition.
6H.1.3 Use primary and secondary sources to interpret various historical perspectives
An anthropologist is a type of scientist that studies human history.
Anthropologists study humans and other human-like creatures known as
hominids. They compare the bones of these creatures to one another,
looking for changes in brain size and posture.
Anthropology is the scientific and humanistic study of humankind’s
present and past.
It studies cultural and biological variations.
Anthropologists study people and the cultures they create. The major
subfields that fall under the larger heading of anthropology are archaeology,
physical (biological) anthropology, cultural anthropology, and anthropological
linguistics.
Mankind began keeping a written history about 5,500 years ago. Much
of what we think of as human history happened between then and now.
However, in reality this is just a scratch on the surface of human history.
Anthropologists and archeologists have traced human history back some 4.4
million years.
Archaeology
Archaeology is a subfield of anthropology. It is the scientific study
of the human past and present through material remains. In other words,
they study the things that people made, used, or modified. When
archaeologists investigate an area where people left evidence of their
presence (such as garbage, building foundations, cemeteries, and an
assortment of other everyday things commonly left behind) they attempt to
answer specific research questions about the early people who used the area.
In fact, archaeology is the only scientific tool we have that can be used to
study people from the past who did not leave written descriptions about
their every day lives.
An archaeologist is someone who tries to figure out what life was like
in the ancient past by looking at the remains of ancient people. An
archaeologist must know the difference between an artifact and a fossil.
Fossils are the remains of living things (plants, animals, people), not of things
that were made.
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Artifacts are the remains of things that were made, not the remains
of living things.
One of the main things both archaeologists and anthropologists do in
their line of work is the dig. Why? Well, first of all, the wind is constantly
blowing fresh dirt and trash all over the world. This airborne debris lands on
the ground in tiny layers. After years of these tiny layers building up, what
was once on the surface is buried underground. It's not that the ground has
really sunk; it's more that more layers have been added on top.
Digging is important.
For instance, by discovering seeds,
archaeologists can also discover what kinds of crops the people who lived
there grew or, if people didn't live there at all, what kind of wild plants or
fruits or vegetables grew there. Also, a dig might turn up fragments of
clothing or shoes, giving archaeologists clues to what kind of clothing the
people who lived there wore. The basic idea behind the dig is to discover
the past.
Assignment: Compare and Contrast the jobs of an anthropologist and an
archaeologist using a Venn Diagram and then write a paragraph about their
similarities and a paragraph about their differences.
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Prehistoric Humans
Objectives: SWBAT categorize early hominids. SWBAT locate where man first evolved.
6H.2.3 Explain how innovation and/or technology transformed civilizations, societies and regions over time (e.g.,
agricultural technology, weaponry, transportation and communication).
6H.2.4 Explain the role that key historical figures and cultural groups had in transforming society
6G.1.1 Explain how the physical features and human characteristics of a place influenced the development of
civilizations, societies and regions (e.g., location near rivers and natural barriers, trading practices and spread of
culture).
6G.1.2 Explain the factors that influenced the movement of people, goods, and ideas and the effects of that
movement on societies and regions over time (e.g., scarcity of resources, conquests, desire for wealth, disease and
trade).
6G.1.3 Compare distinguishing characteristics of various world regions (e.g., physical features, culture, political
organization and ethnic make-up.
6G.1.4 Explain how and why civilizations, societies and regions have used, modified and adapted to their
environments (e.g., invention of tools, domestication of plants and animals, farming techniques and creation of
dwellings).
Little is known about the lives of early human beings. What we do
know has been gathered through the study of ancient caves by scientists
called archeologists. They believe early humans probably lived in caves along
the southern coast of Africa. This region provided ample supplies of food as
well as a warm climate. It is believed that the men probably traveled in
hunting packs or groups into the mainland looking for big game while the
women stayed near the coast.
Early Hominids
Human-like animals that walked upright were known as hominids. It is
believed that the earliest hominids lived around 4.4 million years ago in the
humid forests of eastern and southern Africa. These animals, known as
Australopithecus, are believed to have been around three to five feet tall.
They probably fed on leaves, fruits, and the remains of dead animals. There
is no evidence that Australopithecus made their own tools. There is,
however, strong evidence that they used sticks and bones to help them dig
and defend themselves.
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Hominid Types
Scientists such as anthropologists divide hominids into three
different types based on their body shapes and lifestyles. The first kind of
hominid is referred to as Homo habilis, which means person with abilities. It
is believed that Homo habilis lived until about 1.5 million years ago. The
second type of early human living on the Earth was Homo erectus, which
means person who walks upright. Homo erectus lived on the Earth until about
150,000 years ago. The final type of hominid living on the Earth is Homo
sapien. Homo sapien means person who can think. All humans living on the
Earth today are Homo sapiens.
Essential Questions:
1. Where do scientists believe early man first evolved?
2. How do anthropologists categorize hominids?
What are the 3
categories?
3. Who was Australopithecus?
Now write 5 questions and answers of your own in your notebook using the
text.
Prehistoric Humans > Part 2
Objectives: SWBAT ID different hominid species in the evolutionary chain. SWBAT discuss the significance of
the emergence of language. SWBAT interpret the significance of Lucy.
Homo Habilis
It is believed that Homo habilis were the first hominids to create and
use tools. These creatures lived in Africa about 1.5 million years ago. Homo
habilis probably lived alongside Australopithecus. However, their larger
bodies and brains would have given them a clear advantage.
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Homo Erectus
Homo erectus inhabited Africa, Asia and Europe some 1.6 million years
ago, and remained active in these areas until around 250,000 years ago.
Their large brains allowed them to easily adapt to a wide variety of
environments. Fossils of Homo erectus have been found in forests, plains and
grasslands.
Hominids Leave Africa
Due to the scarcity of evidence, there is a great deal of disagreement
among scientists about exactly when prehistoric peoples left Africa and
migrated to other parts of the world. Some evidence suggests that Homo
habilis may have been the first to leave Africa. However, if they did, it is
unlikely that they remained very long. There is, however, strong evidence
that Homo erectus migrated from Africa around 1.6 million years ago.
Fossil evidence shows that Homo erectus had arrived in Asia by around
460,000 years ago and in Europe around 400,000 years ago.
Language Develops
The first simple languages spoken by Homo erectus likely developed
around 500,000 years ago. This would have been a dramatic development of
paramount importance.
Prior to spoken languages, members of a group communicated with one
another by grunting or through simple noises and hand gestures. Spoken
language allowed group members to exchange complex thoughts and ideas,
and pass on their culture from one generation to the next. Now groups
could discuss plans, teach techniques, explain how to track animals, or where
to go to find water, as well as form religion and folklore. The knowledge of
one generation could now be passed down to the next, building from
generation to generation, expanding the human experience.
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Essential Questions:
1. What advantages did Homo-habilis and Homo-erectus have over other
early hominid species?
2. How do scientists know Homo-erectus migrated from Africa.
3. Homo-erectus developed language. Why was this significant?
4. Why was the discovery of Lucy important for anthropologists?
Now write 5 questions and answers of your own in your notebook using the
text.
Prehistoric Humans > Part 3
Objectives: SWBAT assess the impact homo-sapiens had on evolution. SWBAT ID the first species of homosapiens. SWBAT explain how Neanderthals were more advanced than predecessors.
Homo Sapiens
Hominids evolved and developed for millions of years prior to the
arrival of Homo sapiens on the Earth. This evolution was slow. The
development of a new skill or tool often took thousands of years. With the
arrival of Homo sapiens, this all changed. The speed of advancements
increased dramatically. Instead of thousands of years, great progress was
made in hundreds or even dozens of years.
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Neanderthals
The first Homo sapiens are believed to have been the Neanderthals.
Neanderthal people first appeared on the Earth around 200,000 years ago in
Africa. They migrated from Africa to the rest of the world around 100,000
years ago. Neanderthals were around five to six feet in height. They had
thick sturdy bones, and muscular shoulders, legs, arms and necks.
Neanderthals also had large brains. In fact, their brains were slightly larger
than those of modern humans.
Neanderthals and Tool Making
Like earlier hominids, Neanderthals made and used tools. However, the
tools produced by the Neanderthals were much more advanced than those
used by their predecessors. Neanderthals learned to create specialized
cutting and scraping tools by chipping away at the edge of a rock. They
learned to combine different types of stone into a single tool, and they
discovered how to use a wide variety of soft and hard stones for specialized
tasks
 Neanderthal Shelters
The Neanderthal lived throughout a widely divergent climate and
habitat. These peoples adapted quickly to new environments as they
migrated. Some lived in caves, while others built shelters out of branches
and animal skins. Still others dug pits and covered them with branches,
animal skins and leaves.
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Neanderthal Culture
Because the Neanderthal spread throughout Africa, Asia and Europe,
their cultures were as different as the places they inhabited. Archeological
finds have given historians a small glance into some of their beliefs and ways
of life.
There is strong evidence that the Neanderthal had a belief in the
afterlife. Burial plots have been found where the dead were covered with
flowers and buried with food along with the tools they would need in the
next life. There is also evidence that Neanderthal cared for their sick and
injured. Fossil remains show serious injuries, such as broken legs, which had
healed completely. It is even possible that Neanderthal used medicines.
Essential Questions:
1. What impact did Homo-sapiens have on evolution?
2. Who were the Neanderthals?
3. In what ways were Neanderthals were advanced than there
predecessors?
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Now write 5 questions and answers of your own in your notebook using the
text.
Prehistoric Humans > Part 4
Objectives: SWBAT state when modern humans evolved. SWBAT deduce what happened to other species such as
Neanderthal. SWBAT state who Cro-Magnon man was and examine their advantages over Neanderthal man
Homo Sapiens Sapiens
It is believed that modern humans like you and I first originated on
the Earth around 50,000 years ago in Africa. These modern humans are
referred to by historians as Homo sapiens sapiens. Within just a few
thousand years these modern humans had spread to every continent across
the entire planet, and onto many islands.
As Homo sapiens sapiens migrated outward from Africa, it is believed
that they wiped out Neanderthals, either by absorbing them through
intermarriage, or by destroying them through war and competition.
Cro-Magnons
The earliest Homo sapiens sapiens were the Cro-Magnons. These
early modern humans are named after the location of their discovery in
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France in the 1860s. Since their original discovery, many other Cro-Magnon
fossils and artifacts have been found throughout Europe, Asia and Africa.
Cro-Magnons were taller than the Neanderthal, but they were not as
muscular. A very important advantage is that they had much improved
technologies, languages and cultures over those of the Neanderthals. Many
anthropologists feel they were more intelligent.
The Tools and Technology of Cro-Magnons
The advanced tools and technology of Cro-Magnons allowed them to
quickly adapt to and master their environments. In addition to stone, CroMagnons used other materials for making tools. These materials included
bones, antlers, teeth and ivory. With these new materials, they were able to
create sharper blades, needles for sewing, and fishhooks for fishing. CroMagnons also invented new kinds of long distance weapons, such as bow and
arrows and spear throwers.
Axes allowed humans to chop down trees. Evidence has been found to
show that early humans used some of these logs to make canoes.
New
technologies dramatically increased the amount of food available. This in
turn allowed for the population of Cro-Magnon to explode.
Cro-Magnon Social Life
At first, Cro-Magnon life was not all that different from the lives of
earlier hominids. They lived in caves or temporary structures, and spent
their lives hunting and gathering in small groups. As food sources increased,
human settlements became more permanent. Many groups began building
homes out of logs or stone. Smaller groups joined together forming larger
groups.
As these groups developed, so did the need for order. In order to
allow individuals to interact with one another, it was necessary that these
groups developed rules, or laws. To help enforce these laws, there had to be
leaders appointed. Each group or tribe had their own methods for appointing
leaders. Sometimes leaders were selected through fighting. In other cases
they were appointed according to religious beliefs or through inheritance.
Essential Questions:
1. How long ago did modern humans evolve? What species are we?
2. Who was Cro-Magnon and what advantages did they have over
Neanderthal?
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3. What most likely happened to Neanderthal man?
4. What factors allowed Cro-Magnon to move from a nomadic lifestyle to
a more permanent one?
Now write 7 questions and answers of your own in your notebook using the
text.
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Questions:
1. Which two species came immediately before modern humans?
2. What two species did Australopithecus fall between?
History of Man
SPECIES
Ardipithicus ramidus
Australopithecus anamensis
Australopithecus afarensis
Australopithecus africanus
Australopithecus robustus
Homo habilis
Homo erectus
Homo sapiens archaic
Homo sapiens neandertalensis
TIME PERIOD
5 to 4 million years ago
4.2 to 3.9 million years ago
4 to 2.7 million years ago
3 to 2 million years ago
2.2 to 1.6 million years ago
2.2 to 1.6 million years ago
2.0 to 0.4 million years ago
400 to 200 thousand years ago
200 to 30 thousand years ago
200 thousand years ago to present
Homo sapiens sapiens
Questions:
1. According to the chart, which is the oldest hominid species?
2. How long ago did Homo-erectus live?
3. Which species lived from 4 to 2.7 million years ago?
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Ice Ages Affect Human Evolution
Objectives: SWBAT explain the significance of the ice age on how it affected hominid migration.
During the last 2 million years the Earth has experienced four long
periods of cold climate known as ice ages. During each ice age, the average
temperature around the world has dropped dramatically. While the middle
latitudes near the equator stay warm, the higher latitudes both in the north
and in the south get very cold, making life in these regions more difficult.
During these periods, massive glaciers form which can cover thousands of
square miles. As ice sheets spread across the landscape they freeze out
plants and animals. As more and more water freezes, the sea level decreases
by as much as 300 feet (91m). As sea levels drop, land bridges appear
between continents and islands. Cooler temperatures forced change on early
hominids. They either had to adapt to their new environments, migrate, or
perish. Land bridges allowed hominids to migrate to new lands such as the
Americas, Japan, Malaysia, and Australia. Cooler temperatures spawned the
development of clothes and the discovery and mastery of fire.
Essential Questions:
1. How did ice ages allow hominids to migrate?
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Thinking Question: How do you think the first Native Americans
arrived to America? Explain your answer and use evidence.
Now write 3 questions and answers of your own in your notebook using
the text.
Tools and the Stone Age
Objectives: SWBAT name the three ages of archaeology. SWBAT examine how tools changed life for hominids
The Stone Age is the first of the three-age system of archaeology,
which divides human technological prehistory into three periods:
 The Stone Age
 The Bronze Age
 The Iron Age
Early hominid species lived during the early Stone Age. Two of the
most important advancements in human history were the development and
use of tools and the use of fire. Tools allowed hominids to become the
masters of their environments. They learned to hunt, to build and to
perform important tasks that made life easier for them. The first tools
were made out of stone. Thus, historians refer to the period of time before
written history as the Stone Age. Tools were also made from wood as well.
Fire allowed food to be cooked and provided a source of heat.
Humans during the Stone Age were hunter-gatherers. Huntergatherers survived by hunting wild animals and by gathering wild plants and
fruits. They did not farm or domesticate animals. They were nomadic,
meaning they were constantly moving in search of food. Nomads did not live
in permanent shelters. Many early hunter-gatherers often lived in caves,
thus people have often referred to them as cavemen. As humans evolved
they learned to build more shelters with their tools.
Historians divide the Stone Age into three different periods based on
the sophistication and methods of tool design. The first period is referred
to as the Paleolithic, or Old Stone Age. The Old Stone Age began about 2
million years ago with the development of the first tools by Homo habilis and
lasted until around 12,000 years ago. By the late Paleolithic Era, Homosapiens sapiens dominated the planet. The Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age,
began around 12,000 years ago and continued through about 8,000 years ago.
The Neolithic, or New Stone Age lasted from 8,000 years until around 5,000
years ago.
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As a group discuss how you think tools made life easier for huntergatherers
Essential Questions:
1. What are the 3 ages of archaeology and in which of these did huntergatherers live?
2. How did tools improve life for hunter-gatherers?
Additional Questions:
1. What were the 3 periods of the Stone Age?
2. Why do you think fire was important to hunter-gatherers?
3. Use the chart on page 7 to answer these questions. When was the
Paleolithic Era? When was the Mesolithic Era? When was the
Neolithic Era?
Thinking Question:
 What do you think separates humans from even the most intelligent
animals? Write your answer in a short paragraph
The Agricultural Revolution (Neolithic Revolution)
Objectives: SWBAT mark the transition from nomadic cultures to more permanent ones. SWBAT explain what the
agricultural revolution was. SWBAT analyze the causes/effects map the causes and effects of the agricultural
revolution.
For hundreds of thousands of years hominids depended on nature for
their survival. Food came from wild plants and animals. A natural disaster
could reduce the amount of food in the environment which might have a
devastating effect on the peoples in nearby regions. During the Paleolithic
and Mesolithic eras of the Stone Age, humans were hunter-gatherers.
Around 10, 000 to 8,000 years ago things began to change. It began with
the ending of the ices age. Warmer temperatures allowed new types of
plants to grow. Humans learned to use these new plants for food shelter and
clothing. With better tools and warmer temperatures people began to learn
how to grow their own food crops rather than just picking fruits, nuts, roots
and berries. This was the beginning of farming so this provided a new way to
obtain food. Grains such as wheat, barley, rice and corn were grown in
different parts of the world. Wild animals were also domesticated. Goats
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were utilized for their meat and milk, cattle, pigs and chickens provided a
steady source of food for the support of a group of humans.
This revolutionary advancement was that of agriculture. Instead of
hunting and gathering food from the environments where they lived, humans
learned to simply grow their own food. This new period of the Stone Age
was called the Neolithic Era. It is referred to as the Agricultural
Revolution or the Neolithic Revolution.
So what is a revolution? A revolution refers to a change. Being able
to farm changed many things. When people were able to grow enough food
they were able to save some for later. This is called having a surplus. This
meant they no longer had to be constantly on the move for food. They could
give up their nomadic lifestyle and live in permanent camps.
Villages Develop
With the advent of farming and domesticated animals to feed a
society, life became much easier for early humans. As a result, many more
humans survived the difficulties of life. The population quickly rose from
around 2 million humans on the Earth to more than 90 million.
Farming allowed people to build villages along rivers, or wherever the
ground was fertile enough for crops to grow. Archeologists have found some
villages that are believed to have been built more than 8,000 years ago.
Some of these ancient villages, such as Jericho, still survive to this day.
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Technologies Advance Quickly
With an abundance of food and more permanent shelters, people had
more time to devote to the development of new technologies. Better farming
equipment, such as the ox-driven plow, were invented. The wheel aided
humans greatly in transporting goods from one location to another. The loom
allowed people to weave cloth and create finer and more tools were created
for measuring the passage of time, such as calendars, star charts and
sundials. This helped farmers track when the growing season would arrive,
and when the best time to plant crops would be.
People learned improved farming techniques, such as how to use
fertilizers in their fields, and how to better utilize water through irrigation.
Villagers dug large canals and complex systems of ditches, delivering water
from distant sources to where it was most needed comfortable clothing.
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Essential Questions:
1. What marks the beginning of the transformation of nomadic cultures
to permanent ones?
2. What was the Agricultural Revolution? How long ago did it begin?
What else is it sometimes called?
3. What were the causes and effects of the Agricultural Revolution?
 Create a cause and effect map and then use it to write a
paragraph
Additional Questions:
1. Why do you think many villages were built along rivers?
2. Why did technology advance quickly once there was a surplus of food?
3. Name 3 important technologies and tell why you think they were so
important.
Now write 7 questions and answers of your own in your notebook using the
text.
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Questions:
1. What 3 species of Homo Sapiens came prior to Homo Sapiens Sapiens?
2. Approximately how many years ago did Australopithecus Afcanus
inhabit the earth?
3. Name all the species of man in the homo line.
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Questions:
1. According to this chart, what is the oldest known species?
2. What species lived from about 4 million to 3 million years ago?
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Precious Metals
Gold, silver, platinum, brass, iron, and bronze; these metals are closely
associated with our history. Mankind has searched for and fought over these
metals since the end of the Neolithic (Stone Age). Metal has lifted
mankind’s technology from simple stone tools and weapons to computers and
space travel. Without our precious metals we would still be living in tribes,
wandering in search for food.
The Neolithic ended when people stopped using stone tools and started to
use tools made out of metal. No one really knows how or why people started
to use metal tools rather than stone; the inventors of metal tools didn’t
write anything down. Scientists think people started using copper and gold
for ornaments and jewelry before they started using metal for tools. The
reason scientists think jewelry came first is because they have found human
skeletons surrounded by metal jewelry and stone tools . Archeologists found
the Varna Necropolis in 1972. (Necropolis is a fancy scientist word for
graveyard.) The gold and copper artifacts found in Varna Necropolis are
mostly beads and other forms of jewelry. The tools found in the graves are
mostly made from stone. These graves have been dated to 4700 to 4200
BCE. It didn’t take long for people to start making tools out of copper. In
fact, Otzi, the Iceman, was found high in the Alps with several artifacts
including a flint knife, flint-tipped arrows, and a copper-bladed ax. His body
and his tools were preserved in the glacier ice that covered them. He is the
oldest human mummy around. His body dates back to approximately 5300
BCE; so, about the same time as the Varna people.
So why use copper and gold? Copper and gold can be found as native metal.
Native metal means you can pick up a nugget of copper or gold and pound on
it with a hammer and make stuff out of it. You don’t have to heat it up or
melt it out of the rock. However, if you pound on unheated native metal too
much it will crack. So about all you can do with native metal is make beads or
very simple tools. If you heat native copper, you can make better tools.
Otzi’s ax is the product of a different process. Most copper in the world is
not the pure native copper. Most copper is found in what is called an ore. An
ore is a mixture of metal, rock and other junk. At some point in time people
learned (again, scientists don’t know when or how) that if you heat up
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crushed ore to a very high temperature the metal will melt and leave the
junk you don’t want behind. This process is called smelting.
Precious Metals - Continued
Written for the KidsKnowIt Network by:
Brandon Guymon
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Copper isn’t very good for making tools. It’s better than stone, but it’s too
soft; it will bend if it hits another hard object. Also, because copper is so
soft you can’t make big tools out of it. If you want to make big tools you
have to use a lot of copper. Using that much copper makes the tool too heavy
to use and too expensive to make. Remember, smelting metal is difficult
work. To solve the problem of copper being too soft, people learned that if
you melt copper and tin and mix them together you make bronze. Scientist
and historians call the time period that bronze was used the Bronze Age.
Bronze is much better than copper to work with. For the first time, large
tools, including swords and armor, could be made. The ancient Egyptians used
a crooked bronze sword called a khopesh. In Europe, the most common type
of bronze sword was a long 20 to 35 inches (50 to 90 cm) leaf-shaped blade.
China was also making bronze swords during the Bronze Age. The Chinese
swords were more complicated than the Mesopotamian and European swords.
They used two different harnesses of bronze and more complicated blade
shapes.
There is one main problem with using bronze to make tools. The problem is:
finding copper is easy; finding tin is hard. For example, during the Bronze
Age in Europe most of the tin was found in the Cornwall region of Great
Britain. If you wanted to make bronze you had to trade for the tin. This was
true if you were an Egyptian, European, or almost any one else. There are
really only two places that we know of that had copper and tin together. So
unless you lived in one of those two places, you had to trade for the tin.
Scientists think the supply of tin became scarce. Something happened,
they’re not sure what, to disrupt the tin trade routes. It could have been
disease, war, or migration. No matter what the cause, a new metal had to be
found. The solution was iron. Iron was a little easier to work with and much
easier to find. Iron wasn’t as good as bronze but it was good enough and it
was cheaper. Eventually people learned how to make iron in a way that it
became as good as bronze. Then people learned how to make steel from iron.
Steel is much better than iron or bronze.
The use of steel is the foundation of our modern world. Steel is all around
you. It makes the nails and screws that hold up houses. Without steel we
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wouldn’t have skyscrapers and modern cities. Without steel we couldn’t have
cars, trucks, buses, trains, planes, or modern ships. Without steel our
modern world would be very different
But what about the other metals, do we still use them today? Yes, of course
we do. Copper and gold are still used in jewelry. It’s copper wire that brings
electricity to your house. Copper and gold form the circuits that allow your
computer and other electronics to work. The pins on your computer’s CPU are
plated in gold. Most houses have copper water pipes.
Bronze is used in bells, sculptures, Olympic medals, and probably in other
places as well. We use metal everywhere. It is in nearly everything we do.
You would have to work really hard not to use some kind of metal every day.
Look around and see just how much our modern world depends on our
precious metal.
Gold - Part 1
Written
for
Brandon Guymon
the
KidsKnowIt
Network
by:
Gold. The very word stirs the imagination, conjuring pictures of vast
treasures of shimmering yellow metal. Gold has started mass migrations,
nearly emptying cities as men swarm the hills, desperately searching for the
precious metal. Gold has launched conquering armies, sending Spanish
conquistadors to crush entire civilizations to get more for the greater glory
of Spain, not to mention their own pockets. Gold sent English privateers to
the Caribbean to steal it while the Spanish fought to send it to Spain. For as
long as history records, and even longer, mankind has gone to great lengths
and great risks to find gold. The Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs discovered a
particularly rich gold mine in a country called Nubia. The Egyptian armies
took over the land and used the gold to manipulate rival empires. Gold has
caused all this and more, but what is gold?
Gold is an element. Gold doesn’t react with very many other elements. It will
not corrode or rust away. Most acids won’t even eat it away. In fact, one of
the ways to test if you have real gold or fake gold is to dip it in acid and see
if the acid eats it away.
29
Gold is shiny and people like the look of it. Gold is used for money and
jewelry. Gold is a very soft metal; the softness of gold makes it easy to bend
and shape but it doesn't hold its shape very well. This isn’t very useful if you
want to make jewelry. The solution has been to add other harder metals to
gold. So how do you add metal to another metal? The trick is, you have to
melt the metals to liquid then mix them together. A combination of metals
like this is called an alloy. People have been making alloys for a very long time.
For example, bronze from the Bronze Age is an alloy of copper and tin. When
gold is made into an alloy its purity (the amount of gold metal in the mix) is
measured in karats. 24 karat gold is pure gold; the lower the number the
more other metal has been added. The gold alloys used in modern jewelry are
10 karat or 14 karat gold. 10 karat gold has less gold in the alloy but is
harder. 14 karat has more gold and is softer. White gold is an alloy created
by adding metals that change gold's yellow color to silver. Like yellow gold,
the most common alloys of white gold are 10 karat and 14 karat gold.
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Gold - Part 2
Written
for
Brandon Guymon
the
KidsKnowIt
Network
by:
People have been using gold for ornaments and jewelry long before they
were writing things down. Archaeologists have found gold jewelry dating
back to very early Copper Age peoples. The oldest known golden treasure
comes from a place archaeologists call the Varna Necropolis. Necropolis is a
fancy scientist word for graveyard. In the Varna Necropolis, archaeologists
found about 3000 different gold artifacts. The combined weight of these
artifacts is close to 6 kg (13 lbs. 4 oz.). These graves have been dated to
4700 to 4200 BCE
One of the earliest written references to gold that archaeologists have
found comes from ancient Egypt. By the time of the written reference,
Egypt had long since conquered Nubia and the rich Nubian gold fields.
Amenhotep III was using gold to manipulate the rulers of rival empires. In a
diplomatic message, King Tushratta of Mitanni asks Amenhotep to give him
gold saying that gold “was more common than dirt in Egypt.” That letter was
sent approximately 2500 BCE. Amenhotep was cunning. He would give gold to
the rulers of other empires in the area making each one think he was their
friend, that way if any one of them tried to attack Egypt the rulers would
try to stop the attacker.
Egypt truly had a lot of gold, but I'm pretty sure that it wasn’t more
common than dirt. One of my favorite gold artifacts was found in the tomb
of another one of Egypt’s Pharaohs, one of Amenhotep III‘s grandson.
Amenhotep’s Grandson was Tutankhamun. In 1922, the archaeologist Howard
Carter discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb. Tutankhamun’s, or King Tut’s tomb
was the only royal tomb that hadn’t been cleaned out by ancient tomb
robbers. That is the reason King Tut is so famous, not because he was a
particularly important king (he was only 17 or 18 when he died), but because
most of his stuff was still with him when Howard Carter found him. Anyway,
my favorite golden artifact is a golden dagger that was found with King Tut’s
body. Because it was decorated with so much gold it probably was
spectacularly useless as a knife, but it’s pretty
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Later, and on the other side of the world, the Spanish were taking literally
tons of gold and silver artifacts from the Native Americans and shipping
them off to Spain, if they could get it past the storms and the English
privateers that is. There they were melted down and used to buy weapons
and equipment for Spain’s army and navy.
Gold - Part 3
Written
for
Brandon Guymon
the
KidsKnowIt
Network
by:
Surprisingly though, with as much gold that was found and used in the
ancient world, 75% of the gold that has been mined has been mined after
1910 CE. In 2009, people calculated that all of the gold ever mined was about
165,000 metric tons. If you could melt down all that gold and put it on one
place it would make a cube measuring 20.28 meters (67 feet) on each side.
That’s a whole lot of gold.
South Africa and China are the biggest producers of gold in the world; each
country producing almost 2000 metric tons (1000kg/metric ton) of gold per
year. The states of South Dakota and Nevada supply most of the gold used
in the United States. Nevada alone supplies about 79% of the gold used in
the United States.
lot of the gold we get comes from mines like the Bingham Canyon Mine in
Utah. The Bingham Canyon Mine is the largest open pit mine in the United
States. At this mine they dig for copper. While mining and extracting copper,
they also extract a lot of gold from the rocks they crush and pulverize. In
this case, gold is a side product of the mine. Many of the mines in Nevada
are also open pit mines and they use the same method; they dig a really big
hole in the ground, find the rocks they want, crush them up, and chemically
extract the gold right from the powdered rock.
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One of the main differences between the palaeolithic and neolithic periods
was in the main methods people used to acquire food. In the palaeolithic,
anatomically modern humans and their ancestors were mainly nomadic hunter
gatherers. By the neolithic people had developed farming, allowing them to
live in settlements such as villages and towns. Diet also changed as a result
of
people
eating
more
cereals
and
other
farmed
crops.
Compared to the neolithic, the palaeolithic people had a far less complex
technology. They used basic stone, bone and antler tools and developments
such as art and other forms of "higher culture" only occur in the later
stages of the palaeolithic. Neolithic people mastered the use of many more
types of raw material, notably clays to make pottery and the beginnings of
metalworking. Exchange and trade networks were also comparatively more
developed.
pal age early stone age
Neo age last part
of
stone
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age
Just
before
bronze
age